Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2024-04-09
Region: DEA22
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 90710000
Submission deadline: 2024-05-10

Technical requirements: Zwingende bzw. fakultative Ausschlussgründe nach §§ 123 bis 126 GWB
According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.
The Urban Water Catalyst Initiative (UWCI) is a global initiative to support public urban water and sanitation utilities to make the transition to sustainable financing, enabling higher levels of investment to improve water and sanitation access and quality (SDG 6), and to build climate resilience (SDG 13). The initiative was initiated by the Dutch and German governments and supported by the European Union (EU), and was announced at the UN Water Conference in March 2023. It is a commitment under the "Water Action Agenda". 
The initiative will be implemented by the organisations of GIZ and KfW on behalf of the German Government and VEi on behalf of the Dutch Government. In a first step the UWCI will be operationalised though the UWCI Pilot Project (UPP) which will test the implementation concept and offering in selected utilities in the "Early Engagement Phase". GIZ is the lead implementing agency of UPP, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
The objective of UWCI is to support water utilities to improve their technical, corporate and financial performance with the goal of achieving creditworthiness and securing an affordable and sustainable financing package that meets the utility"s realistic investment needs over the next five to ten years. This process is called "utility turnaround" and is a process of transformational change through which the utility"s performance is substantively improved.
The UPP is structured into three main components in line with the UWCI phases: 
1. UWCI Pilot Project Preparation Phase 
2. UWCI Pilot Project Early Engagement Phase
3. UWCI Pilot Project Phase 1
Currently the UPP Preparation Phase is in progress. It is identifying the utilities through a first call for applications (see Annex). The UPP envisages to support up to 7 utilities. Once the ""UWCI Global Grant Facility" is incorporated, a minimum of additional 3 utilities will be invited to submit applications under a second call for applications. The partner utilities will be selected from the following countries: 1st call (ongoing) in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Egypt, Colombia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines and 2nd call in 2024 in additional countries like Morocco, Moldavia, Jordan and others.
The purpose of the UWCI Pilot "Early Engagement Phase" is to secure the essential pre-conditions for a successful utility turnaround and a transition to sustainable financing, which are the 5 key milestones of 1) two baseline assessments creditworthiness assessment and a climate vulnerability assessment, 2) Board approved strategy and business plan, 3) a "100-days quick win programme" with completing report, 4) specified Technical Assistance (TA) programme and 5) Signing of a Compact agreement with commitments. Based on the key milestones, commitments for the following UWCI Phase 1 and 2 will be defined in a Compact between the utility owner, the utility management and UWCI. The Early Engagement Phase also aims at establishing relationships and developing trust between the utility and the UWCI. This phase is expected to be completed within 6 to 12 months.
A Contractor is required for providing contractual and technical management of short-term experts during the "Early Engagement Phase" of the UWCI Pilot Project for the purpose of: 
1) building up a pool of trusted advisers including pre-selected experts 
2) contracting trusted advisers for the 7 participating utilities, 
3) contracting additional technical experts for the 7 participating utilities and 
4) preparation of key milestones of the Early Engagement Phase for the 7 participating utilities.
GIZ is entitled to extend the deadline for performance of the original contract by unilaterally notifying the Contractor. Please refer to the Special Terms and Conditions for details.
1. Average annual turnover for the last three years (last-but-four financial year can be included in case of tenders held within 6 months of end of last financial year), at least: 1.800.000,00 EUR.
2. Average number of employees and managers in the last three calendar years, at least 15 persons.


Winner: Beschaffungsamt des BMI