Belarus (TCS 32028): Municipal Environmental Infrastructure (MEI) Framework Facility - Corporate Development and City/Regional Support Programmes

Executing/Contracting Agencies (Clients):

The Clients for this Assignment will be the Cities/Regions of Vitebsk, Baranovichi, Slonim, Grodno and Brest, who have a controlling stake in each participating water company.

Assignment Description:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the Bank or EBRD) has set up a Municipal Environmental Infrastructure (MEI) Framework Facility for Belarus (the Facility) comprising a sovereign loan of up to EUR 30 million for secondary cities to finance wastewater treatment, power production from biogas in wastewater treatment plants and other municipal services (the Sub-Projects). The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is considering co-financing the Facility with a sovereign loan of up to EUR 25 million. The loan is subject to approval by NIB's Board of Directors. The EBRD and NIB (together the Lenders) will have separate loan agreements with the Government of Belarus. The Facility will also consist of capital grant funds from the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The participating municipalities are Vitebsk, Baranovichi, Slonim, Grodno and Brest (the Clients, the Cities or the Participating Municipalities).

The investments were identified following discussions with the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of Belarus and the Participating Municipalities and following an identification mission commissioned by the NIB in 2009 and funded by Sida. The Participating Municipalities were identified based on selection criteria covering maximum environmental impact, downstream effects for rivers reaching the Baltic Sea, local prioritisation, and energy conservation. Further beneficiaries will be the Water Companies of Vitebsk, Grodno, Brest, Slonim and Baranovichi (each the Company, together the Companies).

The planned Sub-Projects will cover general rehabilitation of water and wastewater facilities in Vitebsk, Grodno and Brest, and installation of equipment for generating, collecting and using biogas in Slonim and Baranovichi. The five identified Sub-Projects are expected to move into implementation simultaneously, which will facilitate the provision of consultancy advice covering all Clients.

The Cities now intend to retain a consulting company (the Consultant) to provide advice on a Corporate Development and City/Regional Support Programme from which both the Cities and the Companies will benefit (the Assignment).

The Assignment consists of two main Parts:

Part I: Corporate Development Programme for Companies to improve their commercial standing, service and environmental and social performance by helping to identify and implement the necessary corporate, financial and operational improvements required to meet the related covenants included in the EBRD finance documents. This will be achieved via the development and implementation of a Financial and Operational Performance Improvement Programme (FOPIP). The Consultant shall also assist the Companies to develop a medium-term focused corporate development plan and to improve their corporate planning capacity to assist ongoing transition towards becoming self-sustaining entities and commercial operators.

Part II: Cities/Regions Support Programme to implement Project Support Agreements, which will be key components of the financial structure for the proposed Sub-Projects. A related aim of the Cities/Regions Support Programme is to raise institutional capacity within the Cities/Regions to assist them in managing the Sub-Projects in an effective manner as well as to raise their financial planning capacities and thereby improve their creditworthiness. Additionally, the Consultant shall assist the Cities/Regions in the analysis of the baseline social situation of the vulnerable sections of the population and the impact of the Sub-Projects on these groups, and in connection to this assess any impact of the Sub-Projects of the equality between men and women.

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 June 2012 and has an estimated overall duration of 2.5 years.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 805,000 (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: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland - EBRD TC Fund.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions in terms of the nationality of firms or individual experts but the eligibility is restricted under specific circumstances as further defined in the section Important Notes below.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with:

(1) Extensive previous project experience in the institutional and regulatory aspects of the water sector and in implementing the key areas of this Assignment.

(2) Similar project experience in corporate development programmes for preferably municipal companies, development and implementation of FOPIPs, capacity building programmes for municipalities and project implementation support for cities/regions.

(3) Previous project experience in countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

It is expected that the Consultant's team of key international and local experts will at least consist of:

(a) Project Manager;

(b) Legal, institutional and regulatory experts;

(c) Finance experts;

(d) Environmental and social experts;

(e) Stakeholder participation programme and water sector policy experts.

