Invitation to submit a technical and financial offer for consultancy services

 

Development of a National Methodology for Drought Management Plans for the River Basins of Ukraine, and Piloting on the Lower Danube Sub-basin

Contracting organisation - Michael Succow Foundation

Project - PAABS – “Supporting Ukraine in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and Adaptation to the impact of climate change in the Black Sea region”

Project number - 81314392

Procurement reference - MSF-PAABS-81314392-DMP-2026-01

Type of contract - Service / consultancy contract, deliverable-based

Place of performance - Ukraine

Assignment period - From contract signature until 30 June 2027

Deadline for questions - 23.09.2026

Deadline for proposals - 05.10.2026, 23:59 hrs (CET)

Submission - By e-mail to nika.malazonia@succow-stiftung.de

1.  Assignment

The Michael Succow Foundation (MSF) is commissioning consultancy services under the project “Supporting Ukraine in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and Adaptation to the impact of climate change in the Black Sea region” (PAABS, project no. 81314392).

The assignment shall produce (a) a draft national methodology for the preparation of basin-level Drought Management Plans (DMP) in Ukraine, consistent with the EU WFD and the IDMP CEE Guidelines (2015), and (b) a first, fully worked pilot DMP for the Lower Danube sub-basin (Odesa Oblast) as a validated, replicable template for Ukraine’s other river basins. Full details are set out in the Terms of Reference (Annex 1).

2.  Scope of services (summary)

The services are organised in four phases (see full description in Annex 1, Section 4):

  • Phase 1 – Grounding: data inventory and gap analysis, institutional options paper, stakeholder mapping, and an international/regional instruments check.
  • Phase 2 – Core methodology drafting and pilot data collection: two-tier indicator and threshold system, drought classification, climate-change integration, early-warning-system design, programme of measures, legal-gap analysis and legal drafting, socio-economic/gender indicators, and Consultation Round 1.
  • Phase 3 – Pilot DMP production and methodology finalisation: production of the standalone Lower Danube DMP, revision of the methodology against pilot findings, and Consultation Round 2 (incl. a public workshop in Odesa Oblast).
  • Phase 4 – Finalisation: incorporation of consultation feedback, finalisation and submission of the legal instrument, a plain-language User Guide, and the final project report.

Key deliverables are due against phase checkpoints, with a hard completion deadline of end of June 2027.

3.  Who may apply (eligibility)

  • Consulting firms, research institutions, NGOs, or teams/consortia of individual experts able to field the full core team defined in Section 9 of the ToR.
  • The proposed core team must cover all five functions listed in Section 9 of the ToR; roles may be combined where justified, but no function may be omitted.
  • Team Leader must demonstrate prior experience with WFD-aligned drought or water-scarcity planning or similar;
  • CEE-region-specific and PAABS/Black Sea-region familiarity is considered an advantage

4.  Content and format of the proposal

The structure of the proposal must correspond to the structure of the ToR. Each proposal shall contain:

  • Technical proposal (max. 4 pages, excluding CVs): understanding of the assignment, technical approach and methodology, work plan and timeline, quality assurance and risk management, and team composition.
  • CVs of all proposed personnel (max. 2 pages each), clearly showing professional experience relevant to the topics of this assignment.
  • Financial offer presented as a lump sum per phase / deliverable, plus the total price in EUR (including any applicable taxes).


Language: English.   File format: PDF.   Please combine the documents into as few files as possible.

5.  Evaluation and award

Proposals will be assessed on a best-value (most economically advantageous) basis. Award criteria and weightings are:

Criterion

Weight

Technical approach and methodology

35 %

Team qualifications and composition

35 %

Financial proposal

30 %

Total

100 %
  • Technical and team-qualification criteria together carry 70 %; the financial proposal carries 30 %.
  • The contract is awarded on the best price-quality ratio (the most economically advantageous offer).
  • A minimum technical quality threshold applies. Proposals scoring below the threshold will not proceed to financial evaluation.

6.  Requests for clarification

Questions may be submitted by e-mail to Mr. Nika Malazonia (nika.malazonia@succow-stiftung.de) no later than 23.09.2026. Consolidated answers will be provided to all identified applicants by 30.09.2026 without disclosing the source of the questions.

7.  Submission of proposals

  • Send to: malazonia@succow-stiftung.de
  • E-mail subject line: “MSF-PAABS-81314392-DMP-2026-01 – [Applicant / lead firm name]”
  • Deadline: 05.10.2026, 23:59 hrs (CET).
  • Proposals received after the deadline, incomplete proposals, or proposals not respecting the format requirements may be excluded.

8.  Validity of proposals

Proposals shall remain valid for 90 days from the submission deadline.

9.  Confidentiality and data protection

All proposals are treated confidentially and used solely for this procurement. Personal data contained in CVs are processed only for the purpose of evaluating this call and in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

10.  Reservations

  • The Foundation may request written or oral clarifications during the evaluation.
  • The Foundation reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to cancel, suspend or repeat the procedure, and is under no obligation to award a contract.
  • Costs incurred in preparing and submitting a proposal are not reimbursed.
  • Any award is subject to the availability of project funding.
  • Only qualified candidates will be contacted

11.  Annexes