Objectives and desired results

1)     General objective

The Liaison expert represents the Ministry of Economy in its engagement with the project and EF expert team. The role ensures effective institutional coordination and alignment of project support with Government priorities and implementation needs in the areas of privatisation, state asset management and SOE reform.

Acting as the principal institutional interface between the Ministry and Expertise France, the Liaison expert facilitates coordination and strategic alignment, translates Ministry priorities into clear directions for the expert team, and contributes to the relevance, quality and implementation value of project support.

2)     Specific Objectives

·        Represents Ministry of Economy within the EF project team;

·        Ensure alignment between Ministry’s priorities and Project activities;

·        Initiates assignment within the Project based on the Ministry’s priorities and needs;

·        Facilitate coordination among all partners and stakeholders on privatization ensuring overall coherence in attribution of tasks.

·        Contribute to the timely & quality delivery of outputs indicated in the workplan on the selected stream;

Description of the Assignment

3)     Strategic planning and assignment initiation

The liaison expert will be the main platform between the Beneficiary and the Project team. It will be embedded in Ministry’s team as well as in the EF project team facilitating the alignment between the priorities from the Ministry with the tasks performed by the EF Experts.

In particular, the Liaison Expert will be responsible for :

a)      Identifying within the Ministry implementation challenges and opportunities requiring project expert support.

b)     Defining, validating and continuously updating Ministry priorities for technical assistance activities to be attributed to EF expert pool.

c)      Initiating expert assignments in line with project workplan and objectives, translating Government priorities into concrete activities & implementation milestones within the boundaries of the Project objectives.

d)     Recommending, in particular at the occasion of project Committees, adjustments to project priorities in response to Government decisions or emerging implementation needs.

Deliverables:

- quarterly report to be submitted prior to the relevant Project Committee highlighting the main priorities of the MoE to be reflected in the activities for the next 3-6month period; proposals for adjustment against the Project Workplan and schedule; list of risks & bottlenecks identified, related recommendations for improved activities identification and initiation.

- Monthly report listing tasks to be performed, a list of the required expertise, expected outputs and results; alignment with project workplan.

4)     Performance monitoring

The liaison expert will contribute, alongside the other EF Project Team members to the smooth implementation of the defined activities, and in particular in the regular monitoring of the performance of the activities through the participation to regular meetings with experts and MoE team. Such coordination between expert & beneficiary ensures continuous alignment between the outputs planned for each activities and the Ministry priorities.

a)      Ensure the continuous alignment between Ministry priorities and the Expertise France team current activities;

b)     Identify delivery risks and implementation bottlenecks, in particular at the occasion of the Project committees.

c)      Follow up on implementation commitments

Deliverable:

-        quarterly report to be submitted prior to the relevant Project Committee highlighting the main synergies identified between activities delivered to each beneficiary and eventual adjustments; main risks and bottlenecks in the performance of the work by the project team and proposed adjustments.

5)     Delivery management

The liaison expert will assist the expert and project team to ensure that the deliverables are fully acceptable for the beneficiary. While quality control is the responsibility of the EF project team, the liaison expert will contribute by providing advises & recommendations reflecting latest MoE priorities & needs. The liaison expert will also facilitate the restitution of the work and handover of the documents in a timely fashion, and the dissemination of the work performed to all relevant stakeholders within the Ministry.

a)      Define expected outcomes and quality standards for expert assignments in line with project workplan and indicators.

b)     Contribute to the review of deliverables for relevance, quality and implementation readiness.

c)      Coordinate Ministry feedback throughout implementation.

d)     Recommend and assist with revision or additional work before deliverables are formally accepted by the Ministry.

e)     Recommend improvements to delivery processes and future expert support.

Deliverables:

-        quarterly report to be submitted prior to the relevant Project Committee highlighting the recommendations to improving the delivery process, summary of the deliverables & assistance provided by the EF Project Team to the Ministry including their measured impact against Project Indicators.

-        Monthly update of the list of work provided.

6)     Support to secretariat on Privatization working group

The working group on Privatization to the MoE intends to act as a single entry point for donor technical assistance to the MoE related to privatisation reforms, reducing fragmentation and ensuring coherent reform sequencing, while ensuring the coordination to avoid duplication and overlaps among donor funded activities beneficiating to the Ministry. The liaison expert will support the Ministry-led initiative with providing contribution on the consolidation of inputs to be included in the agenda, the meeting set-up and follow up.

a)      Support the preparation the working group meeting upon request by MoE. Tasks might include the collection of inputs, ensuring the alignment with the Ministry priorities, consolidation of items into the agenda alongside with feedback from Working Group members;

b)     Assist with the Secretariat of the working group upon the request of the MoE;

c)      Upon request, facilitate the organisation of ad hoc meetings of the working group: Ad hoc meeting of the privatization working group might be requested in the case of a specific workshop to be organized by the Ministry’s experts and the TA project teams. It would involve in depth discussion on a specific topic, case review and participation of foreign experts to provide reflections on what their experience might bring to Ukrainian context.

Deliverable: minutes of the meetings

Anticipated Deliverables

Coordination

·        The focal point from Expertise France for the coordination & the implementation of the described mission will be Clement Lapointe. Weekly meetings will be organized according to the following structure : 1 weekly component meeting; 1 weekly liaison expert meeting

·        Close coordination is expected with the two beneficiaries, through Project committees and internal team meetings.

Assignment reports

Reports shall be submitted in English, based on Expertise France’s reporting templates, including deliverables and activity tracking. Monthly time sheet with description of daily tasks will be provided, alongside with monthly report tracking tasks performed.

Monitoring-evaluation

Performance Indicators:

·        Timely delivery of reports and deliverables, and in accepting form and content to Expertise France.

·        Number of deliverables supported and submitted to MoE;

·        Number of deliverables accepted by MoE.

·        Number of assignments initiated.

Verification Sources:

·        Submission logs, reports, feedback from MoE.