Technical Assistance to the Republic of Serbia : Advisory Support to the Working Group Designing a Reform Strategy for Municipal Public Uutility Companies

This report describes a technical assistance project in Serbia to support the design of a national strategy on local Public Utility Companies. It was a response to the request from the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development (MERD) in early 2008. The project objectives were as follows: to assist the MERD in steering the working group; to provide specific targeted inputs to working group discussions; to help the Government determine the extent and nature of informational, analytical, and institutional steps required to fully elaborate and implement a reform strategy; and to advise the Bank and the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) on the potential demand for further external assistance to the reform process. The required specific deliverables were as follows: an inception note, including the consultant s first views after reading existing background reports, recommendation for any changes in the TOR for the services; a first draft of agenda items for the working group; following the second and subsequent visit(s), briefs on case studies, comparative sectoral analyses, and other contributions to working group discussions; and this final summary report, including a terms of reference for further recommended studies and identification of potential roadblocks.