Since its establishment in April 1991, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested over €160 billion in more than 6,000 projects across Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa so as to meet its commitment to ‘foster the transition towards open market-oriented economies and to promote private and entrepreneurial initiative’. With operations in 39 countries, the EBRD also provides a wide variety of funding opportunities for suppliers, contractors, and consultants worldwide through project procurement, thus opening up opportunities for mutually advantageous business partnerships.
DevelopmentAid, in collaboration with EBRD, invites organizations and individual experts interested in discovering avenues for possible collaboration to join the webinar “Doing Business with EBRD. Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement”. This session offers an exclusive opportunity to gain valuable insights into the role of consultancy services in the operations of ERBD and the practical considerations for initiating fruitful partnerships and business collaborations.
Project procurement refers to the acquisition of goods, works, services, and consultancy services by the EBRD or its borrowers for Bank-financed projects. At the same time, there is also the ability to submit proposals for contracts financed through corporate procurement. These types of contacts involve the acquirement of products, services, and expert services necessary to meet the internal needs of EBRD departments at its London headquarters and the affiliated network of regional offices.
It is important to mention that about 46% of the tenders (co)managed by EBRD involve the procurement of consultancy services. These typically involve the provision of professional, intellectual, training, and advisory services by qualified consultants to support the operations of the Bank and its clients. Examples of such services include feasibility studies, due diligence assessments, project implementation, and institutional building.
The EBRD is owned by 71 shareholder governments, as well as the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The number of projects initiated by the EBRD during the last five years has been relatively consistent, registering an average of 417 projects per year. The same can be said about the financial investments made by the Bank which averaged €10.2 billion per year. It should be noted that EBRD’s financial activity in 2021 remained largely shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic as global economic activity and business conditions had yet to return to normal. The Bank managed to significantly increase the participation rate of private investors in new projects reaching €1.8 billion in 2021, the highest in the last five years.
Fig.1. Annual volume of commitments made by the EBRD (€ billion)
Source: EBRD and the EU – Operational results.
Invitation to a Webinar
DevelopmentAid and EBRD invite you to attend the webinar “Doing Business with EBRD. Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement” which will take place on 23 June 2022 at 4 pm (Brussels) / 10 am (Washington DC).
Key takeaways
- An overview of the role of consultancy services in the operations of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- Learn more about the EBRD’s approach to consultancy services
- In-depth information on EBRD’s requirements for potential consultants
- Insights into practical considerations.
Speaker
Johan Bert, Associate Director, Policy and Institutional Procurement Operations and Delivery Department at EBRD
Johan has more than 20 years of experience in public procurement. He joined EBRD in 2006 and since then he has worked almost exclusively on the procurement of consultancy services for EBRD and/or EBRD’s clients. Johan is currently the Associate Director for Policy and Institutional matters in EBRD’s Procurement Operations & Delivery Department. Prior to joining EBRD, Johan worked as a procurement lawyer in a UN peacekeeping mission, and as a lawyer in private practice and in-house in Belgium. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of London, a degree in Law from the Université Catholique de Louvain, and a Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Erasmushogeschool Brussel.
Host
Elena Rata, External Relations & Events at DevelopmentAid
