KAZAN, December 7. /TASS/. Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov hopes that Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom will be invited to participate in the construction of a new unit of one of nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic.

He made this statement talking to reporters after meeting with his Czech counterpart Marta Novakova.

"We did not discuss this topic today, although it is always on the agenda. We are grateful to our partners for purchasing fuel from Rosatom for their nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic. I hope that we will continue constructive cooperation in this field. In the future, of course, we expect to be invited to participate in the construction of additional power units," Manturov said.

In late August, the Industry and Trade Minister of the Czech Republic said that before the end of the year the government of the republic is to decide on how to finance the construction of a new unit of one of the country’s nuclear power plants (Temelin or Dukovany).

The Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade is considering such options as building a new nuclear unit by one of the state-owned companies with the attraction of foreign investors or by creating a commercial company that the Czech government will control through representatives in the governing agencies.

The Czech nuclear power plants Temelin and Dukovany were built with the active assistance of Russia. The Russian state corporation Rosatom previously expressed readiness to take part in a tender for the construction of a new power unit in the Czech Republic. The same interest was shown by the US company Westinghouse, the Chinese China General Nuclear Power, the French EDF, the South Korean KHNP, and the French-Japanese joint venture Mitsubishi Atmea.