Brcko District Municipal Project – Feasibility Study

Item Description:

Brcko District (the District) and JP Komunalno Brcko (the Company), the public utility company for Brcko District, approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD or the Bank) with a request to assess the possibility of financing the rehabilitation and extension of the water and wastewater network of the District. The Brcko District Municipal Project (the “Project”) plans to expand and rehabilitate the water supply and wastewater systems in the District. The main objective of the Project is to reduce water losses, sewage leakages and improve the quality of the water.

JP Komunalno Brcko is the only company providing municipal services to the residents of the District (approximately, 93,000 inhabitants). The Company owns two water plants, one plant processes water from the river Sava and the other plant processes water from groundwater wells. Presently there is no wastewater treatment plant and the sewage network is discharging the untreated wastewater (raw sewage) into the river Sava.

The Project’s priority investment programmes (the PIP) is estimated at around EUR 12 million where the Bank is planning to provide a loan of up to EUR 10 million and could be potentially co-financed by a capital grant of EUR 2 million from an international donor. The final amount of the investment needs for the Project will be confirmed and finalised as a result of the planned Feasibility Study (FS).

Assignment Description
The Bank now intends to engage a consultant (the Consultant) to undertake a Feasibility Study for the Project (the Assignment). The overall objective of the Assignment is to prepare a Feasibility Study which the Bank can use to appraise the Project and take a decision on the prospective financing. The Feasibility Study will provide an overview of the Company’s procedures and technical, operational, environmental, social, and financial performance, and should form the basis for agreeing on the Company’s restructuring objectives in the loan document (e.g. reduction in water losses, improvements in tariff collections, standards of treatment, etc.).

The Consultant shall undertake the following key tasks for the Assignment:
1. Baseline Study: Review of the Company’s current management practices and state of the water and wastewater services in the District from institutional, legal, financial, technical and environmental and social perspectives.
2. Socio-Economic data: Compile Company and District socio-economic data relevant to water and wastewater operations, including demographic data, household income, expenditure, consumption behaviour and health information.
3. Technical Assessment: Assess key attributes of the current service and service development, including water services and resources, water treatment system, potable water distribution system, wastewater services, long term investment strategy.
4. Priority Investment Programme (PIP): Present and justify a PIP based on revenue generating investments, maximisation of operational cost savings, improved operational efficiency of the Company and compliance with EU directives for water and wastewater;
5. Financial analysis: Develop financial projections for a 20 year period of the Project
6. Environmental and Social Assessment: Conduct a screening of the Project proposal against EBRD’s E&S Policy and Performance Requirements and based on the Bank’s categorisation of the Project.
7. Resource Efficiency Assessment: Identify and analyse resource efficiency measures and production optimisation opportunities.

The full Terms of Reference for the assignment can be accessed here.

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 Q1 2017 and has an estimated overall duration of 4 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 245,200 (exclusive of VAT). Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the specific needs of the Client the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope. 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: It is anticipated that the Assignment will be funded by Sweden through the Sida – EBRD Municipal Environment and Climate Programme Account II (SWM2) Trust Fund.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms preferably with previous project experience related to undertaking feasibility studies for IFIs in the water and wastewater sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina and/or the Western Balkans for projects of similar size and complexity. The Consultant should preferably have a good knowledge of IFI procedures and rules on public procurement and disbursement policies.

The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:

Key Expert No 1: Project Manager/Team Leader with a university degree or equivalent qualification with preferably 15 years of professional experience in the field of water supply and wastewater management, with comprehensive experience of similar assignments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in institutional and commercial management of water/wastewater Company. The Expert shall preferably have previous experience with EBRD procedures.

Key Expert No 2: Financial Specialist(s) with previous project experience in public financing and financial modelling preferably for municipal infrastructure projects;

Key Expert No 3: Technical Specialists and Water and Wastewater Engineers with previous project experience in conducting due diligence;

Key Expert No 4: Environmental and Social Experts with previous project experience in undertaking ESIAs and E&S due diligence, health and safety assessments, stakeholder engagement, public consultation and disclosure in the local context, gender and inclusion expertise, and/or resettlement expertise, in the water/wastewater sector with experience of similar assignments and with recent track record in the Western Balkans.

Key Experts No 5: Pool of additional experts with previous project experience in similar assignments in the following areas: climate change adaptation, resource efficiency (water and wastewater treatment), institutional reform and legal services in the areas of natural monopolies regulation, Bosnia and Herzegovina tariff legislation and water supply and wastewater.
The Consultant should integrate local professional skills/cooperate with local consulting companies into its project team in order to provide national experience. Accordingly the Consultant shall engage Bosnian speaking staff in their team or arrange for translation/interpreting when necessary. All experts must be independent and free from conflicts of interest in the responsibilities accorded to them.

Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be shortlisted, 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.

The expression of interest shall not exceed 25 pages (excluding 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 eSelection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (PDF). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications from firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded (4MB), the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

EBRD Contact Person:
James Yoo
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: +44 20 7338 6369
Email: YooJ@ebrd.com

Important 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 as follows:
(a) Firm’s previous project experience in preparing feasibility studies for IFIs for similar size projects (30%)
(b) Firm’s previous project experience on similar assignments in the water and wastewater sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina and/or Western Balkans (20%)
(c) CV of Key Expert 1 (20%)
(d) CV of Key Experts 2-5 (30%)

http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/procurement/pn-67342.html