Doing Business with EBRD. Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement | Post Webinar Release

ByIon Ilasco

Doing Business with EBRD. Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement |  Post Webinar Release

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a multilateral development bank that is focused on transition development (competitive, inclusive, well-governed, green, resilient) and implements its mandate through investment projects (loans, equity, guarantees), advisory services, and technical assistance. The Bank offers plenty of opportunities for firms and individual consultants via corporate and technical assistance procurement.

To assist entities interested in collaborating with EBRD, DevelopmentAid invited Johan Bert (Associate Director, Policy and Institutional Procurement Operations and Delivery Department at EBRD) to discuss EBRD’s profile, its approach to consultancy services, and share some practical insights for fruitful collaborations.

An overview of EBRD’s portfolio

The EBRD is active in 38 economies from central Europe to Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED), and more recently Lebanon and the West Bank. Data for 2021 shows that South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Southern and Eastern Mediterranean are EBRD’s top regions in terms of the share of its portfolio, reaching a cumulative amount of €25.9 billion in 2021. At the same time, Cyprus and Greece and Russia hold the lowest share of the EBRD’s portfolio with €2.2 billion and €1.1 billion respectively. The EBRD’s mandate in Cyprus expired at the end of 2020 and the Bank has ceased investing in any new projects there but will continue to manage the existing portfolio.

Fig.1. The EBRD’s regional portfolio (2021, € billion)

Source: Johan Bert (EBRD). Business outreach webinar with DevelopmentAid – Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement (23 June 2022).

In response to the unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine, the EBRD decided to withdraw all its operations in Russia and Belarus. At the same time, during the EBRD’s latest annual general meeting the shareholders approved preliminary authorization to expand the Bank’s operations to the sub-Saharan Africa region within the next one to five years.

As of 2021, about half of the EBRD’s portfolio is in sustainable infrastructure with a specific focus on municipal infrastructure, energy, and transport. The Bank supports around 70 projects per year worth € 2.4 billion across sectors and subsectors located in this group. Simultaneously, about 28% of the EBRD’s portfolio refers to industry, commerce, and agribusiness which essentially represent all the Bank’s private sector operations excluding loans for financial institutions. The remaining 23% of the portfolio represents loans and equity provided to commercial banks and other financial institutions to support local SMEs.

Fig.2. EBRD’s portfolio based on sectors of operation

Source: Johan Bert (EBRD). Business outreach webinar with DevelopmentAid – Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement (23 June 2022).

The main types/characteristics of projects that the EBRD does and does not fund

Source: Johan Bert (EBRD). Business outreach webinar with DevelopmentAid – Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement (23 June 2022).

EBRD Corporate Procurement Policy

The EBRD’s corporate procurement policy is built around a set of principles that endeavor to ensure the organization has transparent, fair, and open procurement practices to obtain high-quality project outcomes in a timely, non-discriminatory, and efficient manner. The Bank strives to approve deals that ensure the effective and economic use of resources, contractual protection for all parties, and the advancement of sustainability.

The EBRD’s annual spending on project-related consultancy funded under the corporate procurement policy ranges between €135 and 145 million (~ 90% donor-funded and ~ 10% funded from the EBRD’s resources). In the past few years, this amount has decreased slightly due to the effects of the global pandemic crisis. Nevertheless, Johan expects this number to recover to post-pandemic levels in 2022. The second pillar of the procurement operations at EBRD covers the acquisition of goods, works, services, and consultancy services for corporate needs (100% funded from the EBRD’s resources). Generally, the Bank allocates somewhere between £60 and 90 million annually for this. However, in 2021 this number reached almost £200 million which was mainly due to construction costs for the new EBRD headquarters in London.

Eligibility

The EBRD’s contracts are open to firms and individuals from all countries, regardless of whether the country of residence is a member of the Bank. The only eligibility conditions imposed are limited to the operational capabilities (legal, financial, commercial, and technical aspects of a party necessary to fulfill the contract in question) and the procedural characteristics (conflict of interest or an unfair competitive advantage, subject to UN sanctions, conflicting activities).

