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

B -- CZECH REPUBLIC -- CHEMOPETROL C5 TREATMENT COMPLEX FEASIBILITY STUDY DUE 093000 POC 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 (FS) to examine the technical, financial, economic and environmental factors attending the implementation of a C5 (Propane) Treatment Complex, which is part of a larger strategic project called "Project C5+." The C5 Treatment Complex is the most important and largest part of the overall project and the feasibility of this project will heavily influence the viability of the entire project. The cost for the entire "Project C5+" process is estimated to be $30-32 million" and the C5 Treatment Complex represents $25 million of the total investment. Chemopetrol is the largest petrochemical manufacturing company in the Czech Republic. It is wholly owned by Unipetrol, a state-owned holding company, which is involved in oil refineries, primary petrochemicals and agrichemical producers, plastics manufacturers, fuel distribution companies, and filling station network operators. The government expects to partially privatize Unipetrol in 2001. The purpose of the "Project C5+" project is to produce more value-added products from feedstock and ethylene products for export to European markets. This project will use a steam cracker to make high temperature steam, mix it with gas, and crack it to break the gas into natural components (propane, methane and ethane). These components will be used to create the higher value products (dicyclopentadiene, isoprene, piperylene, naphthalene concentrate, dimethylstyrene for hydrocarbon resins production and pyrolysis fuel oil for pitch production). Chemopetrol's steam cracker is the most important plant in the company. Currently the steam cracker's feedstock pattern is quite heavy in comparison to U.S. and West European technologies and results in a higher-than-usual production of liquids. As part of its strategic plan, Chemopetrol intends to use the steamcracker to create higher-value products. The study will require a number of tasks, as follows: (1) On-site review of existing conditions and facilities. (2) Establish a basis for the FS establishing parameters for feedstocks, product streams, and power requirements. (3) Address technical requirements of expansion, marketing of new products, and strategies for financing construction. (4) Develop a preliminary environmental impact assessment. (5) Prepare a final report to present the feasibility assessment and recommendations for implementation. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $255,000 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 the Definitional Mission 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 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, September 30, 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. Posted 08/18/00 (W-SN487678). (0231)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0012 20000822\B-0006.SOL)

| B - Special Studies and Analyses - Not R&D Index  |  Issue Index |