Clarification issued on 21/03/2016: Expressions of interest should be submitted in the English and Croatian languages, not exceeding 20 pages each version (excluding CVs, Consultant declaration and contact sheet). In case of discrepancies the English version will prevail.
Executing Agency (Client):
Vodoopskrba i odvodnja d.o.o. Zagreb
Project Description:
Vodoopskrba i odvodnja d.o.o., Zagreb (“ViO” or the “Company”) is a water supply and wastewater service company, 100 per cent owned by Zagreb Holding. ViO is the largest water and waste water operator in Croatia which services up to 850,000 inhabitants of Zagreb and several surrounding cities and municipalities. The Company currently provides water supply services using 3,000 km long supply network with the annual water supply of 57.5 million m3, whereby wastewater collection services are provided through 2,000 km of public sewage network and 52,000 drain canals and with annual quantity of wastewater collected of 54.04 million m3. The Company employs more than 1,100 people.
Zagreb Holding (“Zagreb Holding” or “ZGH”) is a holding company fully owned by the City, which through a network of 16 subsidiaries, 7 companies and one institution provides the citizens with the following services (i) water-supply and wastewater collection, (ii) public transport, (iii) parking services, (iv) waste collection, (v) pharmacy chain management, and (vi) management of public sport facilities. Zagreb Holding currently employs around 11,000 workers and is the largest municipal holding in Croatia.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) has recently re-financed its existing loan from Zagreb Holding to the Company such that they can be utilized for capital expenditures into construction and upgrade of the waste-water network in the City.
In order to assist the Company in the re-organization of their financial and operational activities, the Company is seeking the support of a consultant (the “Consultant”) to ensure they are more efficient in areas including business planning, advice on tariff reform and collection improvements. The Consultant will also support the preparation of a Public Service Agreement (“PSA”) between the Company, Zagreb Holding and the City.
Assignment Description:
The overall objective of the assignment is to improve the Company’s operational efficiency and financial and operational management in order to strengthen its capacity to service debt while providing high quality water and sewerage services.
More specifically, the assignment will aim at:
- establishing indicators for measurable improvements (within a clearly defined timetable) to improve operational efficiency and levels of service (e.g. reducing unaccounted for water and sewage leakages);
- developing and implementing a financial and operational performance improvement programme (“FOPIP”) with the special focus on:
- increasing the revenue collection rates and reducing accounts receivable;
- developing a tariff formula and tariff policies which will over time eliminate the cross-subsidy between consumer groups;
- developing the ability within the Company to make ongoing long-term (5-year) corporate development programmes, including capital budgets and tariff projections;
- using the above mentioned indicators together with the FOPIP findings and incorporating them into a PSA between the Company, Zagreb Holding and the City;
- reviewing the potential for private sector participation in the Company’s operations.
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 late April 2016 and has an estimated overall duration of 18 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 279,400 (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: It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund (“SSF”).
Eligibility: There are no consultant nationality eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with preferably previous project experience related to international water and wastewater sector projects, development and implementation of a FOPIP in public sector utilities and in the legal framework necessary for drafting and implementing a Public Service Agreement in Croatia.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
a. Key Expert No 1 (Project Manager with wastewater utility expertise) with preferably 10 years of previous professional international experience in water and wastewater sector projects procured under financing arrangements with government agencies or international financial institutions.
b. Key Expert No 2 (Local Team Leader ) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in water and waste water sector projects procured under financing arrangements with government agencies or international financial institutions and well acquainted with Croatian laws and regulations.
c. Key Expert No 3 (Financial Expert) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in financial management of public utilities
d.Key Experts No 4 (Pool of Additional Experts) consisting of Legal expert; Training/Corporate Development experts; Environmental and Social expert.
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 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 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 and Croatian via email (pdf) to the Client’s contact person, 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:
Vesna Arar Maričić, Assistant manager
Vodoopskrba i odvodnja d.o.o., Zagreb
Full Address Folnegoviceva 1, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
E-mail: Vesna.arar.maricic@zgh.hr
Tel: +385 1 616 31 41
Fax + 385 1 616 31 00
The EBRD Contact Person:
Larissa Gosling
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
E-mail: goslingl@ebrd.com
Tel: + 44 20 7338.6338
Fax: +44 20 7338 7451
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 previous international experience in water and wastewater sector projects (15%);
(b) Firm’s previous experience in development and implementation of a FOPIP in organizations comparable to the Client (30%);
(c) Firm’s previous experience in drafting and implementing Public Service Agreement in countries with comparable conditions to Croatia (15%);
(d) CV of Key expert No 1 (20%);
(e) CVs of Key experts No 2, No 3 and No 4 (20%).
