Project description
Title: U-LEAD with Europe: Phase III
Commissioned by: European Commission, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Ukraine
Main political partner: Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine

Context
Despite ongoing suffering and destruction, Ukraine"s future remains promising. EU accession negotiations drive crucial reforms, while international funding supports recovery and modernization. However, Ukraine"s public administration faces key challenges related to:
- Resilience & Recovery: supporting citizens and the economy while ensuring social cohesion.
- Reconstruction: rebuilding infrastructure with local input and sustainable planning.
- EU Preparation: aligning with EU laws, strengthening institutional capacity.
- Decentralization: empowering municipalities for long-term resilience and reform.
These challenges require a multi-level governance approach that balances a strong central authority with empowered municipalities, supported by a robust local self-government system. Municipalities play a crucial role in restoring services, infrastructure, and economic stability while adapting to wartime constraints and reintegrating displaced citizens. Effective local and national policies, backed by legal and financial support, are essential for Ukraine"s recovery and EU integration.

Objective
Overall Objective: Multi-level governance in Ukraine is increasingly trans-parent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of the population in the context of EU integration and rebuilding Ukraine.
Specific Objective (outcome): The actors at the national, regional, and local levels are increasingly effective in fulfilling their tasks in the course of decentralisation and reconstruction and in the context of EU integration.

Approach
U-LEAD with Europe"s activities throughout Phase III are designed to achieve three outputs:
Output 1: The Ukrainian government and the Parliament are increasingly capable of advancing the decentralisation reform and aligning regional policy with the EU acquis.
Output 2: The professional and administrative skills of municipal officials for strong local self-government in the context of Ukraine's accession to the EU are enhanced, taking into account, among other things, the special needs of vulnerable groups and gender equality.
Output 3: Ukrainian municipalities are enabled to implement regional and local development policies and reconstruction planning in the context of the EU accession process.

Technical assistance (including short-term expert pool) for Support to Ukraine for Decentralisation and Regional Development
This tender involves the supply and management of expert services to support the implementation of the Project U-LEAD with Europe, Phase III, implemented by GIZ. U-LEAD with Europe: Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme is a multi-donor action of the EU and its member states Germany, Denmark, France, Poland and Slovenia to support Ukraine on its path to strengthening local self-government. U-LEAD promotes transparent, accountable, resilient and responsive multi-level governance in Ukraine and empowers municipalities.
The services will be delivered through long-term experts and a pool of national and international short-term experts in form of technical and administrative services related to the two key outputs of the project: Output 1 Ukrainian government and the Parliament are increasingly capable of advancing the decentralisation reform and aligning regional policy with the EU acquis; and Output 3 Ukrainian municipalities are enabled to implement regional and local development policies and reconstruction planning in the context of the EU accession process.
The contractor"s services will follow the objectives of the project and support its implementation in two output areas. The key activities to be supported by the tender include:
Support to central bodies on decentralisation and Multi Level Governance (MLG)
- Supporting national authorities with the implementation and monitoring of the Local Self Governance-related parts of the Ukraine Plan (2024-2027) and the Action Plan for the Reform of Local Self-Government and Territorial Organisation of Power in Ukraine for 2024-2027.
- Facilitating awareness raising events related to further development of the decentralisation reform.
Support to key central bodies on regional development policy in the EU accession context
- Supporting key stakeholders with EU accession negotiation on Chapter 22 "Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments"
- Advising on improvements to the new regional policy model for the next programming period 2028-2034.
Support at oblast and municipal level on regional development policy in the EU accession context
- Strengthen administrative capacities at oblast level by preparing and implementing the Capacity Building Plan of strengthening of institutional capacity of regional and local administrations, supporting management of the Regional Development Strategies and Action Plans according to EU rules, advising on Public Investment Management Principles and DREAM platform, implementing partnership principle by involving representatives of local authorities, civil society organisations, business sector and other relevant stakeholders. Prepare and implement awareness raising measures (i.e. study visits, expert exchanges, conferences) and actively disseminate lessons learned.
Supporting municipalities to prepare investment projects for reconstruction in accordance with Public Investment Management (PIM) principles
Direct support to the previous work of U-LEAD with Europe which follows on from the municipal Project Preparation Facility (PPF) initiative. Of particular interest are the monies potentially available to the reconstruction projects on regional and municipal level under the Ukraine Facility. Activities anticipated include the following:
- Disseminate information to Ukrainian municipalities concerning the opportunity to be supported in their development of investment projects for reconstruction.
- Facilitate selection of beneficiary municipalities, taking into consideration project ideas received.
- Deliver relevant capacity building to the selected municipalities with regard to their investment project ideas, with the goal of helping them on to maturity, financing, and construction. Such capacity building should take into account the principles of the New European Bauhaus, as well as the requirements of the most likely sources of national and international financing.
All Project documents (reports, studies, trainings, analyses, assessments, strategies, etc.) have to be provided in English. Onsite technical advisory, workshops and certain documents need to be provided additionally in Ukrainian, on demand.

GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.

According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.

All communication takes place in English via communication tool in the project area of the procurement portal.

GIZ asks the applicant or bidder to submit, complete or correct documents, within the framework laid down by law.

The execution conditions result from the information given in the contract notice and the tender documents.