Executing Agency (Client): Municipal Enterprise Batken Taza-Suu
Project Description:
The City of Batken (the “City”) approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) with a request to finance the rehabilitation of the water supply and selected wastewater improvements in the City (the “Project”). Water supply operations in the Kyrgyz Republic are characterised by severely deteriorated assets for water supply and wastewater collection; very limited wastewater treatment; high operations and maintenance costs due to the deteriorated state of the assets; unreliable water supply, sometimes only 2 hours every second day; families storing water in bathtubs and buckets; outbreaks of water borne diseases, especially during summer; and, low institutional capacity to manage operationally and financially sustainable water supply services.
To facilitate the Project, the Batken Wastewater Utility has been merged with Batken Water Company in order to form one new company (the “Company”).
The Project objectives are to: (i) rehabilitate the water supply system and selected wastewater improvements; (ii) improve billing and collection efficiency; and (iii) improve financial and operational management. The Project will rehabilitate the infrastructure to reduce water losses and install bulk meters to provide a management tool for leakage detection and control as well as consumer metering in a pilot area. These measures will lead to a reduction in operating and maintenance costs for water supply and reduce wastage of water.
Assignment Description:
The Client now intends to retain a consulting company (the “Consultant”) to assist the Company to improve its institutional development by means of a Corporate Development Programme, Social Support Programme, and Stakeholder Participation Programme.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services, divided in three components:
Part I: Corporate Development Programme for the Company (CDP)
The Consultant shall assist the Company to improve its commercial standing, service and environmental performance by supporting the identification and implementation where necessary establishment of the corporate, financial, operational and environmental management required to meet the related covenants included in the EBRD financing documents. The Consultant shall also assist the Company to develop a medium-term focused corporate development plan and to improve the corporate planning capacity to assist ongoing transition towards becoming a self-sustaining entity with commercially sustainable operations, as well as implementing the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) developed for the Company.
Part II: Social Support Programme (SSP)
The second objective is to develop social support mechanism for the low income customers. The Kyrgyz Republic has a welfare system with subsidies to vulnerable groups, including subsidised utility services, which will bridge the affordability gap. The City has not provided direct subsidies to the low income families instead it has provided subsidies to the Company to keep the tariff level low. Detail mechanism needs be developed and agreed between the City and the Company and reflected in the Public Service Agreement to be signed between the City and the Company. The counterparts of Part II are the Company and the City.
Part III: Stakeholder Participation Programme (SPP)
The third objective is to implement the Stakeholders Participation Programme (“
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or group of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in 4Q 2015 and has an estimated overall duration of 30 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 420,000 (exclusive of VAT). Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the specific needs of the Client the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope.
The Consultant must determine whether any indirect taxes/VAT are chargeable on the proposed services and state the basis for such. If any indirect taxes/VAT are payable, the Client will have to pay indirect taxes/VAT element to the services directly to the Consultant unless otherwise agreed.
Funding Source: Early Transition Countries Fund (ETC). Selection and contracting is subject to the availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant should ensure that the appropriately qualified experts are available, as required, for each of the different tasks outlined above. It is expected that the assignment will be led by an appropriately qualified project manager with experience in the water sector and in implementing the key areas of this assignment, accompanied by both key and supporting experts. It is expected that short time input by key international experts be combined with local/regional expert input.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
Key Experts No 1 and 2 Project Manager Team Leader/ Technical Expert and Local project Manager/Technical Expert; with preferably 5 years of previous professional experience in project management municipal water and wastewater sector in countries with conditions similar to Kyrgyzstan.
Key Expert No 3 Finance expert with preferably 5 years of previous professional experience in a similar projects.
Key Experts No 4 (Pool of Additional Experts) consisting Local finance expert; Environmental expert; Social expert; Pool of local experts within all the above listed areas.
Non-key experts are expected to include Office Manager/ Translator/Secretary.
The Consultant must set-out clear communication lines with the beneficiaries (the Company and the City), so that they are able to draw on the support of the Consultant as required. It is envisaged that this will be best supplied through a combination of long-term and short-term expertise.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants to be shortlisted, 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 expression of interest shall not exceed 25 pages (excluding CVs Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet).
The complete expression of interest (including CVs, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) should be submitted, in English and Russian electronic versions via email (pdf) and hard copies to the Client’s contact person to the address indicated above, to reach the Client not later than the closing date. One additional copy shall reach the Bank’s contact person by the same due date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf). The Client reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if any limitation on the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.
The Client Contact Person:
Janybek Jalalov
Mayor of Batken city
c/o EBRD Bishkek RO
Address: 21, (4 floor of business center Orion)
Erkindik Blvd, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 720040
Tel.: +996 312 624013
Fax: +996 312 666284
Email: meria-batken@mail.ru
The EBRD Contact Person:
Larissa Gosling
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6338
Fax: +44 20 7338 7451
E-mail: GoslingL@ebrd.com
Important Notes:
1. Following this invitation for expressions of interest, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.
2. The shortlist criteria are as follows:
(a) Firm’s previous project experience in Corporate Development Programme, including specific experience in the water and wastewater sector – 30 (%);
(b) Firm’s experience in implementation of a Financial and Operational Performance Improvement Programme (“FOPIP”) - 10 (%);
(c) Firm’s experience in drafting, procuring and implementation Public Service Contract – 15 (%);
(d) CV of Key Expert No 1 and 2 (Project Manager and Local Project Manager) with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in municipal water and wastewater sector in similar assignments in the EBRD’s countries of operation – 20 (%);
(e) CV of Key Expert No 3 and 4 - Other technical and financial experts with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in municipal water and wastewater sector and with relevant experiences as described in section Consultant Profile – 20 (%);
(f) Fluency in Russian for local experts – 5 (%).
