Moldova: Ungheni Chisinau (UCNGP) Gas Pipeline - Project Implementation Support

Procurement ref:

66895

Country:

Moldova

Business sector:

Natural resources

Project number:

48769

Funding source:

EBRD Shareholder Special Fund

Contract type:

Consultancy Services

Notice type:

Invitation for expressions of interest (CSU)

Issue date:

20 Jan 2017

Closing date:

24 Feb 2017at14:00 Chisinau

PROCUREMENT NOTICE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE CORRECT CONSULTANT PROFILE PROVEN PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AND SHORTLISTING CRITERION FORFIRM'S PREVIOUS PROJECT EXPERIENCE IN PROCUREMENT AND PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT. THE CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 24 FEBRUARY 2017 AT 14:00 HOURS (LOCAL TIME).

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "Bank" or "EBRD") is considering a loan of EUR 41 million to the Government of Moldova ("the Borrower") for the financing of Ungheni Chisinau Natural Gas Pipeline construction ("the Project" or "UCNGP"). The Project will be implemented by VestMoldTransGaz ("VMTG" or the "Client") a state-owned new TSO and operator of UCNGP.

The Moldovan natural gas supply, transmission and distribution network is owned and managed by Moldovagaz, in turn owned by Russian Gazprom (50%+1 share), the Republic of Moldova (35.33%), Transnistria (13.44% - in Gazprom's management since 2005) and staff (1.23%). The first network has been built in 1967 and currently has a total of 1,800 km of transmission pipelines (of which 1,550 km used for national transmission and 250 km used for transit) and 21,100 km distribution pipelines covering only 54% of the localities.

Moldova is a member of the Energy Community Treaty and as such committed to implement the 2nd and 3rd Energy Packages. In 2013 Moldova approved a new Energy Strategy for the period of 2013-2030 that has three key goals: security of the energy supplies, development of the competitive markets and their regional and European integration, ensuring of the environment sustainability and combating climate changes.

Within the context of the Moldovan Energy Strategy, Moldova and Romania built in 2014 a gas interconnector (Iasi-Ungheni) between the natural gas transmission systems of the two countries. Following that, the Ministry of Economy decided to extend the pipeline for 117 km on the Moldovan side to link Ungheni with Chisinau, the capital and the biggest consumption area. This will enable the country to benefit in full from the Ungheni-Iasi interconnection with Romania. The total cost of the pipeline is estimated at EUR 93 million.

The Romanian transport system operator ("TSO") Transgaz has to construct two new compressor stations (5 and 6 MW) that will allow benefiting in full from the capacity of the Ungheni-Iasi interconnection aiming to regulate the pressure in the pipeline. Additionally, a high pressure pipeline from Onesti to Gheraiesti and further to Letcani has to be constructed to ensure the operation of the Ugheni-Chisinau pipeline at full capacity (up to 1.5 bn Nm3 /pa). The total budget of investments is c. EUR 110 million. Currently the plan is to complete the necessary infrastructure construction in 2018.

Assignment Description:The Project will be managed on a day-to-day basis by a Project Implementation Unit ("PIU" or "MEPIU") which has already been established by the Borrower. The PIU will have day-to-day responsibility for the assets to be financed via the Project and will co-ordinate all activities under the Project and coordinate between the contractors, and the EBRD. The Client intends to engage a consulting firm or consortium of firms (the "Consultant") to support the PIU in all aspects of project implementation, including preparation of detailed technical specifications, tender documents, assistance with tendering phase, tender evaluation, contract finalisation and any complaints, administration and supervision of the contract implementation (the "Assignment").

The overall objective of the Assignment is to facilitate the timely and effective implementation of the Project by rendering assistance to the Borrower and VMTG in the implementation of the Project, including all aspects of procurement, implementation, disbursement, and overall management and implementation of environmental and social (E&S) issues.

