Project ID: P173975

Project Title: Georgia Relief and Recovery for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

Borrower Bid Reference: GE-EG-CS-CQS-02

Details:

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Georgia

Project Name: The Relief and Recovery for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

Project No: P173975

Loan No. 9239-GE

Assignment Title:  Secured Transactions Reform Legal Consultant (firm)

Reference No. GE-EG-CS-CQS-02

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (MoESD), within the Relief and Recovery for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Project supported by the World Bank intends to apply part of the loan proceeds for consulting services on secured transactions reform (National Consultant).

The Project Development Objective for the Relief and Recovery for MSME operation is to provide relief to MSMEs and support their recovery, including by strengthening the enabling environment for access to finance.

Secured Transactions reform aims to improve the legislative and institutional framework, which will significantly facilitate lending secured by movable assets and, consequently, facilitate access to finance for economic entities, especially SMEs. In general, secured transaction systems increase access to finance while reducing credit risk, as well as reducing borrowing costs, increasing market competition, and facilitating loan portfolio diversification.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

In order to address existing shortcomings in legislation, it is necessary to improve legal framework concerning secured transactions, bring the current secured transactions framework in line with international best practice and the UNICITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions.

The overall objective of the assignment is to draft amendments in legislation concerning secured transactions, ensure consistency and compliance with international best practice while considering Georgian context, legal framework, market specificities and public registry system. 

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONSULTANT

The Consultant shall provide the following tasks:

• Review the existing secured transactions legal framework in Georgia, building on and updating past legal Review and Recommendations for Secured Transactions Reform conducted in 2019. This will include analyzing the existing legal and regulatory framework governing secured transactions including but not limited to the following legal acts:

• Civil Code,
• Law on Public Registry,
• Law on Enforcement Proceedings,
• Law on Notaries,
• Law on Tax System and Tax Services,
• Law on Securities Market,
• Law on rehabilitation and the collective satisfaction of creditors,
• Draft law on factoring,
• Regulations governing the registration of security interests.

• Review compliance of Georgian legal and regulatory framework concerning secured transactions, including related to the public registry, with international best practice.
• Identify shortcomings in current legislation and inconsistencies with international best practice and UNICITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions.
• Based on the analysis above, (i) update the Legal Review prepared in 2019, and (ii) prepare a brief report describing the assessment of the secured transactions system in Georgia and providing recommendations, including on notice-based public registry system, to align the current secured transactions framework with the best international practice.
• Once the updated legal review and the brief report are completed and distributed to relevant stakeholders by MOESD, participate in meetings and events organized with relevant stakeholders, including those represented in the Working Group but also others in the private sector, to help disseminate the reports’ findings and gather feedback on both documents. Incorporate the feedback gathered during the initial consultations into the initial analysis and the proposed recommendations.
• Prepare the amendments package in the legislation that will address shortcomings in current legislation and bring the legislative framework in compliance with international best practice while considering specificities of Georgian legislation
• Present and participate in meetings to disseminate and explain the amendments package to the stakeholders of the secured transactions reform, including the Working Group and interested entities in the private sector. Collect the views offered by stakeholders during the consultation process and incorporate those views, where applicable, into the amendments package.

ASSIGNMENT IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS:

The Consultant shall deliver the above scope of work in the following 3 phases:

Phase I – Inception Phase

Phase II – Legal Review and elaboration of recommendations for updating legislative framework governing secured transactions in Georgia

Phase III – Drafting of amendments

The tentative duration of the assignment is estimated as 12 months.

The level of effort for this Consulting Service is estimated to be in the range of GEL 270,000.00, including VAT.

The Terms of Reference of the assignment is available as an Annex.

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (MoESD invites eligible consultants (“Consultants”) to express their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services.

THE SHORTLISTING CRITERIA ARE:

• • At least 10 permanent employees.
  • At least 5 years of experience working in the similar consultancy projects with government and at least 3 similar contracts with minimum value of USD 25 000 in last 5 years.
  • At least 5 years of experience in drafting amendments in laws, bylaws and assessing legislation.
  • Experience working on at least one international project.
  • Familiarity with international best practice and UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions.

Note: the EG reserves it’s right to verify submitted references and use obtained information for evaluation purposes. 

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 3.14 “Conflict of Interest” of the World Bank’s Guidelines: World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrower, July 2016, revised November 2017, revised August 2018 and revised November 2020”, setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.  In addition, please refer to the following specific information on conflict of interest related to this assignment: The consultant shall not receive any remuneration in connection with the assignment except as provided in the contract. The consultant and its affiliates shall not engage in consulting or other activities that conflict with the interest of the client under the contract. The contract shall include provisions limiting future engagement of the consultant for other services resulting from or directly related to the firm’s consulting services in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 3.16, 3.17 and 3.18 of the Regulations.

Consultants may associate with other firms. (Please take into account that form of association acceptable for the World Bank is either sub-consultancy or Joint-Venture and submission must clearly indicate the nature of the association. The experience of sub-consultants will not be taken into account while evaluating the corporate experience of the consultant).

The consultants are strongly recommended to limit their Expression of Interest to 30 pages. Company brochures may be included as an Annex, and will not be affected by the limit of 30 pages.

Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Consultant’s Qualifications Based Selection (CQS) method with national market approach set out in World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrower, July 2016, revised November 2017, revised August 2018 and revised November 2020”.

Interested consultants may obtain further information by email:  [email protected]; [email protected]

Expressions of Interest in English language must be submitted electronically to the address below not later than  COB September 16, 2022.

Attn: To the Administrative Department

E-mail To: [email protected]; [email protected]

Please include the title of the announced selection in subject line of the email.

Organization/Department: Enterprise Georgia

Name: Irakli Gabriadze

Address: 18 Dimitri Uznadze Street

City:

Province/State:

Postal Code:

Country: Georgia

Phone: 558589057

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.enterprisegeorgia.gov.ge/en/home