Energy and Health Minister of Malta agrees on dubious deal with Azerbaijan and 'gets lost' with his wife
During the Parliament session in Malta on June 10, 2015, Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne reported Minister for Energy and Health of Malta Konrad Mizzi traveled to Azerbaijan three times during 2014; however no details of the visits were provided, Malta Independent writes.
Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi asked Dr Mizzi to provide the dates of his visits to Azerbaijan since March 2013 and to state who accompanied him on these visits. Fearne answered that Dr Mizzi traveled to Azerbaijan in March 2014 and September 2014 accompanied by his own personal secretary, Malta Independent reports.
According to Malta Independent, opposition Leader Simon Busuttil questioned why Konrad Mizzi was absent in the parliamentary session and why the public was not notified of the trips. Dr Busuttil questioned why Dr Mizzi did not take any ambassador, consultant or media with him to Azerbaijan.
Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli questioned whether SOCAR representatives visited Malta, and what the purpose of the visit was. Dr Fearne failed to answer, saying the question should be put forward by writing.
According to the Times of Malta, Dr Busuttil said these questions were important because shortly after the minister’s visit to Azerbaijan, the Auditor-General had issued a report where he said that the minister had intervened for a hedging agreement to be signed with Socar, which had cost the country €14 million.
Dr Beppe Fenech Adami (PN) said that both the minister’s wife and the minister himself were now missing.
In an earlier publication, Malta Independent wrote that because of the lack of documentation, the Auditor General in Malta questioned the agreements on hedging fuel with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) signed at “ministerial direction.” Opposition leader Simon Busuttil on his microblog Twitter accused Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi of “giving millions worth of contracts to Azerbaijan's SOCAR by ‘ministerial direction,’ and that stank.”
Related:
Political scandal breaks out in Malta for suspicious deals with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan
Scandal gathers pace: Malta Prime Minister is suspected of corrupt ties to Azerbaijani authorities
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