Montenegro wind farm deal to be published, minister says

A copy of the deal for the buying of a wind farm in Montenegro will be tabled in Parliament in the coming days, Michael Farrugia said.

The Energy Minister said on Monday, in a reply to a parliamentary question from PN MP Jason Azzopardi, that he had “no issue” with publishing the agreement.

The deal is at the centre of corruption allegations and is the subject of a police investigation.

In June, Reuters and Times of Malta had revealed that Dubai-based company 17 Black had made a a previously undisclosed profit of €4.6 million when Enemalta bought a wind farm in Montenegro.

The wind farm was acquired by Enemalta in a lucrative deal for Yorgen Fenech - 17 Black’s owner - during the tenure of former minister Konrad Mizzi.

Fenech is currently charged with masterminding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was investigating the deal at the time of her death.

The revelation prompted the launching of a police investigation in collaboration with Europol and with the assistance of other competent authorities.

The Montenegrin project, backed strongly by Joseph Muscat as prime minister and Mizzi as energy minister, could implicate not just Fenech, but potentially Muscat’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri.

Both Mizzi and Schembri’s secret offshore companies in Panama had named Fenech’s 17 Black as their target client.

Enemalta has denied any knowledge of 17 Black’s involvement in the 2015 deal through which it bought the Mozura wind farm in Montenegro.

The company said due diligence of the project and its financial viability carried out by Shanghai Electric Power, the lead investor, and its international external legal and financial advisors did not flag 17 Black’s involvement.