Finance minister and Air Malta hid chairman’s terms for 18 months

It took over a year and a half for Finance Minister Clyde Caruana and Air Malta to come out with the truth about the contract arranged for David Curmi to serve as the national carrier’s executive chairman and his remuneration package of €21,500 a month.

Following The Shift’s revelations of Curmi’s contract and about how Caruana misled Parliament by stating that Curmi was not receiving remuneration as the chairman of Air Malta’s board, research conducted by this newsroom shows how both the minister and Air Malta dug in their heels over a sustained period to keep the contract from public view.

In reply to a pointed parliamentary question by former Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi in January 2022 asking the minister to confirm that Curmi was put on a remuneration package of over €220,000 a year, Caruana avoided answering.

He instead told the House that Curmi’s remuneration was lower than that of the previous chairman and CEO, who were two separate people, combined.

That was in the last legislature.

Still more parliamentary questions followed about Caruana’s appointee – one by former Opposition MP Joe Ellis, who was told that “the information was commercially sensitive”.

Last June, Opposition MP Rebekah Borg specifically asked Caruana to state Curmi’s remuneration package and provide parliament with a copy of his contract.

Once again, the finance minister refused and instead diverted the MP to the ‘answer’ he had given Azzopardi in the previous legislature.

Caruana then also directed Air Malta to not reply to freedom of information requests from The Shift.

Last April, The Shift filed a formal freedom of information request with Air Malta for a copy of the chairman/CEO’s contract of engagement, as well as for any remuneration he was receiving from subsidiary companies in which he was involved in his capacity as Air Malta chairman.

Surprisingly, Air Malta’s FOI officer informed The Shift that there was no such contract and that Curmi was not receiving any remuneration even though he also sits on the boards of many of the carrier’s subsidiaries.

According to the FOI law, Air Malta was also obliged to pass on the request to any other government entity for which Curmi was being paid through public funds. Air Malta came back stating that after consulting the line ministry, the finance ministry, it considered the case closed and changes could not be made to its reply.

In view of this, The Shift asked Air Malta whether Curmi was working on a voluntary basis but did not receive a reply. In the meantime, The Shift lodged a complaint with the Commissioner for Information and Data Protection to investigate the case. A final decision is still to be taken.

Just a few weeks ago in Parliament, Caruana was asked to produce a list of members of all the ministry’s boards and their respective remuneration.

Again, Caruana avoided furnishing the information and instead produced a document listing David Curmi as “receiving no remuneration”.

This was far from the truth as according to his contract published by The Shift on Wednesday morning, Curmi is receiving €21,500 a month, including for chairing the Air Malta board.

Still, in a statement in reaction to The Shift’s story, Clyde Caruana insisted he had not lied to Parliament and insisted that Curmi is not being remunerated for chairing the company’s board but, rather, he is “being paid to manage the company”.

According to the contract arranged for him by Caruana, Curmi’s main task and related remuneration is for “the performance of the role of Executive Chairman of Air Malta plc, which includes the role of CEO of the Company.”

Two investigations launched

Following The Shift’s revelations, two separate probes have been initiated into the finance minister – both claiming that he misled Parliament against the provisions of the Standing Orders that guide parliamentary conduct and the Ministerial Code of Ethics, which requires MPs to be truthful.

The Opposition yesterday called upon Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia and Commissioner for Standards in Public Life Joe Azzopardi to open separate investigations into Caruana’s conduct.

On his part, independent politician Arnold Cassola formally asked Azzopardi to investigate Caruana’s conduct by granting Curmi an “unheard of” €774,000 three-year contract to spearhead a public entity.

Curmi was tasked with turning the ailing airline around but has so far failed to do so. He admitted only a few weeks ago that the national airline is destined to be wound up by the end of this year.