Contact: Mr. K. Taushanov, Gen.Director, General Roads Adm..; 3 Macedonia Blvd., 1606 Sofia; Tel: (359) 2-52-17-68, Fax: (359) 2-951-54-22

B -- SOFIA SOUTHERN HIGHWAY BYPASS PROJECT -- 98-70067 POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009 The Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works 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 the Southern Highway Bypass Project in Sofia. The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works has proposed building a southern highway bypass to alleviate much of the traffic congestion in Sofia, which is the largest city along Trans-European Corridor No. 8. Specifically, the project is designed to circumvent Sofia and reduce the overall length of the corridor by 50 kilometers. This should improve East-West and North-South highway linkages along Pan-European Corridor 8 and Pan-European Corridor 4. However, the Bulgarian government lacks the funds to finance the construction of the highway, therefore, it is considering an offer of a public concession to a firm (foreign or domestic) which would build, operate and transfer (BOT) ownership of the route. The bypass could also contain some toll ways, pending an evaluation during the feasibility study. The total size of the project is estimated at over $50 million, and the U.S. export potential is estimated up to $12.5 million. The primary objectives of the Feasibility Study are to address the technical, economic, environmental and financial factors effecting the development of the Southern Highway Bypass. The study would likely entail the following tasks: (1) review of prior studies and identification of basic issues; (2) preliminary geographic survey and inventory of the lands the route will pass through; (3) identification of route options; (4) conceptual design and preliminary cost estimates; (5) civil works plan; (6) final cost estimate; (7) regulations, permits, licenses, and zoning; (8) toll management plan; (9) market demand and demand forecasting; (10) financial evaluation, risk analysis, and financial structuring; (11) economic evaluation; (12) external benefits and other social impacts; (13) environmental impacts assessment and risk mitigation, and; (14) design of the public-private partnership and selection of private partners. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $400,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background 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 the RFP. Firms that want to send a courierto 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 4:00PM, local time, July 2, 1999, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Although cost will not be a factor in the evaluation, cost proposals must be submitted for the purpose of evaluating proposed allotments of resources. 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 05/24/99 (I-SN334773). (0144)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0008 19990526\B-0002.SOL)