C -- CZECH REPUBLIC -- CZECH RAILWAYS RESTRUCTURING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Notice Date

October 13, 2000

Contracting Office

USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

ZIP Code

22209-2131

Response Due

November 13, 2000

Point of Contact

POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009

Description

The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to perform this technical assistance activity. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) has agreed to fund technical assistance on behalf of Czech Railways (CD) to support CD's efforts to step closer to EU membership and transform itself from a loss-incurring to a profit-making entity. CD is a state-owned enterprise, established in 1993, responsible for providing freight and passenger services and managing the rail infrastructure. CD possesses approximately 90,000 employees and transports 100 million tons of freight and 200 million passengers each year. CD incurs serious losses and is heavily subsidized by the Czech Government. Last year CD received approximately $825 million in subsidies, tax relief and losses debited to the national account. It is the only railway in the first round of EU applicants that has not started the transformation and restructuring process. The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoT) recognizes the need to reduce the railway subsidies and comply with EU legislation on the organization of rail transport. In response to these concerns, the MoT has prepared a draft law on the Transformation of Czech Railways, which is in the process of being finalized. This law requires the separation of railway operations and rail infrastructure. Operating activities would be established as a joint stock company in 2001, while the responsibility for providing and developing the rail infrastructure would remain within the state-owned enterprise. The MoT is seeking a technical expert to coordinate and direct the work of a local team to finalize and implement the new railway law and to develop a transformation program for CD. Specifically, this entails preparing business and investment plans as part of CD's restructuring efforts to attract foreign investment and potential business partners. The Terms of Reference (TOR) for this technical assistance includes development of an infrastructure financing plan, a complete transformation strategy, a five year business plan, and a priority investment strategy. This technical assistance should serve to facilitate a potential investment by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in CD. The U.S. firm selected to perform this technical assistance will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $144,405 grant to the Grantee from TDA. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the TOR, and a background desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mailroom before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 PM local time on November 13, 2000 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001017/CSOL004.HTM (W-287 SN5042H7)