Tancred Tabone steps down as Chamber president

Entrepreneur Tancred Tabone has stepped down as president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, after having been called in for questioning by police in its investigation on the alleged kickbacks paid to former MOBC chief executive Frank Sammut.

Sammut was appointed as a consultant to Tancred Tabone when the latter served as the government-appointed chairman of Enemalta and the Mediterranean Oil Bunkering Corporation, during which Sammut is alleged to have received "commissions" for the sale of oil from Trafigura to the state utility.

Tabone is also the director and a shareholder in Island Bunker Oils, a company that inherited the excess storage capacity from the MOBC after it ceased bunkering operations when it was sold by Enemalta to the government, as part of a recapitalisation process.

In his letter to the Chamber council, Tabone thanked the council and the employees at the Chamber for all the work carried out over the past two years. Chamber director Kevin Borg said the council had expressed its gratitude "for the dedication and tireless work that had been carried out by the outgoing President."

The post of president will now be taken over by deputy president Stefano Mallia, while William Wait and Andrew W.J. Mamo have been appointed deputy and vice president respectively. The two-year term of the current council will come to an end on the 25 March 2013 at which point the AGM will be held and a new council elected.