Background:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is the largest financial investor in Ukraine, having invested €1.2 billion through 36 projects in 2014. The Bank is continually stepping up its support for the agribusiness sector, which includes technical cooperation (TC) and business advisory projects. These projects are crucial in the preparation of future investments in Ukraine and the region where the EBRD invests.
The EBRD’s Agribusiness and Small Business Support (SBS) teams launched Advice for Agribusiness in 2012, a TC programme focused on building the Bank’s investment potential. The programme is designed to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), who are also the EBRD’s prospective investment clients, to benefit from improvements in technological know-how, management and operational best practices, and financial and corporate governance standards. In 2014 the programme was expanded to include agribusinesses in Ukraine.
Advice for Agribusiness introduces international best practices to potential investment clients by engaging highly experienced senior executives from the agribusiness sector with “hands-on” experience, as well as industry experts as advisors to work directly with the management of the assisted SMEs. Likewise, it provides expertise from local experts for improvements in areas such as financial reporting.
Assignment Description:
The role of the Consultant is to support the advisory work being undertaken in Ukraine by SBS in the Agribusiness sector by focusing on clients that have a high probability of becoming recipients of EBRD’s financing after completion of the relevant advisory projects. This additional focus is needed in the current challenging local environment where SMEs require focused technical cooperation support to improve their access to finance, by enhancing their bankability and developing financial and business skills.
The Consultant will be a part of the SBS team based in Kiev, Ukraine. The Consultant will be supervised by the Head of Agribusiness SMEs, Technical Cooperation and Advisory Services based in London with dual reporting to the Head of Regional Programme in Ukraine. The 3-year consultancy role is financed by the EBRD-Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Fund.
The Consultant’s primary responsibility will be to develop a pipeline of SMEs to be involved in the Advice for Agribusiness programme in Ukraine. The Consultant will be partnered up with an SBS International Advisory Local Manager, and he/she will be the Consultant’s first port of call in planning and preparing of Advice for Agribusiness projects. The Consultant’s deliverables will be feeding into targets set by SBS for its Country Programme in Ukraine. In addition, the Consultant will be working closely with Agribusiness bankers based in Kiev and London while selecting potential advisory clients.
Once trained by the SBS team in Kiev, the Consultant is expected to execute the relevant advisory projects in compliance with the norms set out in SBS operations manual. This will include but will not be limited to:
Project identification, execution and monitoring
• Assisting the Agribusiness team in identifying and screening for potential Advice for Agribusiness projects;
• Reviewing the background and profile of the prospective clients to determine the suitability for the Bank’s subsequent financing;
• In close collaboration with the SBS team, identifying technical assistance needs/objectives of potential clients and defining the initial scope for the proposed technical assistance; in close collaboration with the Agribusiness team bankers, considering possible investment needs with potential clients;
• Managing project flow through all stages, including identification, implementation, monitoring and evaluation according to SBS Procedures and Rules;
• Establishing and managing the individual projects budget, including careful tracking of committed and disbursed funds per project and the programme as a whole, ensuring cost-share is paid by each participating company;
• Regular associated reporting to the donors;
• Assisting Agribusiness team bankers in due-diligence and preparation of internal project documentation for the follow-up banking transactions with the relevant clients of Advice of Agribusiness Programme;
• Ensuring a coordinated approach between the client, advisor/consultants, EBRD Agribusiness bankers in Ukraine as well as close liaison with SBS and Agribusiness management in London and Kiev.
Selection and monitoring of advisors
• Selecting industry advisor(s), experts/specialists and/or local consultants for the projects, in accordance with the individual company’s needs;
• Training the advisory team on the programme methodology;
• Monitoring of the advisory team’s performance to ensure appropriate level of service is provided throughout the project;
• Processing, reviewing and distributing visit reports/minutes prepared by the advisors, as well as the final project “hand-book” to the company;
• Ensuring that the projects are carried out in a timely manner and that the required data, inputs and analysis has been made in the Bank’s Management Information System (MIS) by all team members including the advisors.
Programme administration, marketing and travel support
• Organizing necessary logistical arrangements for visiting project teams;
• Liaising between the client companies, donors and Agribusiness bankers as required;
• Organizing relevant visibility activities in conjunction with the SBS and Agribusiness teams;
• Receiving, reviewing and forwarding advisors’ invoices;
• Assisting with advisors’ travel arrangements and on-the-ground logistical support.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in Q1 2015, and have an estimated duration of 3 years.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 75,000 (exclusive of VAT). Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the specific needs of the Bank, the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope.
The consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the Bank's special status 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 the Technical Cooperation Programme managed by the EBRD Please note that selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions; however, consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding from an appropriate donor.
Consultant profile:
The Consultant will be an individual expert with the following skills, experience and qualifications:
• Strong academic background with relevant degree from a leading university in the country of education (business administration, international relations, economics or finance);
• 3+ years of private-sector experience gained within banking, finance, business development or auditing/financial consulting firm;
• Previous experience in the Agribusiness sector is preferred;
• Specific experience with project management will be considered an advantage;
• Credit analysis skills, with the ability to interpret accounts, understanding local and international accounting principles and practice of credit analysis;
• Excellent computer literacy, written and oral communication skills in English and Ukrainian; other languages from EBRD countries of operation will be considered an advantage.
In addition, the prospective Consultant should demonstrate the following personal competencies and attributes:
• Communication Skills – the ability to communicate appropriate, concise and accurate information in written and verbal formats, to the right audience at the right time;
• Reporting Skills through the Banks’s MIS.
• Concern for Accuracy and Detail – the capacity to ensure and maintain a high degree of accuracy and quality in work delivered during pressure periods;
• Problem Solving – judgement and initiative in decision making process. Ability to tackle issues and problems in a logical, step-by-step way and proposes practical and realistic solutions;
• Planning and Organising – operating independently and taking responsibility for decisions within own area, as well as the ability to autonomously manage a high volume of tasks using initiative to assist the decision-making process;
• Team-working – building effective communication and relationships both within and outside the team. Sharing knowledge, information and best practices with others;
• Customer Focus – the ability to listen to the views of all stakeholders, to be sensitive and understand cultural differences, transition success factors and the complexity of political constraints; provide optimal solutions and manage expectations;
• Results Orientated – following up and following through to ensure goals are achieved and exceeded.
Submission Requirements: Interested individual Experts are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest containing the following information:
1. a cover letter including full contact details, inclusive of address of the individual, phone and fax numbers, and email address;
2. CV detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.
3. 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 must not exceed 10 pages, including the CV.
The complete expression of interest (including CVs and Contact Sheet) shall be one file (pdf or Word), not exceeding 4MB, to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.
Expressions of interest shall be submitted in English through eSelection and not directly to the contact person given below, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date for submissions indicated above.
Bank Contact Person:
Mr Nicola Di Pietro
Advisor, Technical Cooperation Team
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: +44 20 7338 6329
Fax: +44 20 7338 7451
E-mail: Pietron@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 from appropriate donors.
2. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews, before the completion of the selection process.
3. Evaluation of the Expressions of Interest will be based on the following criteria and their respective weightings:
a) CVs of the Expert - 60%;
b) Knowledge of Ukrainian/ Russian – 20%;
c) Expert interview (if shortlisted) – 20%.
