WATCH: ‘It Looked Like A Good Deal For Malta’: Energy Minister About Montenegro Wind Farm Scandal
Energy Minister Michael Farrugia said that the Montenegro wind farm project looked like ‘a good deal’ for ‘Malta and Gozo’.
“What I can say is, this needs to be looked at from both sides, and it’s wrong to get it all mixed up,” said Farrugia. “Enemalta thought it looked like a good deal for Malta and Gozo as well as for the operation itself.”
Recent reports by Reuters and Times of Malta state the wind farm was initially purchased by Cifidex, a company which Reuters said is owned by Azeri businessman and former Electrogas director Turab Musayev. A few weeks after, the Maltese government agreed to pay €10.3 million for the very same wind farm.
The €2.9 million which Cifidex used to pay for the wind farm were reportedly loaned to him by Yorgen Fenech, the man charged with journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. Following the Maltese government’s purchase of the wind farm, Cifidex paid back his loan to Fenech alongside an extra €4.6 million – meaning that Fenech made a profit of €2.8 million.
Musayev has denied any wrongdoing and has said he had no reason to suspect Fenech had any involvement in Caruana Galizia’s murder.
He said Cifidex had its own independent management and that his business with Fenech involved due diligence from reputable and established bankers, accountants and lawyers.
Konrad Mizzi was Energy Minister at the time, the same minister whose Panama company was supposed to receive regular payments from 17 Black.
However, Minister Farrugia said Enemalta, Malta’s national electricity provider, was set to make profits of around 9.4% from said deal, figures quoted by Mizzi.
When asked about how long he’s known about the scandal, Farrugia stated that he had “heard rumours” about it before it was published by Times of Malta and Reuters last week.