Assignment Description:
Ukraine is 3-times more energy and carbon intensive compared with the OECD average with most of the Ukraine's primary energy consumption by natural gas (about 40%), supply of which is heavily dependent on import from Russian Federation (approximately 63%).
In light of the recent events in the country, the gas price has been almost doubled and achieved a level of USD485 in April 2014 followed in May by 50% rise of the gas price and heating tariffs for the population. Tariffs are also expected to rise by 40% in 2015 and by 20% in 2016 and 2017.
Over the last few years the EBRD has launched several District Heating ("DH") projects in Ukraine which will provide significant energy savings in the municipal sector. These projects usually include: installation of Individual Heating Substations in residential buildings connected to the district heating system; introduction of new boilers; replacement of the obsolete pipes in the distribution network to modern pre-insulated pipes; modernization of Boiler Houses and Central Heating Substation; replacement of obsolete small boilers with modern high efficiency gas boilers; decommissioning of basement boilers and installation of monitoring and dispatching ("SCADA") systems.
At this time several EBRD DH projects have been launched and developed up to the different implementation stages in the following cities: Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano Frankivsk, Lutsk, Cherkassy, Poltava, Ternopil, Kiev, Lugansk, Donetsk.
While the DH projects will provide significant energy savings once implemented, awareness raising activities and enhanced dialogue with the communities are required to address potential significant social and affordability risks and concerns related to the significant tariffs increase and potential reductions or instability in municipal services supply.
Now EBRD seeks to select and engage a consultant (the "Consultant") to raise awareness of the population to promote related social and environmental benefits of the DH projects (the "Assignment").
The main objective of the Assignment is to raise awareness of the population to promote related social and environmental benefits and also address potential social concerns associated with the implementation of district heating projects and affordability issues in the content of the tariffs increase in Ukraine by means of various public relations methods.
The Assignment is focused to work together with the municipalities and DH supply companies to raise awareness of the population ("Beneficiaries") in the number of selected cities in order to enhance their understanding of the DH projects and their environmental and social benefits and also to address potential concerns related to the DH projects implementation and affordability issues in the content of the tariffs increase.
The Assignment will be carried out ensuring active collaboration with other international donors and agencies working in the similar topic in Ukraine.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:
A. Inception Phase
A.1 Identification of targeted groups of the Beneficiaries and assessment of the existing capacities and needs for awareness raising activities
The Consultants should establish contacts and should work with Municipalities and DH supply companies in the selected cities to identify relevant targeted and most vulnerable groups of the Beneficiaries. A concise social impact study from tariff increase is required for this purpose. This study should also include a quick baseline study on the awareness level among the households to be exposed to the DH project in the selected 3 cities. The Consultant will also conduct a brief assessment on existing capacities in the selected cities for the awareness raising activities and should assess what should be enhanced/reinforced to address the identified needs and social concerns.
A.2 Overview of the available informational materials, case-studies, guidance, toolkits and media campaigns
The Consultant will conduct an overview of the available informational and public awareness materials, case-studies, guidance, toolkits and media campaigns in Ukraine, and particularly in the selected cities, on awareness raising in DH projects and is required to use all available studies and informational materials for the Project implementation so to optimise resources and avoid duplication.
B. Implementation Phase
Based on the findings of the inception phase and in close cooperation with the representatives of the Municipalities and DH supply companies, the Consultant should develop an effective and practical Awareness Raising Programme for every selected city, detailed implementation logics and mechanism, and their relevance to the DH projects implementation stages in the proposed three cities. These programmes should include relevant informational material and should identify most effective public communication methods to address the identified needs.
In addition the following tasks should be implemented on the city and country level:
- Launch official PR campaign in every of the selected cities (3 in total) in close consultation with the Ministry of Social Protection, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing Services, representatives from municipalities and DH supply companies, the EBRD country team and the E5P and SIDA representatives. The events are to include a presentation of DH projects, a press conference and site visits by the officials with photo opportunities.
- Organise minimum 1 follow up event in each location (minimum 3 in total) to present the results and update on the project implementation progress.
- Design and set up an awareness raising webpage in Ukrainian, which is either placed into the existing websites of the Municipalities and DH supply companies, or as a stand-alone website, to be maintained throughout the duration of the assignment. The website should include, among others, information on tariffs in respective regions, a FAQs link on tariff increase and other related issues. The website should be an effective tool to raise the awareness of the population on the impact of the DH projects and should be promoted under the proposed PR-campaign and media coverage. After the project completion, this website can be transferred to the national regulator or regional administrations and this option should be checked and figured out by the consultant.
- Set up and maintain an information campaign in social media on the project (Facebook, Twitter). The social media campaign will be administered by the Consultant and supervised by the Bank throughout the assignment. The number of people accessing social media on the project will be recorded by the Consultant.
- Design a Project Media plan for every location (regular media interviews in industry publications, where the Bank can talk about projects achievements and benefits to date).
- Carry out a public information campaign among inhabitants of the every selected city on the benefits of the projects and also addressing potential social issues and concerns. This campaign may include the use of bigboards and lightboxes at public places and buildings, but should be considered as optional depending on the suggested media plan, suggested approaches and budget.
- Promote importance and increasing necessity of energy efficiency to solve problems of gas consumption, national energy security, environmental pollution and CO2-emissions.
- Organise a large “lessons learnt/results achieved” event in Kiev with the participation of the Ministry of Social Protection, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing Service, representatives from municipalities and DH supply companies, the EBRD Country Director and the E5P and SIDA representatives. Other invitees may include representatives from other cities, relevant community groups, including resident and housing associations, condominiums, private sector companies, NGOs, academic and professional institutions, etc.
C. Follow-up Phase and Reporting
At each stage of delivery and/or every month/quarter, the Consultant will submit a short report electronically in English, outlining the achievements to date, outputs and benefits of each stage/activity. The report shall also suggest possible follow-up actions such as additional events, studies, workshops, which have been identified as priority issues to enhance project objectives.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in Q2 2015 and has an estimated overall duration of 15 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 143,000 (exclusive of VAT).
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: This Assignment is funded by EBRD Special Stakeholder Fund.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with previous project experience:
- in awareness raising campaigns in the municipal infrastructure sector, preferably in district heating, including experience in promotion of social and environmental benefits and addressing potential social concerns and affordability issues in the content of the tariffs increase.
- organising similar awareness raising event, preferably in the region. Experience implementing these events for IFIs (or equivalent), Governmental Departments, state or municipal companies or Agencies would be considered an advantage.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
-Team Manager
- Creative and Media expert
- Technical DH and Energy Efficient expert
- Social and Tariff Specialist.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:
1. Company/group of firms’ profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2-4 pages);
2. Details of previous project experience or similar assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration), main activities, objectives;
3. CVs of key experts who could be available to work on the Assignment with details of the experts’ professional experience;
4. Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link: http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.
The above information should not exceed 25 pages excluding CVs and contact sheet.
The complete expression of interest (including CVs and Contact Sheet) should be submitted, in English, electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf or Word). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded (4MB), the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.
Bank Contact Person:
Sophie Medert
Technical Co-operation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 7371
e-mail: MedertS@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Notes:
1. Selection and contracting will normally be made from responses to this notification. The consultant will be selected from a shortlist, subject to availability of funding.
2. Shortlisting criteria and respective weightings are:
a) Firm’s experience in awareness raising campaigns in the Municipal Infrastructure Sector, preferably in district heating, including experience in promotion of social and environmental benefits and addressing potential social concerns and affordability issues in the content of the tariffs increase – 35%
b) Firm’s experience in organising similar awareness raising events in the region, preferably for IFIs (or equivalent), Governmental Departments, state of municipal companies or Agencies – 35%
c) CVs of key experts with relevant experience as per above - 30%.