The selected Consultant shall provide overall project management support to PIU and VMTG and shall perform the following tasks:

1. Strengthening of PIU implementation capacity through trainings on contract development and international procurement methods and procedures development to facilitate contracting and procurement;

2. Assisting the PIU and VMTG with all Project procurement activities’, including tender documents preparation, tendering procedure for works and goods, including evaluation of tenders and drafting tender evaluation reports;

3. Administrating contract implementation including, assisting with works supervision; and,

4. Establishing and implementing mechanisms and routines for project-related financial and accounting operations, control and monitoring

The work of the Consultant refers to the whole Project and not only to the portion to be financed by EBRD.

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 Q2 2017 and has an estimated overall duration of 36 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment:EUR 700,000 (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 EBRD Shareholder Special Fund.

Eligibility:There are no eligibility restrictions.

Consultant Profile:Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or group of firms preferably with proven previous experience related to:

  1. Administrative management, procurement and project implementation support in thegas transmissionsector.
  2. Designing and administrating projects of similar scope and size in the relevant sector (gas pipeline construction) preferably in Moldova, Romania and the South East Europe region.

The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows with good verbal and written communication skills in English. The ability to work in Romanian would be considered an advantage.

More specifically, the following key experts are required:

  1. Key Expert No. 1(Team Leader/Project Manager with minimum BSc degree in engineering or similar with preferably 15 years relevant previous professional experience in gas pipeline design and construction supervision with preferably 8 years as project manager or team leader in similar projects. Knowledge of EBRD Procurement Policy and Rules (PP&R) and FIDIC conditions of contract will be considered an advantage.
  2. Key Expert No. 2(Contracts, Procurement and Claims Manager) with minimum BSc degree in engineering or similar with preferably 10 years relevant experience in contracting, procurement and claims assessment for gas pipeline construction with preferably a minimum of 5 years in contracting, procurement or claims management for similar projects. Knowledge of EBRD Procurement Policy and Rules (PP&R) and FIDIC conditions of contract will be considered an advantage
  3. Key Expert No. 3(Contract/Procurement Engineer) with minimum BSc degree in engineering or similar with preferably 5 years relevant experience in in public contracting and procurement for gas pipeline construction preferably with specific experience in local public procurement law. Knowledge of EBRD Procurement Policy and Rules (PP&R) and FIDIC conditions of contract will be considered an advantage.
  4. Key Expert No. 4(Environmental and Social Specialist) with minimum BSc degree in earth or biological science or other relevant discipline with preferably 10 years relevant experience conducting similar projects in the relevant sector, specifically in the development and implementation of avoidance, mitigation and monitoring measures for the construction of pipelines with hands on experience preparing ESIA, ESMP LRF and onsite construction management of pipeline installation, with extensive knowledge and understanding of EBRD’s environmental and social Performance Requirements and past experience of assistance in their successful implementation

Additionally, adequate local support staff shall be provided for the administrative task under the Project and shall be responsible for the translation of documents from Romanian/Russian to English and vice versa, as necessary.

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

The expression of interest shall not exceed 25 pages (excluding CVs and the Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet).

The completeexpression of interest (including CVs, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) should be submitted,in English and Romanian/ Russian via email (pdf)to the Client's contact person, to reach the Client not later than the closing date. One additional copyin English and Romanian/Russian via email (pdf) should also be submittedto the EBRD's contact person by the same due date. The expression of interestshall be one file (pdf).The Client reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if any limitation on the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

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. The shortlist criteria and weightings are as follows:

(a) Firm's previous project experience in procurement and project implementation support in thegas transmission sector(30%)

(b) Firm's relevant sector experience particularly in the design and administration of supervision of works projects of similar scope and size preferably in Moldova, Romania and the South East Europe region. Knowledge of FIDIC conditions of contract and procurement policies and rules of international financial institutions (such as the EBRD, World Bank or others) is considered an advantage (30%);

(c) CVs of Key Experts proposed with previous project experience in the relevant sector in Moldova, Romania and the South East Europe region with fluency in English (good written and communication skills). The ability to work in Romanian language would be considered an advantage (40%).

The Client Contact Person:
Aurelia Samson
Director MEPIU
VestMoldTransGaz ("VMTG")
Tel: +373 22 49 67 96
Email:

The EBRD Contact Person:
Mrs Viv Lewis-Headlam
Technical Cooperation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6885
E-mail: