Exclusive suppliers to VGH procured over €4 million in loans

Technoline, the medical supplies company hand-picked by Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH), under exclusive contract, to manage the company’s supply chain processes, procured four loans, worth €4.25 million, from Bank of Valletta in September 2017.

VGH was awarded a concession for the running of three of Malta’s public hospitals but has since been forced to sell the concession after failing to secure the necessary funding.

The medical supplies company has now featured in a Lovin’ Malta report over how Technoline was acquired by Ivan Vassallo, who had previously worked for the company.

In February 2017, Vassallo, acting through his company Gateway Solutions, bought all shares in the company.

Technoline then proceeded to enter into a contract with VGH for it to act as an exclusive supplier to hospitals’ operator, and was made responsible to “negotiate and interface” with all vendors.

Rival medical suppliers complained that Technoline could receive all confidential information about contract bids, if they were to supply their products to VGH.

Technoline also has as a director Yaser Ali Bader, a Pakistani national whose address in MFSA records is the same Tigne Point apartment as of Shaukat Ali Chaudry – a Pakistani businessman believed to be at the centre of negotiations that took place with the Maltese government, before an expression of interest for the concession of the three hospitals was issued.  

Since Vassallo’s acquisition of Technoline, the company has procured four loans of €4.25 million from Bank of Valletta all in September 2017:

1. A €1.25 million loan for “business commitments”: according to the hypothec note, the loan must be repaid either upon expiry or “on cancellation of the guarantees in favour of the Government of Malta”

2. A €1.5 million loan for “business commitments” that will be repaid upon the maturity of the VGH invoices as stipulated in the sanction letter

3. Another €1.5 million loan for business commitments to be repaid upon the maturity of “underlying invoices”

4. And a €1 million loan to be repaid on demand “from business generated revenue as agreed in the relative sanction letter”.