Prague: The presidential office announced on Thursday that a South Korean nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic will continue as planned, despite a temporary hold imposed by the Czech antitrust body. According to Yonhap News Agency, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition placed the hold following appeals filed by U.S. nuclear energy firm Westinghouse Electric Co. and French energy company Electricite de France. This development comes as a South Korean consortium, led by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, aims to finalize a contract to build two nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic by March, after being selected as the preferred bidder in July. Park Sang-ook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, clarified in an interview with broadcaster YTN that the temporary hold is a procedural step following the appeals from competitors who lost in the bidding process. He assured that "there are no problems with the proceedings for the actual final contract." Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Lukas Vlcek also commented on the situation, telling Czech media outlet Echo 24 that the hold is a standard response to a competitor's objection. He expressed confidence that this action will not affect the current tender schedule.