Muscat ‘unaware’ of Shiv Nair’s World Bank debarment

The government never signed a contract with Shiv Nair, the British millionaire resident in Malta consulting Malta Enterprise, the Prime Minister Joesph Muscat said.

Speaking following a visit to QP Management in Birkirkara, Muscat said that Nair  has "never been paid" by the government for the services he rendered in aiding the government's investment-attraction arm in its attempt to attract foreign direct investment and promote Maltese business abroad

Moreover, Muscat said that no although a letter of appointment was issued, no contract was ever signed, despite a spokesperson for the ministry for economy and investment had told MaltaToday that Nair was being paid €6,000 for his services.

13 years ago Nair was permanently debarred by the World Bank for engaging "in corrupt practices as defined by the Bank's Consultants' Guidelines."

Shiv Shankaran Nair, whose name attracted the attention of Maltese media when he accompanied energy minister Konrad Mizzi on a trip to Qatar last month, is a consultant who styles himself as "China's secret weapon in Africa".

Despite carrying out a due diligence on Nair, Muscat said he was unaware of the businessman's debarment before approaching him to help the government in its quest to attract foreign investment.

However, Muscat said that the government was still investigating claims Nair had been blacklisted by the World Bank and was still waiting for "answers from international institutions." Nair was also blacklisted by the bank for the second time after having tried to change his name.

Singing Nair's praises, Muscat said that the Bristish businessman had "played an important role in setting up a very high level meeting between energy minister Konrad Mizzi and Qatar government officials."

Earlier this week, Muscat told Parliament that he would be deciding on Nair's future engagements one he has all facts at hand.

In August, MaltaToday had already revealed and confirmed that Nair was on Malta Enteprise's payroll.

Although a request for a copy of the contact engaging Nair's services was not upheld, the spokesperson said the government wanted results by the end of year.

"The letter of engagement clearly states that Malta Enterprise is expecting to see concrete results before the end of this year," the spokesperson told MaltaToday.