The Republic of Uzbekistan
“Sanitation Development Project in the cities of Shakhrisabz, Kitab and Karmana, Uzbekistan”

CONSULTING SERVICES
Expressions of Interest

Reference: SDP/QCBS/03 “Consulting services for supervision”

The JSC “Uzsuvtaminot” has received a financing from Agence Française de Développement ("AFD"), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the following project “Sanitation Development Project in the cities of Shakhrisabz, Kitab and Karmana, Uzbekistan”.
The Services of the consultant shall consist of services for сonstruction supervision for the period 2025-2027 years in the cities of Shakhrisabz, Kitab and Karmana, Uzbekistan.

The Supervision consultant shall act as the Engineer and the Employer’s Representative (in terms of FIDIC, depending on the type of works’ contract) for the supervision of the Component 1: Construction/Reconstruction, extension of centralized sanitation systems including:
➢ Sub-component 1.1: Reconstruction and extension of a centralized sanitation system in the city of Shakhrisabz (Shakhrisabz sub-project)
➢ Sub-component 1.2: Construction of a centralized sanitation system in the city of Kitab (Kitab sub-project)
➢ Subcomponent 1.3: Construction of a centralized sanitation system in the city of Karmana (Karmana sub-project)

The wastewater treatment plants works will be under AFD Standard Procurement Document “Bidding Documents for Procurement of Works – Design, Build and Operate” (FIDIC general conditions), the networks works will be under AFD Standard Procurement Document “Bidding Documents for Procurement of Works” (FIDIC general conditions).

All additional information and description of the project is available in Annexe 1 or on https://afd.dgmarket.com/.
The AFD PIU – branch of JSC “Uzsuvtaminot” hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to: eligible Consulting firms.
Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFD Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website: http://www.afd.fr.
The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.
If the Applicant is a JV, the expression of interest shall include:
 a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members,
or
 a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal,
In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants.
Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.
Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be submitted.
Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
 The technical area and expertise – criteria to establish the shortlist – Candidates must meet all below criteria :
o International experiences in IFI’s in construction supervision, design review & approval, (at least 3 contracts in the last 10 years with 1 experience in Central Asia );
o Multiple experiences in construction supervision and operation of WWTP under Design and Build contract or Design-Build and Operate contract of equivalent under FIDIC General conditions, financed by IFI’s, in the last 10 years (at least 2 contracts for amount of over 1,5 M Euros each ). Advantage will be given to candidates providing supervision experience of Design-Build and Operate construction contracts;
o Multiple experiences in detailed design and construction supervision of sewer networks under FIDIC General conditions , financed by IFI’s in the last 10 years (the candidate supervised at least 2 Works contracts for sewer networks of minimum 20 M Euros each with 1 experience in Central Asia and the supervision’s contract size of the candidate is at least 1,5 M Euros each).

In case of a JV, not all JV members are expected to meet all criteria each, the JV will be evaluated on the combined experiences. In case of JV, the JV leader must represent at least 70% of the minimum requested turnover and provide one DBO (Design-Built-Operation) supervision experience.
In order to be considered for evaluation, the references shall be explicit regarding :
- In case of a joint-venture application, the JV lead Partner must present contract references along with the JV agreement in which he acted as the lead partner or as sole consulting firm to be taken into account;

- In case of a sole consulting firm application, the applicant must present contract references in which he acted as the lead partner or as sole consulting firm to be taken into account.

- In order to present references in which a candidate would have been subcontractor, he must submit references of subcontracts or the agreement of the Lead of this contract in which he acted as subcontractor specifying the tasks performed.

