Electrogas consortium members distance themselves from 17 Black
Maltese and German members of the Electrogas Delimara power station consortium have distanced themselves from 17 Black, and representatives of both Maltese companies say they do not know who owns Macbridge.
This newsroom contacted Gasan Group CEO Mark Gasan and CP Holdings director and shareholder Paul Apap Bologna, which both form part of GEM Holdings (part of the Electrogas consortium), as well as German company Siemens, which also forms part of the consortium.
It was recently reported that director and CEO of the Tumas Group Yorgen Fenech, who is a director and shareholder in the Electrogas consortium, is the owner of 17 Black. Electrogas runs the gas power station. Reuters and Times of Malta had broken the recent revelations on 17 Black regarding Yorgen Fenech on Friday.
17 Black and Macbridge were listed as the ‘Main Clients‘ and ‘Possible Payers/Senders‘ of Tillgate and Hearnville, the offshore Panamanian companies owned by OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, leaked emails obtained by German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and published by the Daphne Project, showed. In reaction to the news story, Schembri had said that 17 Black never became clients of his business group. Mizzi had also previously said that there is no connection, direct or otherwise, between him, his company or trust, and any entity called 17 Black.
The Electrogas consortium is made up of Siemens, SOCAR (an Azerbaijan state-owned company), and a collection of Maltese investors known as GEM Holdings, of which Tumas Energy Ltd, Gasan Enterprises Ltd and CP Holdings Ltd form part of.
Mark Gasan, who is also listed as a Director of GEM Holdings on the Malta Financial Services Authority Website, was contacted by The Malta Independent yesterday. This newsroom asked Gasan whether he was aware of Yorgen Fenech’s reported ownership of 17 Black prior to the release of the news reports. Gasan said that he was not aware, and is “just seeing what I saw in the media.”
Asked whether he is looking into the situation and considering re-evaluating their position in the consortium as a result of this, Gasan said: “We do not have anything to do with 17 Black. There is no connection whatsoever between Gasan and 17 Black.”
Told that this newsroom was referring to the Electrogas consortium, Gasan stressed that he is not a director of the Electrogas company, and does not have direct involvement. This newsroom highlighted that GEM Holdings is a part of Electrogas, and asked whether Gasan is reevaluating its position within the consortium as a result of the recent news.
“There is information out there and we will be trying to understand. We know probably as much as you.”
Asked whether he is investigating the matter, he said he has no comment to make on this.
Gasan reiterated again that as a group they have no relation whatsoever to 17 Black. “There is no connection.”
Asked about the connection to the Electrogas consortium, he said: “17 Black has been linked to Electrogas and I am not really understanding the link. People can speculate but I am not seeing how Electrogas is linked to 17 Black, there is no connection either.”
Asked whether Gasan knows who owns a company called Macbridge, and whether Gasan has any business with said company, he said: “No I don’t know who owns Macbridge and no we never did any business with this company. There is no connection whatsoever.”
This newsroom also contacted Paul Apap Bologna, who is both a director and shareholder of CP Holdings Ltd and a director of GEM Holdings. He said that he did not know of Fenech’s reported ownership of 17 Black prior to the news articles, however said that he had no further comments to make on this issue at this stage.
He also said that he did not have any business with a company called 17 Black.
Asked if he has any knowledge of a company called Macbridge, he said that the only knowledge he has is from what was written in the press. Pressed again and asked if he knows the owner or has business links, he said no.
Asked whether, given the revelations, he is investigating the issue or re-evaluating his position within the consortium, he said: “This is an internal matter, and obviously internally it will take its due course. Things have to happen as they happen.” This newsroom asked what he meant by that, to which he said “We will have our internal discussions.”
Asked whether he can say for certain that there was no wrongdoing in the Electrogas deal by any of the partners, he said: “As far as I know there has been absolutely nothing wrong that has been done.” He also said that he cannot see any connection between Electrogas and any wrongdoing.
Electrogas consortium partner Siemens, a German company, told The Malta Independent that it is monitoring the situation in Malta “very closely” after recent revelations with regard to a company named 17 Black.
Siemens, in response to the many questions sent, responded with one short paragraph. “Regarding your questions I can tell you that Siemens has no business relationship with a company called ‘17 Black Ltd.’ Siemens is monitoring the situation in Malta very closely. Please understand that we currently do not want to comment on the topic any further.”
This newsroom did not ask whether Siemens has a business relationship with 17 Black, however the company offered this answer, indicating that it wants to distance itself from the current situation.
This newsroom asked, among other things, whether Siemens is concerned about the situation; Whether they will welcome the MEP’s call for an investigation, and if they would cooperate with such an investigation; Whether a serious company like Siemens is comfortable forming part of a consortium which is under the international microscope for serious allegations; Whether they are conducting their own internal inquiry into what is happening within the consortium; if they are reconsidering their position in the consortium; Whether they are concerned about any potential damage to Siemens’ reputation; whether they knew that Yorgen Fenech owned a company called 17 Black, amongst others.
The recent 17 Black revelations have, yet again, seen Malta’s name hit international headlines in a negative light. A parliamentary debate was held on the issue, with Minister Konrad Mizzi not participating, instead leaving other government Ministers and PL MPs to argue in his stead.
PN MEP David Casa, as a result of the latest revelations, wrote to German Secretary of State Stephan Mayer to “immediately launch an investigation in terms of the German Criminal Code” given the German company’s involvement in the ElectroGas consortium.
Recently, MEP Sophia in ‘t Veld, the Chair of the EP’s Rule of Law Monitoring Group, called for a thorough investigation of the latest revelations on 17 Black. “These new revelations are extremely worrying and should trigger an immediate and thorough investigation by the Maltese authorities. Given the possible relevance for the ongoing investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, we expect Europol to be fully involved in the follow up. In that light, we also sent a letter to Europol requesting their involvement and assessment of the current situation,” said the Dutch MEP.
When the news regarding 17 Black broke last week, Reuters had reported that it reviewed UAE banking correspondence “that summarised 17 Black’s banking activity in Dubai. The documents stated that when 17 Black opened an account in June 2015 at Noor Bank in Dubai, the company declared it was 100 percent owned by a Maltese citizen called Yorgen Fenech. The correspondence also said Fenech is the account’s sole signatory.”
Reuters also reported that two people familiar with the subject in Malta said a report by Malta’s anti-money laundering watchdog had identified Yorgen Fenech as the owner of 17 Black. A third person familiar with the subject in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said account records at a bank in Dubai identified Fenech as the owner of 17 Black. They also reported that when asked to comment, Fenech declined to say whether he owns the company.
This revelation has renewed calls for the immediate removal of OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, as well as warnings from the Opposition that if not removed, the fallout would rest on the Prime Minister’s shoulders.
Opposition Leader Adrian Delia himself had said that there is no longer any other road for the Prime Minister to take, and political responsibility must be carried. If Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri do not resign, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat must carry responsibility himself, Delia said.
“‘People can speculate but I am not seeing how Electrogas is linked to 17 Black, there is no connection’–
Mark Gasan
“‘As far as I know there has been absolutely nothing wrong that has been done’Paul Apap Bologna