The Czech government has blocked a Chinese company’s investment in a satellite station over concerns it could be used for spying.
The firm called Emposat, based in Beijing, had plans to operate a satellite dish at the site in the village of Vlkoš in the eastern Moravia region.
But in a meeting behind closed doors last week, ministers signed an order prohibiting the venture.
It is the first time the Czech authorities have implemented the strongest measures permissible under a 2021 law on screening foreign investments, media reports said.
The leaked decree, first reported by the Seznam Zprávy website, said that Emposat’s involvement “may pose a threat to the security of the Czech Republic,” with sources telling the publication that the decision was based on warnings from the country’s intelligence services.
“The investment has minimal impact on employment and the economy, but due to the nature of the facility, it may have significant security implications,” Marek Vošahlík from the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
Emposat’s dish, a 7.3-meter-wide parabolic antenna, has already been installed but may now need to be dismantled, according to Seznam Zprávy.
Pekasat, the Brno-based company that runs the ground satellite station in Vlkoš, denied being operationally or financially linked to the Chinese firm, saying that Emposat was simply a tenant renting space at the site.
But in a meeting behind closed doors last week, ministers signed an order prohibiting the venture.
It is the first time the Czech authorities have implemented the strongest measures permissible under a 2021 law on screening foreign investments, media reports said.
The leaked decree, first reported by the Seznam Zprávy website, said that Emposat’s involvement “may pose a threat to the security of the Czech Republic,” with sources telling the publication that the decision was based on warnings from the country’s intelligence services.
“The investment has minimal impact on employment and the economy, but due to the nature of the facility, it may have significant security implications,” Marek Vošahlík from the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
Emposat’s dish, a 7.3-meter-wide parabolic antenna, has already been installed but may now need to be dismantled, according to Seznam Zprávy.
Pekasat, the Brno-based company that runs the ground satellite station in Vlkoš, denied being operationally or financially linked to the Chinese firm, saying that Emposat was simply a tenant renting space at the site.
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