This October the National PPP Centre of Russia introduced the APMG PPP Certified PPP Professional (CP3P) credential to the Russian market. Open enrolment training for all the level exams is delivered by the UK-based accredited training organisation PPP Expertise Eurasia.
21 participants from the first learning cohort took Level One – “PPP Foundation” exam on 30 November. All candidates achieved pass level with an average group score of 42 out of a possible 50. "This is the best cohort result in the history of CP3P courses in Russian. The key success factors were the combination of the participants' experience and their openness to new knowledge. Everyone was very eager to learn about best global practices that the course is based on. Participants demonstrated very good critical reasoning skills, when they analysed familiar projects from the international PPP Standard perspective," said Sergei Samolis, Chief Executive Officer of PPP Expertise Eurasia.
PPP Foundation is one of three levels in the international programme. Successful completion of this exam allows progression to the other two level of the international CP3P programme - PPP Project Preparation and PPP Project Execution.
"This was one very useful course. Of course, we are used to our own respective PPP frameworks and approaches. <...> It was interesting to compare experiences, approaches, examples, to understand what the PPP perspective is in Russia. As for me, the most valuable element of this programme was the international experience. Tomorrow we are meeting with international experts from IFC and the World Bank to discuss major projects. Now I am confident that we will be on the same page, speaking the same professional language," said Arman Tleubayev, Director of SmartInvest LS (Kazakhstan), one of the training participants.
The course agenda took almost 2 months to prepare candidates for the exam. The training was delivered 100% online, starting with a self-paced phase using the PPP Expertise Eurasia online learning and knowledge management platform. Following the course timetable, the participants studied Volume 1 of the PPP Guide and other training materials, wrote an essay on a PPP-based topic, engaged in professional conversations with the trainers and other participants via the platform chat and in the online discussion forum. This phase was followed by two three-day live sessions via videoconference that covered the Guide theory, as well as additional areas such as Basics of Corporate Finance, Mega-Project Management, Risk Management, etc. The agenda provided ample opportunity to focus on critically important aspects of the Guide, which made high exam scores possible.
In addition, during the sessions, the trainers analysed several project cases in the fields of transport, healthcare, and education. The case study of St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport PPP was used throughout all sessions for in-depth analysis of this award-winning deal to demonstrate PPP features relevant for specific sessions, such as development of PPP framework, working with consultants, project scoping and appraisal, bid qualification criteria and proposal assessment, negotiation process, risk allocation, financial structuring, contract management, etc.
"I was especially impressed by the practical part! In addition to the theory in the manual, you also explain everything with real-life examples. The airport case study was very useful. Contributions from the course participants, who referred to the projects they work on, and following discussions also meant a lot in terms of helping to understand the issues", - shared her impressions from the course Maria Nuikina, Head of Irkutsk Region Development Corporation Department.
The course structure provided the participants with ample opportunity to test their knowledge prior to taking the exam, including a gamified quiz-type competition, which contributed to knowledge retention. "I discovered so many new things about PPPs, it was really captivating for me. The course is very so well structured. Speaking of the exam, quizzes and tests really helped me to quickly get a grasp of the Guide content, feel really familiar with the key concepts and perspectives. The way our trainers explained everything was phenomenally spot-on and easy to follow. Thank you very much for the course!", said Irina Latkina, Head of the Land and Property Relations Department at USTEK.
Couse participants came different facets of PPP: banks, private investors, construction and operation contractors, consultants, government agencies, federal and regional development institutions. "The team of trainers did a really good job, delivering value added to this course. The Guide is rather dry and heavy on PPP theory, but the instructors adapted it so well for our, everything was explained so logically. I really admire the effort, so grateful to the trainers for that. We look forward to further fruitful cooperation", said Alexey Afanasiev, Head of the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate with Eurasian Development Bank, sharing his impressions of the course.
Remir Mukumov, Executive Director of PPP Expertise Eurasia: "It is true, we put in a lot of effort to make this course a success. I am particularly proud of our online platform, where we employed a comprehensive set of cutting-edge tools to make learning effective and fun: pre-recorded sessions, tests and quizzes, peer-reviewed essays, collaborative learning via chats and discussion forums, resource centre with additional reading, etc. Apart from the exam scores, we measured the training effectiveness giving a formative and summative test that every participant took. Upon completion of the course the results went up by 16% to 25% with over 25% saving of time to take the assignment, which indicate significant progress.”
In April/May 2022, the National PPP Centre and PPP Expertise Eurasia plan to deliver the CP3P Level 2 training programme and exam - PPP Project Preparation.
Those who did not manage to join the first learning cohort in 2021 will be able to enter the programme training next year. The second cohort of candidates is scheduled to start the CP3P Level 1 training – PPP Foundation on 1 March 2022. Read more
The APMG PPP Certification Program is an innovation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) the World Bank Group (WBG) and part funded by the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF). The programme includes three levels: Foundation, Preparation and Execution. It is the only international qualification in PPP, supported by a group of leading International Financial Institutions. Close to 8,000 candidates from 167 countries took the CP3P exams and are now APMG Certified PPP Professionals.
