OPM in new denial over Gaddafi threat to Maltese business

The Office of the Prime Minister is denying a report in MaltaToday.com.mt that Lawrence Gonzi is informed of threats to Maltese businesses in Libya, that their assets could be seized if they do not reopen their businesses.

The comments were made by Gonzi during a session last Monday of the Malta Counil for Economic and Social Development.

Both union and employer representatives told MaltaToday yesterday, and today, that the PM had been informed by businesses of this threat.

Specifically, certain business owners recieved phone calls “from Libya” encouraging them to reopen their businesses “within two weeks”.

Sources said business operators were now scared their assets, most of which were left behind during the evacuation, could be seized by pro-Gaddafi forces and authorities.

This is yet another instance in which the OPM, sensitive to information on Libyan-Maltese relations, attempts to deny claims appearing in newspapers on Maltese businesses. MaltaToday stands by its story.

In a statement released this afternoon, the OPM denied that a meeting with business owners was to be held on Friday, and claimed MaltaToday’s original article “included other things that are not true, including that of some invented communication from the Prime Minister.”

GRTU boss Vince Farrugia has called on government to guarantee loans granted to businesses with investments in Libya, and for banks to be more flexible with their clients.

Farrugia, who has set up a task-force within his organisation to assist Maltese companies with Libyan investments in the wake of the current uprising, has appealed to government to “focus on helping these businesses which may have problems with the banks. I am urging the government to act as it did during the banking crisis and guarantee these business loans,” he told The Times.