Within its letter of expression of interest, the Applicant must include :
 The Applicant name and its full address for the organisation or group applying; in the case of a JV, the letter shall mention the name of the JV leader. In addition, the Applicant must provide evidence that the signatory of the letter of expression of interest has the powers to represent and is authorized by his company and by each member of the JV to sign.
 ISO 9001 Certification.
 Proof of financial stability of the company - the presence of an annual turnover of at least 5 M Euros for the last 5 years.
 Declaration of integrity, eligibility and environmental and social responsibility (Annex 1). Applicants should be aware that any fraudulent or corrupt activity immediately disqualifies them from participating in the selection process and will be subject to further legal investigation. The said declaration must be submitted and duly signed by the JV leader and all members of the JV.
 Presentation of Applicant showing the organization of the company, its main activities and expertise (max. 5 pages per company). In the case of a JV, this must include the main specialization of each party. The presentation should include the number and qualifications of internal staff, including technical and administrative support staff and quality assurance staff.
 Statement on affiliations of any kind with other companies, which may present a conflict of interest in the provision of the envisaged services, or a declaration having no affiliation of any kind whatsoever. In the case where an enterprise is part of a group of enterprises or a subsidiary of a holding company, that enterprise must disclose the relationship between the group and members of the holding company in the affiliate declaration. If the tenderers cooperate, all participating parties, including subcontractors, must provide this statement.
If these elements are not include in the letter of Expression of Interest, the references will not be reviewed and the Applicant will not be shortlisted.
An application that does not meet all of these requirements will be rejected.
In order to ease the evaluation process, it is required that the application documents do not exceed 70 pages. General expertise requirements for the Consultant are presented above. Detailed expertise requirements will be presented at the next phase (Request for Proposals).
Among the submitted applications, JSC “Uzsuvtaminot” will shortlist a maximum of six (6) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent.
The Expressions of Interest must be submitted by hand or by e-mail to the address below no later than
31st of January, 2025 untill 16.00 p.m. Tashkent time.

The interested participant may obtain further information at the address below during office hours: from
09.00 a.m. till 17.00 p.m. Tashkent time:

Street Address: 3-5: Durmon yuli str. (reference point near «cable factory»),
Floor/ Room number: 2-nd floor, conference hall
City: Tashkent
Country: Uzbekistan
Telephone:
Email: afd_piu@uzsuv.uz


 
Annex 1 – Project Background


1.1 Project Financing and Legal Framework
In May 25, 2022, the French Agency for Development (AFD) and the Republic of Uzbekistan signed a loan financing agreement of € 105.0M to support the Projects “Sanitation Development Project in the cities of Karmana (Navoi region) and Kitob-Shakhrisabz (Kashkadarya region)” (hereinafter “the Project”). This loan has been supplemented by a grant financing agreement of € 8.15 M to support the Project. Grant resources stem from funds of the European Union (EU) delegated to AFD. On March 18, 2022, the presidential decree n°PP-171 related to the implementation of the Project was signed.

1.2 Presentation of the AFD
AFD is a central actor in France’s development policy and supports States, companies, local authorities and NGOs. It builds synergies with them to catalyze, feed into and disseminate innovative solutions that benefit people. Through its network of 85 agencies, AFD operates in 108 countries, where it is currently financing, monitoring and supporting over 2,500 development projects.

1.3 Project Implementation and Management
The Project will be implemented by JSC “Uzsuvtaminot” and regional entities of Uzsuvtaminot, which will be the Final Beneficiary of the AFD and EU funding, and will own the Project investments and equipment. The management of the Project will be carried out by a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) set up in JSC “Uzsuvtaminot”, under the umbrella of the Investment and Investment Projects Implementation Department in order to implement the different Project components.
1.4 Project Location Map
The above projects are located in 2 regions of Uzbekistan as shown on the following map :
➢ The city of Karmana is part of the Navoyi province, in the north-west of the country ;
➢ The cities of Kitab and Shakhrisabz are close to each other and are part of the Kashkadarya region, in the south-east of the country.
Figure 1 - Project Location Map


1.5 Project Background and outputs
The Project aims at implementing centralized sanitation systems and developing associated sanitation services in a sustainable way in three urban centres, Karmana Kitab, and Shakhrisabz.
The project encompasses civil works, procurement of equipment for Operation & Maintenance, a limited operation phase, and consultant services, all activities which are structured into four main components. The implementation period of the Project entered into force on the 25th of March 2022,
The general objective of the Project is to improve the following items in the selected area:
➢ The living and hygiene conditions of the inhabitants of Shakhrisabz, Kitab and Karmana cities, through access to an urban sewerage system
➢ The environmental situation of the rivers and groundwaters where the sewage effluents are discharged
➢ The global water management by increasing sewage water reuse for irrigation
➢ The economic environment enabling the development of tourism and industries

The objectives of the project will be achieved through 4 components:
➢ Component 1: Construction/Reconstruction, extension of centralized sanitation systems;
➢ Component 2: Support to Project implementation;
➢ Component 3: Support of the two final beneficiaries (Suvtaminoti);
➢ Component 4: Support to project monitoring and institutional dialogue.


