"Možura" affair: Enemalta refuses to publish a report on the purchase of shares

Enemalta refused to publish a report confirming that the state-owned company was aware that it was paying three times the original price for the purchase of shares in the Možura wind farm project.

Enemalta rejected a free access to information request for the report it submitted The Times of Malta on the basis that there is "good cause for withholding the requested document", as the document is legally privileged.

It took the energy provider a full 20 working days to reject the request, which was submitted last month.

The Times of Malta and Reuters previously revealed how murder suspect Jorgen Fenech secretly profited from the 2015 deal, through 17 Black, the same company that was supposed to send millions to former government officials Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.

The report on the work commissioned by Enemalta, summarized in the company's 2019 accounts, is hampered by the fact that the unnamed law firm that conducted it did not have access to the e-mail accounts and emails of Enemalta's board of directors, as well as its employees.

According to a summary of the report provided by Enemalta, the law firm noted that "there were deficiencies in corporate governance," including issues that "would not generally be expected to be present in similar transactions."

Enemalta's summary report did not detail these deficiencies. Enemalta said it was committed to addressing them through improved governance structures.

It said it has since introduced a risk management policy, an anti-money laundering policy and an investment and procurement policy.

A separate internal Enemalta review of the contract concluded that there was a failure of due diligence and a lack of professional skepticism on the part of Enemalta's board regarding the contract.

The internal audit highlighted the "passive attitude" of Enemalta during the negotiations.

Chinese negotiator Chen Cheng and London-based Vestigo Capital were found to have led the early talks on the deal.

Last year, the Times of Malta and Reuters revealed that Cheng's mother-in-law owns McBridge, a company named alongside 17 Black as the second main source of income for the Panamanian companies founded by Schembri and Mici.