Contact: Ivan Soucek, Director of Development, Unipetrol, Trojska 13, 182 21 Praha 8, Czech Republic, Tel: 4202 857 3987, Fax: 4202 689 8523

B -- ETHYLBENZENE PRODUCTION PLANT FEASIBILITY STUDY POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009 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 develop a feasibility study for an ethylbenzene production plant. Unipetrol, a.s., a holding group, is involved in oil refineries, primary petrochemicals and agrichemical producers, plastics manufacturers, fuel distribution companies, and filling station network operators. The proposed feasibility study would take place at Chemopetrol Litvinov, a subsidiary of Unipetrol. Chemopetrol, the largest Czech petrochemical company, produces a wide variety of petrochemical and agricultural products. Chemopetrol is currently operating a 120,000 MTPY ethylbenzene plant. It is an old, obsolete design which utilizes benzene, ethylene and an aluminum chloride catalyst. The plant is inefficient with low yields and generates environmental problems. When the new facility is completed, Chemopetrol plans to dismantle theexisting plant. Currently all the output from the existing ethylbenzene plant goes to Chemopetrol's sister company, Kaucuk, where it is used to produce styrene monomer for Kaucuk's polystyrene plant. Kaucuk has recently completed an expansion of its polystyrene facilities and requires more ethylbenzene than Chemopetrol is currently able to produce. With the increased ethylene capacity from the new ethylene plant now under construction and its existing benzene supply, Chemopetrol believes they have sufficient raw materials to increase its production of ethylbenzene from 120,000 MTPY to between 180,000 and 300,000 MTPY. The objective of the study is to examine the technical and economic feasibility of replacing Chemopetrol's existing ethylbenzene plant with a new modern facility with increased capacity. The study will need to verify that there is sufficient benzene available to support between a 180,000 to 300,000 MTPY ethylbenzene plant. The benzene balance review should also include an evaluation to determine if Chemopetrol should consider building both a cumene/phenol and a ethylbenzene plant. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $230,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). The study is estimated to cost $310,000 and the contractor will be required to cost share $80,000. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission/desk study 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 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 theRFP. 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 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, June 10, 1999 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. Posted 04/30/99 (I-SN326298). (0120)

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