1.5.1 Component 1: Construction/Reconstruction, extension of centralized sanitation systems
➢ Sub-component 1.1: Reconstruction and extension of a centralized sanitation system in the city of Shakhrisabz (Shakhrisabz sub- project) - AFD financed
Shakhrisabz (135,000 inhabitants) in Kashkadarya province is equipped with a centralized sanitation system in very poor structural condition and with limited coverage. Only 20% of households are connected to the sewer network, whereas the raw effluent is conveyed and discharged directly in a watercourse, bypassing a non-functional soviet-era wastewater treatment plant.
The project will provide for the reconstruction of the unitary sewer network as well as its extension (indicative total length: 300 km), aiming at approximately 80% coverage of the population. It will include the connection of 27,850 households to the sanitation system (excluding the private connections). It will also provide for the dismantling of the old wastewater treatment plant, and the construction under a Design-Build-Operate contract of a new facility compatible with the reuse of the treated effluent in irrigation. In addition, the project will cover the engineering services conventionally associated (detailed design, tender documentation preparation, support to tendering process, works supervision, follow up of the environmental and social monitoring).
A part of the works for the sewerage network will be in the Historic Centre of Shakhrisabz, which contains a collection of exceptional monuments which are registered in the UNESCO World Heritage list. These works could lead to specific constraints and authorizations prior and during the construction phase. The Technical Assistance (TA) has to bear a specific attention to this topic during the implementation of the project.
➢ Sub-component 1.2: Construction of a centralized sanitation system in the city of Kitab (Kitab sub- project) – AFD financed
Kitab (45,000 inhabitants), in the Kashkadarya region, is not equipped with a centralized sanitation system. The Project will provide for the construction of a sewer network (indicative total length 140 km), aiming at approximately 80% coverage of the population. It will include the connection of 10,000 households to the sanitation system. It will also provide for the construction under a Design-Build-Operate contract of a modern wastewater treatment plant compatible with the reuse of the treated effluent in irrigation. In addition, the project will cover the engineering services conventionally associated (detailed design, tender documentation preparation, support to tendering process, works supervision, follow up of the environmental and social monitoring).
➢ Subcomponent 1.3: Construction of a centralized sanitation system in the city of Karmana (Karmana sub- project) – AFD financed
Karmana (50,000 inhabitants), in the Navoyi province, has been recently equipped with a modern water supply system under an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-financed project which covers most of the city. But no centralized sanitation system has been implemented in parallel. The proposed project will complement the ADB-financed intervention in providing the construction of a sewer network (indicative total length 100 km), aiming at a 100% coverage of the population and a 90% connection rate. The project will also provide the construction of a modern wastewater treatment plant. The Project will cover the engineering services conventionally associated (detailed design, participation in tender documentation preparation, support to tendering process, works supervision, follow up of the environmental and social monitoring).
➢ Component 1.4: Participation to the DBO contract – EU financed
To ensure a smooth knowledge transfer and a reliable hand-over from each wastewater treatment plant Contractor to the concerned Suvtaminotis, those contracts for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant will include the full responsibility for the operation during the first two years
The related contracts will be based on the Gold FIDIC form of contract (Design Build Operate contract, DBO). This approach is quite new in Uzbekistan but key to ensure the sustainability of the operation. Indeed, the newly created Suvtaminotis are young entities with weak technical and financial capacities and require important capacity development to be able to operate this new kind of infrastructure (especially during the two first years). It is proposed that part of the EU-grant serve as an incentive for adopting this sustainable approach. After the first two years, the operations of the infrastructure will be handed over to the two Suvtaminotis.

1.5.2 Component 2: Support to Project implementation (EU financed)
Uzsuvtaminot is the Project Executing Agency and will host the Project PIU.
Technical assistance (TA) will be provided to the Uzsuvtaminot hosted PIU to support project implementation. The TA scope of services will encompass technical review of the project studies, project planning, monitoring of project progress implementation, procurement, contract management, social compliance, environmental compliance, and grievance mechanism monitoring.

