AMENDMENT - THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 29 JULY 2015
The City of Maili-Suu ("Maili-Suu" or the "City") has approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("EBRD" or the "Bank") with a request to finance the rehabilitation of the water and wastewater infrastructure in the City (the "Project"). The investment cost for the proposed Project is estimated at EUR 4 million, of which EUR 2.0 million would be a loan and EUR 2.0 million would be a capex grant or bilateral donor. The proceeds of the loan and grant will be used to rehabilitate the water supply and carry out selected priority water supply improvements in the City.
The Bank now intends to engage a consultant (the "Consultant") to carry out a feasibility study (the "assignment").
The overall objectives of the Consultant are:
1) to identify and establish a baseline for assessing and monitoring potential inclusion impact in relation to increased number of water and waste water connections, improved frequency of water delivery, and improvements in water quality at household level; and related health and economic benefits;
2) to identify key cost restructuring elements (eg labour restructuring, energy cost savings, maintenance per unit of output targets etc) and recommend reasonable loan covenants and implementation timing in this area;
3) to assess the possibilities for an affordable least-cost and cost-effective bankable priority investment programme ("PIP") for water and wastewater infrastructure - to rehabilitate and increase the efficiency of existing systems with strong social and environmental benefits and promoting climate resilience; and,
4) to assess to what extend the PIP meets EBRD’s "Performance Requirements" ("PRs").
More specifically, the Consultant shall undertake the following tasks:
Task 1 Baseline study: Assess current conditions of water and wastewater management and prepare a technical, environmental and social, and operational audit of Maili-Suu Water Company's (the "Company") current water supply and wastewater facilities and operations. The baseline should take account of the current climatic conditions and projected climate change in so far as they have the potential to affect water supply and waste-water discharges. The Consultant should also include the baseline assessment of key inclusion indicators (such as number of water connections, average hours of water supply, water quality for consumption, and water borne diseases) and develop a methodology for monitoring progress throughout the project delivery and evaluation phases. The study shall also identify the respective needs and concerns of different disadvantaged groups and/or those with less voice, such as women, to be addressed in the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the Project.
Task 2 Financial analysis and projections: Prepare a financial analysis and financial projections for the Company with the impact of the PIP (see below).
Task 3 Long-term investment programme: Develop a long-term investment programme for the Company.
Task 4 Priority investment programme: From the long-term investment programme prepare a detailed short-term PIP for immediate investments and a procurement plan.
Task 5 Environmental and social due diligence: Carry out environmental and social ("E&S") due diligence, including an E&S audit to assess the environmental and social issues associated with existing facilities and operations, the risks associated with projected climate change and an E&S analysis of the E&S impacts and benefits of the priority investments to be financed by the Bank. Based on the findings of these initial investigations develop an "Environmental and Social Action Plan" ("ESAP") for mitigation of the E&S impacts of the Project, climate change adaptation needs as well as improving the current environmental and social management systems and operational performance towards compliance with the EBRD’s PRs and a "Stakeholder Engagement Plan" ("SEP").
The large number of different tasks and the complexity of administrational procedures under this assignment require the permanent presence of the Project Manager and/or their local team leader in the country for the duration of the preparation of the feasibility study.
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 the third quarter of 2015 and has an estimated overall duration of 6 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 280,000 (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: Early Transition Countries ("ETC") Fund. Please note selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant should preferably with previous project experience related to:
1. Experience in feasibility studies in the water sector in the EBRD’s countries of operation
2. Experience in the water sector projects in the Central Asia
3. Relevant experience in working with international financial institutions ("IFIs")
Based on the fields of expertise and the tasks mentioned above, it is proposed that the Consultant's expert team is expected to include the following expatriate and local experts:
- Key expert 1: Project Manager/Team Leader with a university degree or equivalent qualification and preferably with a minimum of 15 years professional experience in the field of water supply, with comprehensive experience of similar assignments in Eastern Europe or the Commonwealth of Independent States ("CIS"), and sanitation as well as in institutional and commercial management of water utilities. He/she should have demonstrable experience of working with international financial institutions
- Key expert 2: Technical specialists and water and wastewater engineers;
- Key expert 3: Financial analysts with experience of due diligence of CIS companies and extensive financial modelling experience; and
- Key expert 4: Environmental impact assessment and planning experts with ideally at least 5 years of experience in water and sanitation sector and experience in addressing the EBRD’s environmental and social requirements in municipal infrastructure and other similar projects, and
- Key expert 5: Social impact assessment / resettlement action plan ("RAP") experts with recent track record in the region (ideally minimum 3 years of work on similar assignments) and
- Key expert 6: Expert for stakeholder engagement and public consultation with recent track record in the region.
- Key expert 7: Climate change expert preferably with 3 years of work on similar assignments.
The Consultant should integrate local professional skills/cooperate with local consulting companies, in order to provide national experience. The Consultant shall engage Russian-speaking staff on their team or arrange for translation/interpreting when necessary. All experts must be independent and free from conflicts of interest in the responsibilities accorded to them.
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 particularly 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 carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.
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, Consultant Declaration 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 should preferably be in one file (pdf). The permissible file size is 4MB.
Bank Contact Person:
Angela Levitsky
Technical Co-operation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6369
E-mail: levitska@ebrd.com
Notes:
1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked consultant will be selected from a shortlist and be invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
2. The shortlist criteria are:
Firm's experience in feasibility studies in the water sector in the EBRD’s countries of operation (15%)
Firm's experience in the water sector projects in the Central Asia (15%)
Firm's relevant experience in working with international financial institutions ("IFIs") (10%)
CV of Project Manager/Team Leader (15%)
CVs of technical specialists and water and wastewater engineers (15%)
CVs of other key experts (3,4,5 and 7) as detailed in the procurement notice (20%)
Integration of local consultants/expertise within the consultant's team (10%)
