Our future prosperity requires new approaches to corporate strategy; it’s still based on our people
The future prosperity of ŠKODA JS requires us not only to focus on the current situation and projects, but to prepare well for what is yet to come.
In connection with political decisions and the pressure to reduce the amount of electricity produced from nuclear as well as conventional sources (coal, natural gas), we need to adopt an alternative approach to our corporate strategy as well as the direction of our business. The situation in the power industry is generally dynamic and unpredictable; the reduction in the number of power industry investment contracts goes hand in hand with changes to their parameters and nature. With fewer large investment projects, the Company takes on smaller contracts with a shorter amount of time required for their implementation. This situation may cause some worries about what the future might have in store for us, but it is also a challenge to courageously explore new avenues and possibilities.
Flexibility, so often mentioned in the media as well as in promotional materials of companies as a crucial value and competitive advantage, is currently becoming a necessary prerequisite for our company’s survival in the market. At the same time, this situation forces us to strengthen our ability to effectively manage a large number of small projects simultaneously. “Small” projects require the management of the majority of functions, roles and activities required by large projects; however, this needs to be done at a lower cost, which calls for new and ingenious organization and coordination of activities.
Apart from traditional deliveries of capital equipment for VVER-type nuclear power plants, we also explore other ways in which we want to succeed in the future. We look for new opportunities in various areas: small modular and research reactors, modernization of nuclear fuel handling equipment, comprehensive deliveries of piping systems, including their design and calculations, deliveries of systems aimed at increasing power plant safety, analyses and experimental measurements of new nuclear fuel, services and deliveries connected with the end of the fuel cycle, and others.
The future prosperity of ŠKODA JS requires us not only to focus on the current situation and projects, but to prepare well for what is yet to come.
Our current goal is the involvement of ŠKODA JS in the construction of new nuclear units in and close to Europe. We are still most familiar with VVER technology, as thanks to our active role in preparing the bid for the completion of the Temelín NPP in 2009-2014 we have detailed knowledge of the new type of VVER 1200 nuclear unit, which is a prerequisite for winning engineering projects connected with the construction of the power plants Hanhikivi - 1 (Finland), Paks II (Hungary) and Akkuyu (Turkey). Apart from these projects, we are prepared to play a significant role in the preparation and construction of a new nuclear source in the Czech Republic.
Our wide range of technical knowledge and skills is only a necessary condition, but not a guarantee of securing new projects. Winning tenders is a team effort: identifying suitable technical equipment units or sets, determining a suitable promotional strategy, continually supporting our position with our prospective customers and investors, and finding suitable partnerships. We have already taken the main steps. Now it depends on our perseverance and ingenuity whether we convince prospective customers that partnering up with us will bring them success in the future. I know that the achievements from our distant as well as more recent past speak for themselves.
All our successes, including those that are yet to come, are based on our people. Every day, our employees build the good name and strong reputation of ŠKODA JS. Both individuals and whole teams hand down their experience and nuclear engineering skills from one generation to another. They preserve the company’s skillset in an industry which we helped to build in Central and Eastern Europe, and in whose development we played a major role.
I appreciate the fact that my colleagues are real experts on our industry. Together, we are a team whose members support one another, a team that works and creates in a friendly atmosphere, and a team that apart from working hard can also enjoy a little fun. We are a team that can achieve big things, even bigger than those we achieved in the past.
Every day, I see with my own eyes that our team has a lot of potential for success. Perseverance and dedication, a systematic and methodical way of thinking, the willingness to learn new things and speak openly about mistakes and problems, and also the willingness to learn from them. With these qualities, we can face the headwind represented by the current situation in the power industry with a good chance of a good and interesting future.