All international specialists must be fluent in English. Knowledge of Russian is considered to be an advantage because it is expected that the daily work requires extensive communication in Russian. Where Consultant staff is not fluent in Russian, full-time translation and interpretation must be provided for by the Consultant at its own costs.

Consultants are encouraged to associate with/sub-contract local consultants with a thorough knowledge of the local environment, conditions, needs and requirements. When cooperating with local partner firms Consultants are advised to pay attention of the specific requirements and restrictions as per section 5.5 (b) of the EBRD Procurement Policies and Rules (PP&R).

The EBRD's PP&R are available at:

http://www.ebrd.com/pages/research/publications/policies/procurement.shtml

Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be shortlisted, the information submitted should include the following:

(a) brief overview of the firm/group of firms including company profile, organisation and staffing;

(b) details of similar experience of firm or group of firms and related assignments 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, assignment budget, percentage carried out by consultant in case of association of firms or subcontracting, main activities, objectives;

(c) 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.

(d) Completed 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 and contact sheet).

One original , 2 hard copies and one electronic copy of the expression of interest, in English and in Russian, shall be submitted to the Client's Contact Person in Belarus in an envelope marked

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST for BELARUS (TCS 32028):  MEI FRAMEWORK FACILITY - CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT AND CITY/REGIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAMMES FOR THE CITIES/REGIONS OF VITEBSK, BREST, GRODNO, SLONIM AND BARANOVICHI AND THEIR WATER COMPANIES

to reach the above stated Client's Contact person not later than 15 March 2012 at 17:00 hrs (Minsk time).

One further hard and electronic copy shall should be submitted to the EBRD's contact person by the same due date.

Important Notes:

1. Following this invitation for expressions of interest, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.

2. Contracting entities are the 5 Cities/Clients. Accordingly, the selected Consultant shall conclude five individual contracts with the 5 Clients.

3. The EBRD and the Water Companies are conducting (partly) parallel selection processes for related consultancy assignments as follows:

(a) Belarus (TCS 32029): Municipal Environmental Infrastructure (MEI) Framework Facility - Project Management Support including Detailed Design, Procurement and Engineering Supervision; and

(b) Belarus (TCS 33368) - Municipal Environmental Infrastructure (MEI) Framework Facility - Facility Monitor.

Consultants may apply for all three assignments (TCS 33368, 32028 and 32029), but any Consultant invited to negotiate one contract will not be eligible to implement any other related assignment. Nevertheless, Consultants are encouraged to participate in two or all three procurements. In the event that the first-ranked firm for one assignment is also ranked first in the selection process for a(n) additional assignment(s) that firm will be offered the choice to negotiate for either of the concerned assignment(s).

4. Shorltisting Criteria and Weights are:

(a) Firm/group of firms' previous project experience related to the institutional and regulatory aspects of the water sector and to implementation of projects similar to this Assignment - 20%

(b) Firm/group of firms' previous project experience related to corporate development programmes for preferably municipal companies, development and implementation of FOPIPs, capacity building programmes for municipalities and project implementation support for cities/regions., preferably in in countries of Central and Eastern Europe - 30%

(c) CV of Project Manager/Team Leader with previous professional experience related to areas as described under criteria (a) and (b) - 10%

(d) CVs for Pool of Additional Experts (Legal, institutional and regulatory experts; Finance experts; Environmental and social experts; Stakeholder participation programme and water sector policy experts) - 40%

CONTACTS

The Client's Contact Person in Belarus:

Natasha Alexandrova

Banking Assistant

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

34A Engelsa Street, Building 2

220030 Minsk, Belarus

Tel: +375 (17) 2104787

Fax: +375 17 328 35 22

Email: alexandn@ebrd.com

The Client's contact person in Belarus is co-ordinating the procurement process on behalf of the Clients. However the Clients are exclusively responsible for the evaluation of expressions of interest and proposals.

The EBRD's Contact Person:

Martin Ehrenberg

Senior Advisor

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

One Exchange Square

London EC2A 2JN

Tel: + 44 20 7338 7657

Fax: +44 20 7338 7451

E-mail: EhrenbeM@ebrd.com