Consultant Selected for Construction of Navigable Canal between Caspian and Azov-Black Sea Basins

Institute Gidroproyekt (Russia) won a tender initiated by the EDB to select a consultant for comparative assessment of the technical and economic parameters of projects to construct a new navigable canal between the Caspian and Azov-Black Sea basins.

On 13 February, at the final meeting of the EDB Tender Board, the winner was named based on a comprehensive assessment of technical and financial proposals.

The following companies competed at the final phase of the tender:

Institute Gydroproyekt (Russia);

Tsentr Nauk o Zemle, Metallurgii i Obogascheniya (Kazakhstan);

SNC-Lavalin (Canada); and

Inzhenerny Tsentr Energetiki Povolzhya (Russia).

The EDB Executive Board approved the decision of the Tender Board, and now the Bank commences negotiating a contract with Institute Gydroproyekt.

On 1 July 2008, the EDB invited bids from consultants to carry out the above assessment and, in August 2008, with the participation of the Tender Board (comprising three members from each Russia and Kazakhstan who represented the respective Ministries, and two EDB representatives), drew up a shortlist of interested candidates.

The full technical and financial proposals from the five selected consortia of consultants, which had been prepared in accordance with the EDB Tender Documentation, were received by the Bank on 19 December 2008, and, in January 2009, the Tender Board commenced assessing the technical proposals.