1.5.3 Component 3: Support of the two final beneficiaries (Suvtaminoti)
➢ Sub-component 3.1: Capacity development of Suvtaminoti Navoi and Suvtaminoti Kashkadarya – EU financed
Suvtaminotis are young entities which need capacity development in a wide range of areas: investment planning to increase coverage and access (regional investment master plans), customer management including billing, asset management, including gradual implementation of a Geographical Information System, Metering, Non-Revenue Water management, accounting, financial management including tariffs consideration, quality control, communication, etc. Moreover, as these two Suvtaminotis will be in charge of operating the newly constructed Kitab-Shakhrisabz and Karmana sanitation systems after the two first years and smooth handover period, it will be key to strengthen their capacity.
Capacity development will be provided to the two Suvtaminotis in the above-mentioned areas in close coordination with IFIs already involved in the sector with the objective to improve their general performance and consolidate their financial sustainability.
Capacity development will be provided to strengthen the Suvtaminotis skills towards reliable operation of centralized sanitation systems, and to help them develop new sanitation services : management of industrial effluents and possible need for pre-treatment, Information Education Communication campaigns on the new system connections, management of connection requests from poor households, handling of by-products (solid waste, grease and oil, sludge) including valorisation of sludge , re-use of treated wastewater in irrigation, improvement of laboratory analytical skills, specific trainings, etc.
➢ Sub-component 3.2: Procurement of equipment to support operation by the two Suvtaminoti – EU financed
Specific equipment will be procured to support the two Suvtaminotis in their operational tasks. The equipment will fall into two categories:
- Equipment related to the operation of the newly built centralized sanitation systems: high pressure sewer cleaning trucks, automatic wastewater sampler, H2S sensors, etc.
- Equipment related to the need for modernizing the Suvtaminotis’ operation, in line with the sector reforms under implementation: financial management, broader use of IT, etc
Equipment shall be prioritized and specified by the Suvtaminotis’ support Technical Assistance to Operations.

1.5.4 Component 4 : Support to project monitoring and institutional dialogue - (EU Financed)
International technical support will be provided for policy dialogue and sector coordination, publications, workshops, and networking between the different projects, in order to animate a platform gathering both stakeholders and public authorities. It will be directly managed by additional human resources to be deployed within the AFD office in Tashkent. Respective staff will be also in charge of administrative tasks such as reporting to the EU, local counterpart’s supervision, audits, and evaluation activities. It will ensure procurement and implementation of the EU communication and visibility plan.
 

Appendix to The Request for Expressions of Interest
(To be sumitted with the application, signed and unaltered)
Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Environmental and Social Responsibility

Reference of the bid or proposal SDP/QCBS/03 “Consulting services for supervision” (the "Contract")

To: JSC “Uzsuvtaminot” (the "Contracting Authority")

