THE END DATE OF THE PROCUREMENT NOTICE HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 29 FEBRUARY 2016 AT 23:59 HOURS (LONDON TIME). THE CONSULTANT PROFILE SECTION AND SHORTLIST CRITERIA HAS ALSO BEEN REVISED.
Project Description: The Government of Ukraine has requested the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "EBRD" or the "Bank") to provide technical assistance with a view to enhancing its public procurement system, in particular, the electronic procurement system under development (the Prozorro Project) in light of the requirements resulting from accession of Ukraine to the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization (WTO GPA).
Since 2010 the EBRD has been actively supporting countries pursuing accession to the WTO GPA. The EBRD GPA Technical Cooperation Facility (the EBRD GPA TC Facility), launched in 2014, provides policy advice and assistance in negotiating GPA accession and reforming procurement systems in line with GPA standards.
In Ukraine, the law on public procurement was adopted in 2014 and revised in September 2015. Next, a new law regarding electronic procurement procedures was approved by the Parliament in December 2015 and is awaiting Presidential signature to enter into force in April 2016. This law stipulates mandatory electronic procedures to all public procurement in the country. To ensure electronic procedures are implemented in practice in line with the GPA requirements the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade requested assistance with developing the Prozorro Project in the context of the GPA accession.
Assignment Description: The EBRD now intends to retain a consultant (the "Consultant") to carry out the tasks under this assignment (the "Assignment").
The main objective of the Assignment is to work with the Prozorro Project team and develop procedures compliant with new legislative framework and legal and institutional requirements of the WTO GPA accession, including public procurement review and remedies procedures. The Consultant is also expected to contribute to technical cooperation of the EBRD with Transparency International Ukraine.
The expected outcome of the Assignment is introducing all the changes necessary to implement the WTO GPA standards into electronic procedures and ensuring accurate reporting on public procurement in Ukraine covered by the GPA obligations.
The full scope of activities under the Assignment is to be developed during inception mission with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, provisionally scheduled for March 2016; however the following activities are envisaged to implement the Assignment objectives thus far:
a) Legal compliance diagnostics. This will involve assessment of the legislation adopted in the context of the WTO GPA accession to take stock of what has been achieved and identify any remaining areas for improvement;
b) Assessment of GPA implementation in electronic procedures. This will entail assessing the extent of existing procedures in the GPA context and identifying any impediments to implementing obligations arising from the GPA;
c) Further reform agenda development. On the basis of the needs assessment, a work plan for further reform will be developed, to include (i) policy, (ii) regulatory, (iii) institutional and (iv) capacity building components;
d) Collaboration with Transparency International Ukraine and local stakeholders. This will entail contributing to the Transparency International Ukraine work on monitoring electronic public procurement procedures and ensuring GPA requirements are taken into consideration in implementing new monitoring procedures for public procurement in Ukraine.
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 Q1 2016 with an estimated overall duration of 12 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 100,000 (exclusive of VAT).
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: The contract will be financed by the EBRD-Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account. Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the specific needs of the authorities the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: The Consultant will be a firm or group of firms preferably with previous experience related to:
1.Developing and implementing national public procurement reform projects, including public procurement policy development and legal drafting for implementing electronic public procurement in practice;
2.Demonstrated eProcurement experience in designing and implementing eProcurement projects on a national level in the EBRD countries in order to conduct public sector procurement.
3.Policy advice and legal drafting in Russian speaking countries, working in Ukrainian is an advantage.
The Consultant's expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
a. Key Expert – eProcurement: expert with preferably 15 years of experience in public procurement policy and drafting and designing and implementing eProcurement projects, with specific experience related to implementing public procurement reform in Ukraine.
b. Key Expert – Policy/Legal Adviser: a legal expert with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in drafting public procurement legal documents (including primary, secondary and tertiary legislation) and specific experience related to implementing public procurement reform in Ukraine.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected, 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 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 20 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 electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf). 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.
The EBRD Contact Person:
Viv Headlam
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6885
Fax: +44 20 7338 7451
E-mail: LewisheV@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Important 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 as follows:
(a) Firm's or expert's previous experience in developing and implementing national public procurement reform projects, including public procurement policy development and legal drafting for implementing electronic public procurement in practice (30%).
(b) Firm's or expert's demonstrated previous eProcurement experience in designing and implementing eProcurement projects on a national level in EBRD countries in order to conduct public sector procurement (30%)
(c) Policy advice and legal drafting in Russian speaking countries, working in Ukrainian is considered an advantage (10%)
(d) CVs of Key Experts (30%).
