Contact: Mr. Petko Tabakov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Transport, 9 V. Leviski Str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria, Tel: (359-2) 88-26-70; Fax: (359-2) 988-50-94.

B -- BULGARIA-PORT OF BURGAS INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION FEASIBILITY STUDY POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009 Intermodal Transportation Feasibility Study. The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport invites submission of proposals from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to conduct a feasibility study for intermodal transportation infrastructure, which includes a container terminal facilities at the Port of Burgas. The Port of Burgas is Bulgaria's largest port. It is situated near the entrance to the Black Sea and is therefore the first significant port-of-call for merchant ships entering the Black Sea. Because of this locational advantage, the port provides strategic access to Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Near East. Under the terms of this grant, a more detailed technical, engineering, and financial feasibility study of the container terminal at the Port of Burgas will be conducted. The feasibility study will be expected to include: (1) a review of past and current activity; (2) a detailed inventory of current facilities; (3) traffic forecasts; (4) the determination of specific components of the new intermodal facilities; (5) a determination of communications and navigational aids requirements; (6) examine pipeline connections; (7) a master plan; (8) economic and financial forecasts; (9) an environmental impact assessment; (10) a determination of personnel requirements; (11) a study of MIS requirements; and (12) an identified institutional structure prospectus. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $300,000 grant to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport 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 $400,000. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background pre-feasibility 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 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 Bulgarian Ministry of Transport by 4:00 pm, May 4, 1998 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Cost will not be a factor in the evaluation; however, interested and qualified firms should submit a budget for review. The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. (0078)

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