€5 million for Europride payments – double the budget

The government paid over 800 invoices to cover payments connected to the Europride festivities, held in Malta in 2023 as part of a public relations exercise to celebrate gay rights and promote Malta’s then-EU Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli.

According to the invoices viewed by The Shift, the government made a staggering €5 million in payments, despite the budget for the event set by the Finance Ministry being half the expense, at just €2.5 million.

The list of invoices obtained by The Shift through a Freedom of Information request reveals numerous repeated invoices issued by the same companies or service providers and exorbitant payment requests split across different invoices.

For example, what was supposed to be a ‘free’ concert by international artist Christina Aguilera was split across various invoices issued by Creative Artists Agency, a Los Angeles-based agency representing the artist.

The company issued five different invoices to the government, each exceeding €150,000, for a cumulative total of €1 million.

Aguilera received €300,000 in public funds for her performance, while the remaining €700,000 was divided among invoices for “production services.”

Invoices for tens of thousands of euro were also issued for hospitality, hotel costs, and protection for the artist, who spent only a night in Malta.

Eden Hospitality, the owner of the Intercontinental Hotel, issued three separate invoices totaling nearly €70,000 for their services to the artist. Meanwhile, Protection Services Malta Ltd received almost €200,000 for providing security, including for Aguilera.

Invoices reveal uncontrolled spending across numerous service providers. These include singers, presenters, firework vendors, bands, performers, TV stations, and others who contributed to the lavish events funded by taxpayers.

Even the Gozo Cathedral issued an invoice and was paid for unknown services provided for the event.

An audit conducted by the National Audit Office (NAO) and published last year revealed significant mismanagement of the costly event organised by the Office of Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg.

The audit uncovered a financial mess, and the NAO faced obstacles in carrying out its investigation, as the Office of the Prime Minister refused to identify the officials responsible for the mismanagement.

When the NAO inquired about how a budget of €2.5 million escalated to twice that amount, the officials from the Prime Minister’s Office could not provide a satisfactory explanation. They attributed the budget overrun primarily to “unexpected adverse weather conditions” and an underestimation of certain expenses, such as security.

While Buttigieg held political responsibility for the event, its day-to-day management was directed by her Chief of Staff, Carmen Sammut, who is married to former PBS CEO Mark Sammut.

The NAO’s report indicated that Sammut approved contracts irregularly, with then-permanent secretary Emanuel Psaila acting as a rubber stamp.

The report also noted that Sammut improperly monitored calls for quotations, recommended payments, certified invoices, issued purchase orders, and coordinated the delivery of goods worth hundreds of thousands of euro to the parliamentary secretary’s office.

Notably, there were instances where goods were delivered directly to Buttigieg’s private secretary.