Project Description:
Over the past years, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) has conducted three assessments of concession/PPP legislative frameworks in the EBRD countries of operations based on a coherent methodology (the “Concession/PPP Assessments”). The Concession/PPP Assessments compare relevant legal frameworks in the EBRD region with modern internationally accepted standards, and, similar to other assessments, are designed to see to what extent an operative framework is compliant with best practices in that sector. The results of the Concession/PPP Assessments identify strengths and weaknesses of a given framework both from a perspective of the extensiveness (“law on the books”) and the effectiveness (“law in practice”) of relevant laws, and aim to flag out the existing gaps in the legislative composition. The 2012 EBRD Concessions/PPP Laws Assessment Report can be viewed via the following link: http://www.ebrd.com/downloads/legal/concessions/pppreport.pdf.
While the EBRD PPP assessments are based on internationally accepted standards in the PPP sector, the latter themselves are undergoing constant development. Therefore, in order to ensure the most accurate and valuable outcome of the concession/PPP assessments, in 2015 the EBRD carried out a review of the developments and trends in the PPP sector, followed by a revision of the methodology for concession/PPP laws assessments. This exercise produced the Memorandum on the current status of international standards in the PPP sector and the revised assessment methodology and checklist (the “Revised Methodology and Checklist”), which are aimed at adequately reflecting all latest policy, standards and best practices developments in the concession/PPP sector; the 2016 PPP Assessment will utilise the latter two documents, updated as may be necessary.
The 2016 PPP Assessment will implement both a coherent, comparative to earlier assessments, and a more focused approach (the “Focused Approach”). This will comprise the following novelties: a) a subject Focused Approach aimed at (i) achieving a more objective approach to PPP Laws assessment, enhancing the credibility of the latter and its responsiveness to the modern challenges of the operation environment, (ii) more practical orientation based on the implementation in practice of constantly evolving trends and standards, and (iii) better bankability issues practices consideration; and b) a country Focused Approach, whereby selected 12 EBRD countries of operations will be subject to a more extensive assessment (e.g., detailed desktop analysis; more granular and focused evaluation; interviews with relevant stakeholders (including field interviews), such as public sector/policy formulation agencies, PPP units and private sector participants, operators, professional advisers, financiers etc.). The EBRD countries of operations for the country Focused Approach will be determined at a later stage and will represent all EBRD regions.
Assignment Description
The Bank now intends to engage a consulting company (the “Consultant”) to undertake a regular assessment of concession/PPP laws of the EBRD countries of operations based on internationally accepted standards in the PPP sector (the “Assignment”). While performing the Assignment, the Consultant is expected to work alongside another Bank's consultant who will be engaged under separate procurement process.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:
a) review and finalisation of the Revised Methodology and Checklist, including commentary on the Revised Methodology taking into account the increased focus on objectiveness, practicality and bankability (the Revised Methodology and Checklist will be disclosed to the selected consultant only);
b) development and proposal of a set of criteria for statistics and comparative analysis purposes;
c) collection of information on PPP projects in the EBRD countries of operations;
d) verification of data, results of the initial research and the information collected with at least one law firm/PPP expert in the relevant country;
e) verification/amendment as necessary of the preliminary findings based on desktop review/evaluation results;
f) identification of the key stakeholders to be interviewed during the field trips for purposes of the country Focused Approach, development of the methodology for such interviews;
g) field trips to 12 EBRD countries of operations to apply the country Focused Approach as required;
h) systematisation and synthesis of the data obtained;
i) tabulation of the results for each country in an accessible database;
j) development of an interactive tool to be available for use on the internet so that users could choose data per country and compare countries data in any given category, to be available on the EBRD website;
k) development of a visible and presentable (including for publishing and slide presentation) format for showcasing the findings of the 2016 PPP Assessment;
l) presentation of the findings in a comprehensive 2016 PPP Assessment Report and 12 country Focused Approach reports;
m) preparation for publication the results of the 2016 PPP Assessment including putting together all deliverables as well as relevant materials and findings; collating the above and editing; arranging of printing (excluding printing costs);
n) promotion of the 2016 PPP Assessment results, including organisation of and participation in 2 promotion events, etc.; and
o) preparation of an article summarising the results of the 2016 PPP Assessment.
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 as soon as the Consultant is selected and has an estimated overall duration of fourteen months.
Maximum Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 200,000.00 (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: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund. Selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
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 transactional experience in concessions/PPP area, previous regulatory and assessment experience in conducting concessions/PPP laws advisory and assessments, preferably in the EBRD countries of operations.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
a. Key Expert No 1 Team Leader – senior international expert, with preferably 12 years of previous professional experience and a good degree of legal expertise in concessions/PPP area, including policy/regulatory issues and with past experience in similar assignments, and excellent presentation skills;
b. Pool of Key Experts No 2 – Senior advisors with good knowledge of local market and laws, including past and present involvement in concessions/PPP projects in the EBRD countries of operations, and familiar with PPP/concessions trends and best international practices. Minimum one expert per each of the EBRD country of operations will be an advantage;
c. Pool of Key Experts No 3 – Experts in web products design and development, statistics and data collection with extensive previous experience in providing services similar to the services required for the Assignment, including evaluations, data collection and internet-based interactive tools production.
Key Experts should be fluent in English.
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 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.
Failure to submit completed and signed Consultant Declaration may result in disqualification of the applicant from the selection process.
The above information should not exceed 30 pages including 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. Each Expression of Interest shall be one file (pdf). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. File size should not exceed 4MB.
Bank Contact Person:
Marina Matushina
Technical Co-operation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6577
e-mail: MatushiM@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
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:
(a) Firm’s previous transactional experience in concessions/PPP area (25%);
((b) Firm’s previous regulatory and assessment experience in conducting concessions/PPP laws advisory and assessments, preferably in the EBRD countries of operations (25%);
(c) CVs of Key Experts (50%: Key Expert No 1 – 20%, Pool of Key Experts No 2 – 15%, Pool of Key Experts No 3 – 15%).
