Dr. Alexei Gotsiridze, President, Georgian Intnl Gas Corp., 24, 300 Aragveli Street, Tbilisi 380044 Georgia Tel: 995-32-92-32-28; Fax: 995-32-92-32-29

B -- TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO GEORGIA FOR TRANS-CASPIAN GAS PIPELINE PROJECT POC Ms. Evangela Kunene, USTDA, Room 300, 1621 N. Kent Street, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Telephone: (703) 875-4357, FAX: (703) 875-4009 GIGC now invites the 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 to conduct the TA. As the TA is being funded by TDA, only U.S. firms are eligible for consideration. 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-funded activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-funded activity. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. The Government of Turkmenistan is examining options of natural gas delivery to Turkish and European markets. To properly evaluate the project, which is known as the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project, a detailed feasibility study was conducted by Enron. The study Final Report has been submitted to the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of Turkmenistan has selected PSG International to lead the consortium to build the project. Since Georgia would be a transit country for the pipeline, the Government of Georgia, through GIGC, will be involved in negotiations for implementation of the project. Therefore, GIGC has requested assistance in technical matters related to the project. Primary Tasks for the TA will include but not be limited to: (1) evaluation of information provided by the consortium developing the project; (2) provision of advice on technical issues as they relate directly to GIGC's negotiations with the consortium; and (3) provide a two-week training program for GIGC managers in the United States. GIGC will evaluate the Proposals and select the best qualified firm based on the following criteria: (1) Experience of the key personnel and company in providing technical assistance or engineering services to corporations or governments for oil or gas pipeline, projects of similar scope, cost and complexity -- 20%; (2) Experience of key personnel in preparing pipeline and compressor station designs, specifications, capital cost estimates and environmental assessments -- 50%; (3) Work plan, for developing and implementing a training program for the GIGC personnel -- 20%; and (4) Evaluated cost of Offeror's labor -- 10%. The selected firm then will be invited to negotiate a contract with GIGC. The firm will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $205,020 grant to GIGC. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal and the Terms of Reference for the TA, is available from TDA, at Suite 200, 1621 N. Kent Street, Arlington, VA 22209. 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, since 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 responded to the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be responded to the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal directly to the Grantee by 4:00 p.m on July 14, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. GIGC reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. GIGC also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. GIGC is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposal. Posted 06/01/99 (I-SN337711). (0152)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0012 19990603\B-0002.SOL)