Electrogas: A list of the people who benefit from the corrupt deal

It is not only Yorgen Fenech – the man accused of being the mastermind of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination –  who is benefitting from the Electrogas energy supply deal in Malta.

The local owners of Electrogas – CP Holdings, Gasan Enterprises and Tumas Energy – consist of dozens of people who hold shares in the company.

The Shift’s analysis into the individuals behind Electrogas revealed a few noteworthy points. Nexia BT’s name surfaces again, this time as the auditors of Fenech’s New Energy Supply Ltd and GEM Holdings, the company which, alongside Azerbaijan State energy company SOCAR and tech-giant Siemens, hold 33% of the Electrogas shares.

Fenech was also one of the three directors of Electrogas until November 2019, when he was arrested as a murder suspect in the Caruana Galizia assassination.

In September 2019, weeks before the arrest of Fenech as a murder suspect, the older family group members, Ray Fenech, Michael Apap Bologna and Joe Gasan became directors of GEM Holdings.

It has emerged in court that Fenech was receiving information about the progress of the murder investigation and that Ray Fenech may have provided Yorgen Fenech with tips on how and where to run.

The research also found that John Dalli’s sister, Anna Fenech, is one of the Electrogas shareholders through Tumas Energy Ltd. When Caruana Galizia had first written a blogpost about 17 Black, John Dalli’s face had featured in a cryptic image.

The research also found a tie, through marriage, between Paul Apap Bologna from CP Holdings and Greta Apap Bologna, a member of the Gasan group.

Paul Borg Olivier revealed to the Board of Inquiry two weeks ago that Apap Bologna had approached him when he was Secretary General of the Nationalist Party and presented plans for a new power station in 2009 that were “almost identical” to the Electrogas power station built by the Labour government. Borg Olivier said he was taken aback when Apap Bologna told him: “We will do our bit if you do yours.” During the “short meeting”, GEM Holdings was also mentioned, which was then registered as a company on 8 March 2013.

Click on names on the infographic to be directed to further information about each entity:

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The National Audit Office’s lengthy yet damning report published in late 2018 demonstrated how the selection committee, which included among others Nexia BT representatives, nudged the Electrogas consortium through key stages of the selection process while disadvantaging other bidders. The NAO concluded that there was a possible “distortion” of the evaluation process in favour of Electrogas, with serious implications on value for money. In other words, Electrogas were unduly favoured and Malta got a raw deal as a result.

The Electrogas project is also at the centre of a major scandal after leaked emails written by Nexia BT showed the two Panama companies owned by former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and former Minister Konrad Mizzi were to receive payments totalling $2 million from 17 Black, a Dubai firm revealed by the press as owned by Fenech.

The Electrogas consortium was selected to build and operate the LNG power station in Delimara shortly after the Labour Party were elected into power in 2013. 

Electrogas purchases gas from Socar at a fixed price, with Socar in turn free to purchase gas at market rates which, since 2014, have plummeted, pocketing the difference. Enemalta is bound to purchase all energy generated by Electrogas for 18 years, in turn, passing on the higher costs to consumers.