1. We recognise and accept that Agence Française de Développement ("AFD") only finances projects of the Contracting Authority subject to its own conditions which are set out in the Financing Agreement which benefits directly or indirectly to the Contracting Authority. As a matter of consequence, no legal relationship exists between AFD and our company, our joint venture or our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants. The Contracting Authority retains exclusive responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the procurement process and performance of the contract. The Contracting Authority means the Purchaser, the Employer, the Client, as the case may be, for the procurement of goods, works, plants, consulting services or non-consulting services.
2. We hereby certify that neither we nor any other member of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations:
2.1 Being bankrupt, wound up or ceasing our activities, having our activities administered by the courts, having entered into receivership, reorganisation or being in any analogous situation arising from any similar procedure;
2.2 Having been:
a) convicted, within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res judicata in the country where the Contract is implemented, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a contract (in the event of such conviction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this conviction is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
b) subject to an administrative sanction within the past five years by the European Union or by the competent authorities of the country where we are constituted, for fraud, corruption or for any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a contract (in the event of such sanction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this sanction is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
c) convicted, within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res judicata, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during the procurement process or performance of an AFD-financed contract;
2.3 Being listed for financial sanctions by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France for the purposes of fight-against-terrorist financing or threat to international peace and security;
2.4 Having been subject within the past five years to a contract termination fully settled against us for significant or persistent failure to comply with our contractual obligations during contract performance, unless this termination was challenged and dispute resolution is still pending or has not confirmed a full settlement against us;
2.5 Not having fulfilled our fiscal obligations regarding payments of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of either the country where we are constituted or the Contracting Authority's country;
2.6 Being subject to an exclusion decision of the World Bank and being listed on the website http://www.worldbank.org/debarr (in the event of such exclusion, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this exclusion is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
2.7 Having created false documents or committed misrepresentation in documentation requested by the Contracting Authority as part of the procurement process of this Contract.
3. We hereby certify that neither we, nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations of conflict of interest:
3.1 Being an affiliate controlled by the Contracting Authority or a shareholder controlling the Contracting Authority, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.2 Having a business or family relationship with a Contracting Authority's staff involved in the procurement process or the supervision of the resulting Contract, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.3 Being controlled by or controlling another bidder or consultant, or being under common control with another bidder or consultant, or receiving from or granting subsidies directly or indirectly to another bidder or consultant, having the same legal representative as another bidder or consultant, maintaining direct or indirect contacts with another bidder or consultant which allows us to have or give access to information contained in the respective applications, bids or proposals, influencing them or influencing decisions of the Contracting Authority;
3.4 Being engaged in a consulting services activity, which, by its nature, may be in conflict with the assignments that we would carry out for the Contracting Authority;
3.5 In the case of procurement of goods, works or plants:
a) Having prepared or having been associated with a consultant who prepared specifications, drawings, calculations and other documentation to be used in the procurement process of this Contract;
b) Having been recruited (or being proposed to be recruited) ourselves or any of our affiliates, to carry out works supervision or inspection for this Contract.
4. If we are a state-owned entity, and to compete in a procurement process, we certify that we have legal and financial autonomy and that we operate under commercial laws and regulations.
5. We undertake to bring to the attention of the Contracting Authority, which will inform AFD, any change in situation with regard to points 2 to 4 here above.
6. In the context of the procurement process and performance of the corresponding contract:
6.1 We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) deliberately indented to deceive others, to intentionally conceal items, to violate or vitiate someone's consent, to make them circumvent legal or regulatory requirements and/or to violate their internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.2 We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) contrary to our legal or regulatory obligations or our internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.3 We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or indirectly to (i) any Person who holds a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial mandate within the State of the Contracting Authority regardless of whether that Person was nominated or elected, regardless of the permanent or temporary, paid or unpaid nature of the position and regardless of the hierarchical level the Person occupies, (ii) any other Person who performs a public function, including for a State institution or a State owned company, or who provides a public service, or (iii) any other person defined as a Public Officer by the national laws of the Contracting Authority’s country, an undue advantage of any kind, for himself or for another Person or entity, for such Public Officer to act or refrain from acting in his official capacity;
6.4 We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or indirectly to any Person who occupies an executive position in a private sector entity or works for such an entity, regardless of the nature of his/her capacity, any undue advantage of any kind, for himself or another Person or entity for such Person to perform or refrain from performing any act in breach of its legal, contractual or professional obligations;
6.5 We have not and we will not engage in any practice likely to influence the contract award process to the detriment of the Contracting Authority and, in particular, in any anti competitive practice having for object or for effect to prevent, restrict or distort competition, namely by limiting access to the market or the free exercise of competition by other undertakings;
6.6 Neither we nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants shall acquire or supply any equipment nor operate in any sectors under an embargo of the United Nations, the European Union or France;
6.7 We commit ourselves to comply with and ensure that all of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants comply with international environmental and labour standards, consistent with laws and regulations applicable in the country of implementation of the Contract, including the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and international environmental treaties. Moreover, we shall implement environmental and social risks mitigation measures when specified in the environmental and social commitment plan (ESCP) provided by the Contracting Authority.
7. We, as well as members of our joint venture and our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants authorise AFD to inspect accounts, records and other documents relating to the procurement process and performance of the contract and to have them audited by auditors appointed by AFD.

Name: In the capacity of:
Duly empowered to sign in the name and on behalf of :
Signature:
Dated: