TIRANA (Albania), January 17 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday it is seeking a consultant to assist Albania’s Tirana Water Supply and Sewage (UKT) in a project for improving the company’s performance financed by the bank.
The consultant will have to support UKT in institutional development in the form of operational improvements and financial improvements through implementation of a financial and operational performance improvement programme, support preparation and signing of the public service contract between the municipality and the company, and prepare and implement the stakeholder participation programme, EBRD said in an invitation for expressions of interest.
The assignment is expected to start in first quarter and has an estimated overall duration of 8 months. The estimated cost of the assignment is up to 300,000 euro, exclusive of VAT. The deadline for submitting bids is February 7.
“It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund,” the bank said.
The EBRD has signed a loan of up to 15 million euro ($17.2 million) to finance a project of UKT for improving the municipal water services, the bank said in a procurement notice.
UKT supported by the municipality of Tirana has approached the EBRD with a request to finance priority investments that will improve the municipal water services in the region where the company operates.
Earlier this week, the bank invited bids for another consultant to assist the EBRD in monitoring the implementation of the contracts related to different components of the project and to ensure that investments are implemented within time and budget, and in accordance with the project legal agreements.
That assignment is also expected to start in first quarter and has an estimated overall duration of 24 weeks. The estimated cost of the assignment is up to 175,000 euro, exclusive of VAT. The deadline for submitting bids is February 4.
UKT is a municipal utility company which provides water supply and sewage for the municipalities of Tirana, Vora and Kamza
The project for improving the municipal water services aims to assist UKT in providing a more resilient water system, reaching its objective of providing a 24 hour water supply by 2021, reducing the company's operating costs by supplying water by gravity versus the high cost of pumping groundwater, and increasing sustainability by removing/reducing the company’s reliance on depleting and polluted wells to supply Berxull.
UKT is majority owned by the municipality of Tirana with 82.5%, the municipality of Kamza owns 14.6% and the municipality of Vora owns the remaining 2.9%. The company serves around 700,000 customers.
($ =0.87702 euro)