Greens Co-Chair asks EC if state aid, procurement regulations were broken

ITS site transfer to db Group

Ska Keller, the Co-Chair of the Greens-EFA Group in the European Parliament, has requested the European Commission to look into whether the contentious sale of the ITS site in St Julian’s to the db Group has violated state aid rules and distorted competition.

The transfer of public land to a private real estate company, she contends may very well have broken EU rules because a formal tender had not been issued, as per EU procurement regulations, but only a request for proposals.

In her parliamentary question, she noted that back in February 2017, the Maltese government had transferred 24,000 square metres of public land at the prime seafront location St George’s Bay, St Julian’s, to the company db San Gorg Property Ltd, for €15 million payable over a span of seven years, and that no interest will be charged.

She also brought up the hackneyed, and arguably incorrect, argument that “the market value of the site in question is quoted in the Government’s own master plan as being €8,500 per square metre, i.e. €204 million for the land in question, as opposed to the price of €15 million negotiated by the Maltese government.

“Given that the entire procedure for the sale of the land in question, including the price for which the land was sold, puts db Group at a considerable advantage over other companies. Can the Commission provide assurances that state aid rules were adhered to – especially as no formal tender was issued but only a request for proposal.”