Opportunities for Consultants

The EBRD offers plenty of opportunities for consultants which can be filtered based on the sourcing department:

Source: Johan Bert (EBRD). Business outreach webinar with DevelopmentAid – Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement (23 June 2022).

The steps below highlight the procedures that consultants must go through before a contract is awarded:

Step 1: Pre-Engagement Stage

As a first step, entities will study the EBRD’s profile, research areas for possible collaboration, and analyze their capabilities.

Step 2: Registration

Once an entity is confident that it meets the Bank requirements it can register as a supplier via EBRD’s electronic procurement platform (SMART by GEP). The system provides all the EBRD’s suppliers with a single point of entry for EBRD’s goods, works, services, and consultancy service opportunities allowing one registration per legal person.

Step 3: Sourcing Overview

At this step, consultants study the available funding opportunities and select those that match their interests/profiles. EBRD uses three types of selection procedures that differ based on the award value.

Source: Johan Bert (EBRD). Business outreach webinar with DevelopmentAid – Corporate and Technical Assistance Procurement (23 June 2022).

Step 4: Bidding/Proposing the Contract (EBRD Template)

The parties will prepare and submit the bid/proposal documents formatted using the mandatory guidelines (e.g., confidentiality obligations) including the Qualification, Technical, and Financial Questionnaires. The EBRD’s contract template is in principle non-negotiable but specific aspects (e.g., liability, insurance, payment schedules) may be negotiated within reasonable boundaries.

Step 5: Submit Bids before the Deadline

Timing deadlines represent an absolute limit for submissions. Late submissions will not be considered.

Step 6: Evaluation

The EBRD evaluates consulting proposals based on written submissions. Thus, parties are encouraged to specify all details in written form. Other evaluation methods are possible but follow after the written submissions are analyzed. Proposals that fail to meet the requirements become non-responsive.

Step 7: Feedback

Feedback is provided on request only with the scope being on your proposal. No information on other proposals will be offered.

Step 8: Contract Implementation

Once the contract is signed, the project moves to the implementation phase. Performance is examined in accordance with the contract deliverables, content, and pre-selected timeframes. Any changes to the contract can be made by mutual agreement only.

Set 9: Settlement/Invoicing

All invoices need to be in line with the contract, in particular with the pre-approved schedule of invoices and include the supporting evidence (if required), contract currency, and the bank account that match account in SMART registration.

Here are some useful links:

Contacts:

  • Johan Bert (Associate Director, Policy and Institutional Procurement Operations and Delivery Department): bertj@ebrd.com
  • Technical Cooperation enquiries (Interim Procurement Lead – David Lyon): lyond@ebrd.com
  • Corporate Procurement (Associate Director, Procurement Operations and Delivery Department- Thomas Gale): GaleT@ebrd.com
  • Project Procurement enquiries (Director – Jan Jackholt): thomasm@ebrd.com
  • Vendor Management team: S2CVendorManagement@ebrd.com
  • For any technical issues with Registration please contact: support@gep.com

For those who did not have the opportunity to join us for this online event, a link to the recorded version can be found here. The presentation materials used during this webinar can be requested at e.rata@developmentaid.org.

We invite you to our next webinar on “How to do business with GIZ. Best practices in the recruitment process” which will take place on 14 July 2022 at 4 PM (Brussels) or 10 AM (Washington DC). Our guest speakers, Tina Köhler and Frank Seifarth will introduce the agency’s recruitment strategy, discuss collaboration opportunities for experts, and share some practical insights on landing rewarding jobs within GIZ.

DevelopmentAid is the leading provider of business intelligence and recruitment tools designed to assist all those active in the development sector. Join today and gain access to exclusive information on the full array of upcoming funding opportunities from EBRD and other over 200 international donors.