Enemed spends €2 million on marketing despite no competition

Enemed, a state company that has a virtual monopoly in the local fuel market, has spent €1.7 million of taxpayers’ funds on marketing and advertising in the last eight years despite no competition and heavy multi-million-euro subsidies from public coffers.

A breakdown of this spending, obtained through a parliamentary question by PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut, revealed that most of this astounding advertising budget, over €1 million, was funnelled through the agency Red Orange Consultants Ltd.

The small private marketing firm, based in Naxxar, is owned by Daniel Abela, nephew of Louis Grech, the former Deputy Prime Minister during Joseph Muscat’s time at the helm of government, and currently a special envoy to Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli revealed Enemed’s abnormal advertising spend but stopped short of explaining how Red Orange was selected for this bonanza, whether by direct order or a competitive tender and why the state monopoly is spending so much money on advertising through the same company when it has a dominant market position.

According to the new details submitted in parliament, Red Orange consumed more than 60% of Enemed’s advertising, with tens of thousands spent on radio and TV ads, merchandise, press conferences and paid interviews, and wrapping of buses among other services. Even donations to NGOs and sports organisations were passed through Abela’s marketing agency.

It is common practice in the marketing industry for advertising agencies to receive a minimum 15% commission.

Kevin Chircop has been Executive Chairman of Enemed since 2015 when the company started its spending spree on advertising under the political control of disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi. For some time, Chircop was also the chairman of Enemalta. He was removed in 2021.

Enemed has not published its accounts since 2020 and is registering massive losses year in and year out. In 2022, according to the last publicly available data, Enemed was given €111 million in subsidies to keep afloat.