Contact: Mr. Ivan Pfeifer, Director, Mestna Obcina Celje, Presernova 27, 3000 Celje, Slovenia, Tel.: (386-63) 438-911; Fax: (386-63) 441-800

B -- SLOVENIA -- CELJE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FACILITY POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. Celje Wastewater Treatment Plant And Municipal Solid Waste Facility. Mestna Obcina Celje 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 develop a feasibility study to review the technical needs and economic validity of proposed environmental treatment facilities at Celje, Slovenia. Slovenia is the most prosperous Central European country and stands with the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary as states likely to be admitted to the EU during the next wave of enlargement (expected 2003/4). To meet EU membership requirements, certain environmental standards must be met. Communities with over 15,000 inhabitants must commission secondary wastewater treatment facilities by 2001. Further, national legislation (Environmental Protection Act of 1993) requires that solid waste treatment facilities be improved to handle increasing volumes of waste. The Ministry of the Environment and Physical Planning has confirmed that these projects are critical as they support the national environmental policy. Further, Celjes mayor and municipal council and the current operating companies for both sanitary facilities are very supportive of this assistance. The Slovene Government approached the United States delegation during last years Central European Free Trade Area (CEFTA) conference in New York to request assistance with its environmental infrastructure development efforts. One Slovene city, Celje, is required by law to soon build a municipal wastewater treatment facility and solid waste management facility. In the recent past, the municipality commissioned local engineering firms to design technical solutions to improve its sanitary infrastructure. However, city officials have requested that a U.S. firm review and expand upon those initial studies for two specific projects -- wastewater and solid waste treatment facilities. Celje is a medium-sized city in east-central Slovenia. Currently, the water and waste water services are provided by a municipality-owned firm, Vodovod-Kanalizacija. A basic wastewater collection system is in place for a majority of residential and industrial consumers. However, untreated waste continues to discharge into the Savinja River. Celje intends to construct a new wastewater treatment facility south of the city to expand and improve existing treatment coverage. A feasibility study for wastewater treatment facilities was conducted by Hidroengineering (Ljubljana) in 1991. During the recent Definitional Mission, city officials asked that TDA support a feasibility study to review the existing plans and evaluate alternative technologies. Celje also generates 50,000 tons/year of solid refuse. A central solid waste management facility and landfill are operated by a municipality-owned firm, Javne Naprave. The landfill has four years of capacity remaining. A recent feasibility study on expanding the facility was completed by an Austrian firm. Construction was scheduled to begin in 1999, following a bidding process. However, the municipality has been hesitant and has asked TDA to review this feasibility study. The preferred sanitary infrastructure solution complements Slovenias intention to build a waste incinerator at nearby Maribor, which was not included as part of prior studies. Under the terms of this grant, a feasibility study will be conducted to review the technical needs and economic validity of proposed environmental treatment facilities at Celje, Slovenia. The feasibility study will be expected to include: TASK 1 Develop Understanding Of Current Solid Waste Management And Wastewater Treatment Operations: A) Meet with representatives of Javne Naprave and Vodovod Kanalizacija to discuss and collect detailed information on the existing programs and service areas. Develop comprehensive understanding of the existing infrastructure, organizational structures, operations and maintenance programs, revenue collection and financial departments. B) Review available solid waste generation and characterization data. Review available untreated wastewater flow and characterization data. C) Review current and anticipated regulations affecting the operations. D) Develop a list of all major pieces of equipment in use at the existing solid waste facilities. E) Meet with the Municipality of Maribor to discuss the current status of the Northeast Slovenia incinerator project and develop an understanding of how it will incorporate wastes from Celje. F) Obtain copies of all relevant planning documents for the solid waste and wastewater programs. TASK 2 Review Existing Plans For Sanitary Infrastructure Development: A) Determine solid waste management and wastewater requirements for the municipality based on anticipated Slovenian as well as European Union (EU) requirements. B) Conduct a technical review of any existing plans and specifications for planned sanitary infrastructure projects to determine their adequacy in meeting the Slovenian and EU requirements. C) Prepare preliminary design and specifications for viable alternatives that are recommended on the basis of technical and cost effectiveness in lieu of existing plans and specifications. TASK 3 Conduct Economic, Environmental, Financial And Technical Analysis: A) Review cost estimates that have been prepared for the solid waste and wastewater treatment projects. Prepare new cost estimates based on the technical review in Task 2 including recommended alternatives. B) Analyze the annual revenue and expenses of Javne Naprave and Vodovod Kanalizacija for the previous three years. Analyze the tariff structure proposed by each company for planned project cost recovery. C) In consultation with Javne Naprave and Vodovod Kanalizacija, conduct a local survey to evaluate the willingness of users to pay increased tariffs. D) Complete environmental impact assessment. TASK 4 Identify Financing Alternatives: A) Meet with financial organizations to discuss specific investments that each will consider. Obtain information on terms and conditions of the loans, including the maximum amount, repayment schedule, loan security requirements, etc. B) In consultation with Javne Naprave and Vodovod Kanalizacija, develop viable alternatives to structure the financing of each project. Select the most favorable alternative for each. C) Obtain letters of intent from all parties included in the selected alternative. TASK 5 Prepare Summary Report: A) Prepare a draft Technical Assistance (TA) report which summarizes findings, conclusions, and recommendations from each of the above tasks. B) Incorporate comments from Javne Naprave, Vodovod Kanalizacija, Celje Komunalna Direlecija, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency into a final TA report. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $150,000 grant to the Mestna Obcina Celje from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). The U.S. firm selected will be responsible for completing the entire feasibility study, which has an estimated cost of U.S. $200,000 dollars. This Feasibility Study will be competedamong U.S. firms and will include an implied cost share of U.S. $50,000 dollars. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background Definitional Mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, 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 firms 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 mail room 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 mandatorycontract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Mestna Obcina Celje by 4:00pm (local time), December 7, 1998, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. The Proposal shall consist of a technical proposal. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, however, a cost proposal is required to demonstrate allocation of resources and expenditures for Mestna Obcina Celjes review. The Mestna Obcina Celje reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Mestna Obcina Celje also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Mestna Obcina Celje is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. Posted 11/04/98 (I-SN268605). (0308)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0014 19981106\B-0002.SOL)