Clyde Caruana’s campaign manager lands another €45,000 in public funds

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has awarded another €45,000 direct order for vaguely defined “media services” to Antilia Ltd, the company owned by his former electoral campaign manager, Ayrton Bonnici.

The contract appears in the latest list of direct orders published by the finance ministry.

The same disclosure shows that Pierre Cachia, another Labour insider and former aide to former Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, received a separate €30,000 direct order, also described simply as “media services”.

Together, the two contracts committed €75,000 in public funds without an open call for competing offers, while providing taxpayers with little information about the services being purchased.

Caruana’s repeated engagement of Antilia has previously raised questions about conflicts of interest and the use of direct orders to reward individuals politically close to government.

Bonnici, a former organising secretary of Labour’s youth wing and former ONE TV employee, managed Caruana’s campaign during the 2022 general election.

Electoral Commission records examined by The Shift showed that Antilia handled almost half of Caruana’s declared campaign spending. The company was named on invoices covering advertising, printing, leaflets and sponsored social-media posts worth approximately €9,600.

Since Caruana entered parliament, Antilia has repeatedly benefited from government contracts.

In 2023, Caruana’s ministry awarded the company two direct orders worth more than €45,000 for “media services”. No detailed explanation of the work commissioned was published.

Antilia has also received direct orders from Jobsplus, the Customs Department, the Malta Film Commission, the Malta Digital Innovation Authority and other government entities.

More recently, the transport ministry awarded the company a €39,520 direct contract covering videography, footage editing, graphics, teleprompter facilities and other media services between October 2024 and September 2025.

The latest €45,000 award means Caruana’s ministry has again placed Bonnici’s company on the public payroll for media work whose precise scope remains unclear.

The finance ministry already employs communications personnel responsible for managing the minister’s public and media presence.

Caruana occupies a particularly sensitive position in relation to public spending. As finance minister, he is responsible for enforcing expenditure controls across government and safeguarding compliance with public-procurement rules.

Direct orders are permitted under procurement regulations in limited circumstances but are supposed to be used exceptionally and supported by adequate justification.