U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID Mission to Ukraine, American Embassy Kiev, Washington, D.C. 20521-5080.

L -- COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR AGRIBUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS IN UKRAINE, MOLDOVA AND BELARUS SOL RFA 121-96-001 DUE 051596 POC Dennis Sharma, Project Officer, ENI/ED/AG, (703) 875-5196. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications from agribusiness associations, agricultural cooperatives, PVOs with agribusiness affiliations and other agribusiness organizations 1) who have experience with the formation of agribusiness partnerships or joint ventures, 2) whose members or affiliated agribusinesses have experience with indigenous private agricultural firms in the New Independent States (W/NIS), and are interested in establishing agribusiness partnerships to provide market driven private alternatives in agricultural input supply, marketing and distribution, and agroindustrial processing in West NIS countries (principally Ukraine, Moldova and to a limited extent Belarus). The objective of this three year activity is to increase private sector involvement in the agricultural input supply, agroindustrial processing, marketing and distribution in West NIS countries (principally Ukraine and Moldova and to a limited extent in Belarus). The primary components of this activity will be: 1) Agricultural Input Supply, Technology and Market - over the next three years and with the assistance provided under this project, U.S. and local agribusinesses will establish new Farm Service Centers, as agribusiness partnerships, to provide farmers with a viable, private, market-based sources of inputs, technical assistance and market outlets that can compete with the existing state system. USAID will provide incentive financing in form of development contracts for technical assistance and training to induce U.S. and local entrepreneurs to undertake investments in the Farm Service Centers. In addition, USAID will provide resources to support commercialization of small farm agriculture. This could be in the form of technical assistance provided to fledgling private farmers in production, processing, marketing, distribution and access to credit, 2) Transport and Distribution - agribusiness partnerships funded under this component will support the privatization of transport and improved communications systems necessary for efficient operations, and 3) Developing Commercial, Private Agro-Processing Enterprises and Trade - the lack of modern technology, food additives, ingredients and packaging materials needed, and poor management capabilities continue to have a negative impact on the quality of processed products in Ukraine. To address these problems USAID will support, through a U.S. agribusiness association, up to twenty Agribusiness Partnerships in value-added food and feed processing, packaging and distribution, encouraging private investment in these enterprises and providing an expanding market outlet for the increased agricultural output being generated through the Farm Service Centers. As with the farm service center activity, USAID would provide incentive financing, to support largely technical assistance and training and limited equipment costs of the new enterprises. USAID investment in the farm service centers, transport and communication, and agroindustrial partnerships will be based on a 2.5:1 ratio of private to public investment, with businesses providing the core investment and U.S. funding to catalyze the process and enhance development impact. The primary scope of work for the successful applicant will be to solicit sub-grant applications from its members in the three project components, make agribusiness partnership sub-grants and manage such subgrants until project completion. Supporting this program, the selected applicant will also be expected to do business outreach in W/NIS and the United States to facilitate business networking between the U.S. and local firms, and undertake other appropriate activities that promote agricultural trade and investment in the W/NIS countries. Funding has not been allocated for the activity at this time, however it is anticipated that funding will be available before the RFA issued. Applications will be evaluated and the selection will be based on the application that is most advantageous to the Government, considering the technical and cost factors stated in the evaluation criteria of the RFA. Further instructions regarding technical and cost proposal will be in the RFA. The RFA is anticipated to be issued not less than 15 days after this notice. This CBD notice can be viewed and downloaded using the Agency Gopher. The RFA, once issued, can downloaded from the Agency Gopher. The Gopher is GOPHER.INFO.USAID.GOV. Select USAID Procurement and Business Opportunities from the Gopher menu. The RFA text can be downloaded the Anonymous Files Transfer Protocol (FTP). The FTP address is FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. Logon on using the user identification of anonymous and the password is your E-mail address. Look under the following directory for the RFA: pub/OP/RFA/121601/121601.rfa. Receipt of the RFA through INTERNET must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this Application to ensure that it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety and USAID bears not responsibility for data error resulting from transmission or conversion processes. (0081)

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