The Government of Kazakhstan is committed to implementing broad economic reforms within the utilities sector. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("EBRD" or the "Bank") wishes to play an important role in facilitating these reforms by providing technical assistance. The Bank now seeks to select and engage a firm or group of firms (the "Consultant") to provide recommendations to be considered by the Government of Kazakhstan on performance-based public service contract ("PBC/PSC") templates to be applied across the water, wastewater and district heating sectors in Kazakhstan and their implementation (the "assignment").
The objectives of the assignment are as follows:
- To review best international and regional practices in relation to performance service contracting in the water/wastewater and district heating sectors, preparing a comparative analysis of the various agreements, providing recommendations for the type of service agreement appropriate for the water/wastewater and district heating sectors in Republic of Kazakhstan.
- to develop, based on the best international and regional practices and standards in the area of water, wastewater and district heating services and with due regard to the requirements of Kazakh laws, public service contracts templates (possibly by industry and by private/public entities separately), which could be signed between a utility company (publicly owned and privately owned), a municipality and a tariff regulator and any other documents in implementation thereof. The way how the tariff regulator should be involved will be assessed and recommended by the Consultant.
- to develop a set of the key performance indicators ("KPIs") by industry. Define indicative levels of KPIs taking into account investment levels and affordability constrains.
For the detailed description of the tasks please refer to the terms of reference, which can be accessed through the following link:
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 the first quarter of 2016 and last for up to 12 months.
Maximum Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 375,000, 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 (eg 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: It is expected that the assignment will be funded through the EBRD's Technical Cooperation Funds Programme
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 related to development and implementation of a PSC/PBC in different countries and experience in the field of institutional organisation of water and district heating sectors in Kazakhstan or countries with comparable conditions to Kazakhstan.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key senior experts as follows:
a. Key Senior Expert No 1 International Project Manager with ideally at least 5 years of previous professional experience in in the field of institutional organisation of water and district heating sectors in Kazakhstan or countries with comparable conditions to Kazakhstan. Experience of working in Russia and Baltic countries would be an advantage.
b. Key Senior Expert No 2 International Institutional expert with ideally at least 5 years' experience in development and implementation of performance based or management contracts in different countries. Experience of working in Russia and Baltics would be an advantage.
c. Key Senior Expert No 3 Local and Foreign Legal experts familiar with utilities, tariff and budget legislation in Kazakhstan and best international practices.
d. Key Senior Expert No 4 International technical experts in district heating, water and wastewater. The experience in KPI management would be a significant advantage.
e. Key Expert No 5 Financial specialists with knowledge of the public financing and modelling (international is preferred but local knowledge is essential).
f. Key Experts No 6 (pool of additional experts) consisting of local experts with good communication skills and evidenced technical knowledge of water supply and district heating sector. The Consultant shall engage Russian, and if, necessary Kazakh, language speaking staff on their team or arrange for translation/interpretation when necessary.
The Consultant must set out clear communication lines with all stakeholders involved in the assignment. It is envisaged that this will be best supplied through a combination of long- and short-term expertise.
The Consultant is required to provide independent, impartial strategic, management, financial. legal and technical advice, and as such will not be permitted to have a commercial interest in any other contracts or agreements for the assignment.
Ability to communicate in the Russian language is considered as essential.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be shortlisted 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 senior 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 and time. The expression of interest shall ideally be one file (pdf), not to exceed 4MB.
EBRD's Contact Person:
Angela Levitsky
Technical Co-operation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6363
E-mail:
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 appropriate funding.
2. The evaluation criteria are as follows:
- Firm’s experience in development and implementation of PBC in different countries – 25 %
- Qualification of Key Senior Experts – 65%
- Ability to communicate in Russian or Kazakh languages – 10%
