Aikon documents in possession of finance ministry should be investigated - Muscat

Labour leader Joseph Muscat said that the documents currently in the possession of the finance ministry, which were passed on to government on the basis of suspicious activity in 2011, should be investigated in the light of the ongoing Enemalta oil purchasing corruption scandal.

Muscat was speaking about the latest developments in the rapidly unfolding Enemalta corruption kickbacks scandal following a tour of the Malta International Airport.

Muscat was asked to react to the fact that the finance ministry's claim on Sunday - that Farrugia was not related to Aikon, the company at the heart of police investigations on the payment of kickbacks by commodities firm Trafigura for the supply of fuel to state utility Enemalta - was disproven.

On Sunday it was reported that investigations into Aikon's tax under-declaration were initiated in August 2011, when an "official source" - as described by Fenech in comments to MaltaToday - had forwarded copies of suspicious invoices to his ministry's secretariat, which in turn were passed on to the TCU.

Fenech added however that the TCU had "reported back to government that the shareholder and director in Aikon Limited was a registered fiduciary company going by the name of Intershore Fiduciary Services Limited."

But a report published by Maltatoday on Monday proved that Aikon was already registered under George Farrugia's ownership as early as 2010, with documents bearing his signature as a director and later in January 2011 as a shareholder.

Muscat said that this statement, coming from a ministry that is also responsible for Enemalta and oil-purchasing procedures, suggests that either the ministry is misinformed, or that there "a serious problem somewhere."

"All that the Finance Ministry said yesterday shows that the ministry is either not informed, or that there is a serious problem somewhere," Muscat said. "This is because the finance ministry said that the company being investigated did not have a direct link with Farrugia. It is clear that there was a direct link, and this was also confirmed by the MFSA."

Muscat however noted that the finance ministry is the same ministry that is in charge of Enemalta, as well as oil-purchasing procedures - which is currently at the heart of an investigation into corruption related to kickbacks received on oil-purchasing agreements.

"I think that the fact that the ministry has made such a statement, given that it is the same ministry responsible for the Enemalta and oil-purchasing, and given that it had it its hands documents that show that commissions were being received on oil-purchasing, I think that it is not a simple tax-related bureaucratic procedure, but it is an issue that should be investigated," Muscat said.

Muscat was also asked to react to reports regarding an incident in the Labour club in Rabat.

"Any sort of incident is to be condemned," Muscat said while also appealing to the media "to not blow the issue out of proportion to raise tempers."

He added "from the information we have so far, the incident was unconnected to politics."

During the MIA tour, Muscat visited several areas of the airport, including the Arrivals, Departures, Duty-Free area, and the plane taxi area, accompanied by MIA deputy CEO Austin Camilleri and Francis Gregory, president of the Shop owners Association.

During a brief address at the end of the tour, Muscat said that Labour views the MIA as an essential partner in the national tourism and communication infrastructure.

He said that a new Labour government would ensure that it remains in touch with the MIA and explore the possibility of devising schemes and offers that would encourage airlines to explore "untapped markets such as Eastern Europe and non EU countries."

Muscat added that North Africa also represents an untapped market which Malta is well-position to try and access, adding that this vision extends beyond "our traditional Mediterranean neighbours, and includes even central Africa."

He added that "Malta needs to develop strategic alliances with other continents to increase our attractiveness as a destination."

Muscat also reiterated commitments to ensuring that Air Malta remains viable and competitive, despite realities such as low-cost carriers.

The Labour leader added that issues such as VISA procedures need to be "facilitated within a pan-European context as other countries do."

He however noted that as an EU member state, Malta has limited room to manoeuvre in this regard. "We have no problem with this, but we can still come to some arrangement as other EU countries do."

In his own address, MIA deputy CEO Austin Calleja said that the MIA is facing serious challenges such as the fact that Malta's main source markets, the United Kingdom and Italy, are still in recession.

He also said that expenses to maintain the airport itself "are increasing", while rapid and unexpected shifts in air travel regulations are resulting in wasted infrastructure investment.

Earlier on Monday, Muscat also toured the Qawra Palace Hotel, where he met with staff and emphasised the importance of Malta' ability to diversify its touristic product.

"We welcome the increase in tourist arrivals, however the main challenge is to ensure the profitability and the viability of our touristic operators," he said.

He reiterated several of Labour's electoral proposals in this regard, such as the proposal to cut down energy costs by 25% for the private sector, as well as the establishment of teams tasked with regular maintenance of touristic areas during peak season.

He also said that measures announced in the 2013 Budget aimed at tourism operators, such as a 13% tax credit for those operators who invest to improve their tourism product, will be retained.

"We will also be working so that hotel owners enjoy better access to EU funding from the latest tranche that was recently secured," Muscat added.