No contract for €400,000 in Budget promotion

Former finance minister Tonio Fenech approved the payment of over €400,000 in media services from Lighthouse Communications on the eve of the 2013 elections - 8 March - but has contradicted claims by Edward Scicluna that this was a direct order.

Fenech approved the payment of an accumulated spend of €400,000 in promotion of Budget 2013 - which ironically did not pass in the House - on the eve of the election, by replying by email to a query from ministry officials, MaltaToday has learnt.

But the former minister told MaltaToday this week that the payments were carried out following the publication of an expression of interest.

Government sources, however, told this newspaper that the agreement dates back to 2008, yet no official contract with the media company was ever signed.  The only instance where Lighthouse Communications was engaged by the ministry was through an expression of interest in late 2008.

From that point onwards, no further quotations were ever requested or expressions of interest issued.

Earlier this week, finance minister Edward Scicluna fleetingly revealed that Fenech had signed "an agreement worth €300,000 a mere 24 hours before the general election".

In reply, Fenech denied signing any contracts on 8 March, insisting that he only approved payments for legitimate services that had been rendered to the government in 2012.

The total sum of payments approved personally amounted to €404,982.46.

However, speaking to MaltaToday, Fenech said that the approval signed on 8 March wasn't "extraordinary" and explained that on 8 March he had approved the payment for a marketing campaign carried out by one company in the run-up to the 2013 budget, which was ultimately defeated on 10 December 2012.

Sources told MaltaToday that €385,322 was spent on services related to Budget 2013 and other budget-related expenditures, while over €26,000 covered other services dating back to January 2010, including promotional material for the Notte Bianca festival.

The invoices approved by Fenech on election eve ranged from rudimentary print advertising, marketing services, event planning, location scouting, photography and design and publishing to other, somewhat odd services, such as acting.

Moreover, over €35,000 was paid for what seems to be a yearly fee for consultancy services.