UNDP Jobs - 13565- Provision of consulting services for developing in

Provision of consulting services for developing incentives for improving energy efficiency in the state sector in Belarus

Location :

Minsk, BELARUS

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Jan-2010

Application Deadline :

18-Dec-09 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

32 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Consulting services for developing energy efficiency incentives in the state sector of Belarus are provided in the frameworks of the UNDP-GEF project “Removing Barriers to Energy Efficiency Improvements in the State Sector of Belarus” (hereinafter referred to as “the Project”). The Project is financed with the funds of a Global Environmental Facility grant.

The Project aims to provide assistance to local authorities and state-owned enterprises in identifying opportunities for stepping up energy efficiency by means of increasing the amount of internal investment to implement energy efficiency projects, including the utilization of concessional financing opportunities offered by the government, and the loans offered by local banks. In addition, the Project stipulates building up the capacity of local authorities to invest funds in energy efficiency activities by establishing and testing a system of institutional and personal incentives to improve energy efficiency.

Within the frameworks of that system, an option for retaining a portion of the funds saved through energy conservation in special economic incentive accounts and subsequently using these funds to provide bonuses to staff and introduce new energy efficiency projects has been considered.

However, in reality budgetary organizations are not free to use the funds saved as a result of introducing energy efficiency improvements. The main reasons for it are as follows:

The absence of opportunities to plan budget allocations for purchasing fuel and energy recourses (FER) in line with applicable standards due to budget deficit;
Regular growth in fuel and energy prices in the course of the year is not always taken into account while adjusting budget expenditures;
Systematic redistribution of savings from energy conservation to compensate for overspending in deficient budget entries.

Besides, in the wake of the 2008 adoption of the Budget Code of Belarus, repayments of the budget obligations of budget funds administrators and recipients are made only via a single treasury account, and the opening of special economic incentive accounts is not provided for at this time.

Taking into account the predicaments of implementing the economic mechanism of stimulating energy efficiency in the budget sector, a necessity for using foreign expertise in this area has emerged.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the consultancy

In the frameworks of consulting services provision one has to prepare and present recommendations on incentives for institutions and individuals to improve energy efficiency in the state sector of Belarus with due regard of foreign experience.

Scope of the assignment

The provision of consulting services for analyzing the current situation and suggesting incentives which will suit to be applied in Belarus to improve energy efficiency in the state sector will be conducted by a team composed of an international consultant (Team Leader) and a local consultant. They will receive support from the project management team. A translator/interpreter will be provided to them as necessary.

Within the frameworks of consulting services provision, duties of the consultants will include:

Analysis of Belarusian current regulatory acts in the field of:

Planning budgetary funds to pay for the fuel and energy resources consumed by budgetary organizations;
Setting standards for FER consumption;
Stimulating energy saving in the budget sector.
Analysis of the documentation produced by the Project:
Reports on the status of energy efficiency incentives at the budgetary organizations of the Mogilev and Vitebsk regions (Project partners);
Recommendations on the development of energy efficiency incentives at the budgetary organizations of the Mogilev and Vitebsk regions;
A report on the feasibility and advisability of implementing within the frameworks of the Project of recommendations on the development of economic energy efficiency incentives at budgetary organizations in line with current legislation and relevant practices.

Preparation of an overview of the current positive experience of utilizing economic energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sectors of EU and CIS states based on:

Saving the budgetary funds earmarked for purchasing FERs as a result of energy saving improvements;
Accumulating and disbursing moneys of special budgetary or extra-budgetary funds;
Other sources and mechanisms.
Good practices of economic energy efficiency incentives in the budget sectors of EU and CIS states shall be ranked separately for institutional energy efficiency incentives and staff incentives based on energy saving performance by the extent of:
The feasibility of their application in Belarus;
The probability of attracting additional investment to energy saving;
The probability of risks materializing in the course of their introduction and utilization.
Identification of incentives for institutions and staff which can be used in Belarus to improve energy efficiency in the state sector, and develop recommendations how to apply these incentives in the country.

Scope of work to be performed by the consultant

The International Consultant (Team Leader) will be responsible for the delivery of the expected results of work. He/she will perform the following tasks:

Guide and manage the team’s work;
Elaborate a detailed work plan;
Conduct a comparative analysis of the current regulatory acts that are in effect in EU, CIS states and Belarus in the field of:
Planning budgetary funds to pay for the fuel and energy resources (FER) consumed by budgetary organizations
Setting standards for FER consumption
Stimulating energy saving in the budget sector
Analyze the documentation produced by the Project and related to the issues of energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sector
Hold interviews and, where necessary, make field trips to acquire the impartial information necessary for developing recommendations
Prepare an overview of the current positive experience of utilizing economic energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sectors of EU and CIS states
Identify incentives for institutions and staff which can be used in Belarus to improve energy efficiency in the state sector, and develop recommendations how to apply these incentives in the country and discuss them with stakeholders
Prepare the final version of report, with due regard of the stakeholders’ opinions.

Output of the consultancy

The main output of work will be a report that will have to be approved by the UNDP Country Office in Belarus and the Energy Efficiency Department of the State Standardization Committee.

Report structure

It is suggested that the report be written in line with the following basic structure:

Executive summary
A brief description of the Project
Context and objective of consulting services
Main conclusions and recommendations
Introduction
Prerequisites for stimulating energy saving in the budgetary sector of Belarus
The objective of providing consulting services
Key issues that are to be considered
Outputs of consulting services and proposals on their application
Methodology of preparing recommendations
Project tasks as far as energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sector are concerned
Problems to be addressed by the Project as far as energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sector are concerned
Key stakeholders
Expected results and their significance
Situation analysis
Positive experience of economic energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sectors of EU and CIS states
An overview of the currently active mechanisms of institutional energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sector
An assessment of 1) the feasibility of their application in Belarus, 2) the probability of attracting additional investment to energy saving, and 3) the probability of risks materializing in the course of their introduction and utilization
An overview of currently active mechanisms of personal energy efficiency incentives in the budgetary sector
An assessment of 1) the feasibility of their application in Belarus, 2) the probability of attracting additional investment to energy saving, and 3) the probability of risks materializing in the course of their introduction and utilization
Conclusions and Recommendations
Incentives for organizations and staff and that suitable to be used in Belarus to improve energy efficiency in the state sector.
Recommendations on the application the identified incentives in the country.
Annexes
TOR for the provision of consulting services
A list of the documents reviewed
Comments by stakeholders (only in the event of discrepancies between the opinions of experts and key stakeholders).

The first draft of the report is expected to be submitted to the UNDP Country Office in Belarus within 3 weeks of commencing work for subsequent dissemination among key project stakeholders who will make comments. Any differences between the expert’s and key stakeholders’ interpretation of the collected data will be explained in an annex to the final report.

Competencies

Knowledge of the current energy efficiency incentive systems in the state sector in EU and CIS countries;
Fluency in spoken and written English (knowledge of Russian will be viewed as an asset);
Excellent analytical skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in Economics or related areas. PhD degree is preferable;
At least 10-year professional experience and supported record of service as a consultant on economics in the field of energy efficiency in the countries with transition economy;
Prior professional experience with UNDP in CIS region will be viewed as an asset;
Knowledge of English.

Applicants should:

Complete the form stating their interest in and qualifications for the position (in English);Upload completed Personal History Form (PHF) in the required resume field;
The PHF form can be downloaded from: http://un.by/vacancy/undp/form/

Women are encouraged to apply. UNDP is non-smoking work environment.