Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2024-05-13
Region: DEA22
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 90710000
Award criteria: price, quality

Technical requirements: 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.
Zur Ermittlung des wirtschaftlichsten Bieters wird hier von der Vergabestelle die erreichte Gesamtpunktzahl nach fachlicher Wertung eingetragen. Es werden nur Angebote mit einer fachlichen Bewertung von über 500 Punkten gewertet. Fachliche Angebote mit weniger Punkten scheiden als fachlich ungeeignet aus.
The Urban Water Catalyst Initiative (UWCI) 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.
A Contractor is required for providing contractual and technical management of short-term experts during the "Early Engagement Phase" of the UWCI Pilot Project. The tasks of the Contractor are divided into the following work packages:
Work package 1: Building up the international short-term expert (STE) pools of trusted advisers 
The implementing organisations of the UWCI have already started to pre-select trusted advisers on a short list of about 20 experts based on selection criteria, interviews and expressed interest of the experts. This short list of trusted advisers needs to be further extended with suitable candidates to make a minimum number of 30 experts, who will be part of a STE pool for trusted advisers. The selection of the additional 10 trusted advisers by the contractor will be based on specific selection criteria provided by UPP. The number of 30 experts shall cater for flexibility in case of limitations of availability of experts and for providing enough experts in the matching process (WP 2). 

Work package 2: Matching of trusted advisers with CEOs of partner utilities 
Utilities that have been selected for entry to the programme in the UWCI Pilot Preparation Phase will sign a contract and then receive support of a trusted adviser during the "Early Engagement Phase" which is expected to last between 6 and 12 months. The trusted adviser for each participating utility will be selected by the CEO of the partner utility from a pool of senior advisers. In terms of matching the trusted adviser with a CEO of a partner utility, each utility shall be offered the choice of 3 potential trusted advisers by the contractor based on pre-defined criteria provided by UPP. Each CEO will then select one appropriate and acceptable expert by their choice. The contractor will then make contractual arrangements with the selected trusted adviser with a standardised ToR over a specific period depending on size, complexity and development process of the Compact. The standardised ToR will be developed by the contractor and shared for approval to UPP.
Work package 3: Onboarding of trusted advisers and additional experts
The trusted adviser will be expected to travel to the location of the utility and have in-person meetings and engagements with the utility CEO and key stakeholders. A key purpose of these visits is to build relationships and trust in order to develop a strategy, a business plan, a 100-day quick win programme, specifications for a technical assistance programme and drafting a Compact between the utility, it"s owner and UWCI, 
At least three visits are anticipated, at the beginning, middle and end of the assignment. In-between visits, the adviser is expected to be in regular (e.g. bi-weekly) contact with the utility CEO and other stakeholders to facilitate support and make progress. 
In addition, the trusted adviser will support the CEO of the partner utility to request for additional experts for the other STE pools, if needed for the key milestones of the "Early Engagement Phase" like strategy and business development and climate vulnerability assessment within the available resources. 
Work package 4: Support on key milestones for Early Engagement Phase (see chapter 1.2) in preparation of the Compact (Board approved strategy and business plan, a 100-day quick win programme and climate vulnerability assessments).
The trusted adviser will support and advise the CEO and his team in the review of the utility"s strategy and business plan, a "100-day quick win" programme and climate vulnerability assessment. This may be supported by additional assistance of specialised experts from the STE pools 2, 3 and 4. An important component of this process will be to identify important skill and knowledge gaps within the utility and how best these can be filled, particularly on the top management level.
Work package 5: Support on drafting and signing of Compact Agreement
The trusted adviser shall facilitate the development of commitments of the utility and the utility owners for the compact agreement during the onsite visits and remote support.


Winner: Datenservice Öffentlicher Einkauf (in Verantwortung des Beschaffungsamts des BMI)
Number of bids: 0