New tariffs awaiting approval by MRA

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said Enemalta has concluded its revised proposals for the water and electricity tariffs and the data will now be passed on to the Malta Resources Authority for its approval.

Asked about the state of play on the revision of the utility tariffs, in view of the current relatively low international oil prices, Dr Gonzi confirmed they would be revised downwards as soon as the authority gives its go-ahead to Enemata.

"My wish is that the authority concludes its analyses as soon as possible so that the new tariffs can be officiated. We need to move on this issue and settle it," he said at the end of an EU summit in Brussels.

The summit saw Malta's EU funds earmarked for two energy-related projects increased four-fold to €25 million.

Dr Gonzi said Malta had managed to convince its partners to substantially increase its allocation towards the submarine cable interconnection with Sicily, which will integrate Malta with the European electricity grid, and towards an offshore wind farm to produce clean energy.

"My government is very satisfied. The EU accepted our proposals and decided to increase its original offer, which stood at €6 million," Dr Gonzi said during a press conference.

"This wasn't an easy task as all 27 member states were asking for more money from the same budget. However, we made our case forcefully and managed to convince our EU partners."

The only restriction tied to the use of these funds is that the projects will have to begin by the end of 2010.

Dr Gonzi said this would be a tough challenge but Malta was determined to make this bold shift in the way the island produces its energy.

"The interconnection project with Sicily is in an advanced stage and we will soon be able to issue the call for tenders, while collection of wind bankable data of the offshore wind farm project is still being studied. However, even on this project we should be in a position to announce more details in the coming days," he said.

Dr Gonzi added that, through the acquisition of these new funds, Malta had managed to land a total of €1.158.9 billion from the EU to be spent during the current seven-year financial period. He said that in the current economic crisis these funds will also be crucial to stimulate the economy.

"Despite the doom and gloom propagated by the opposition, Malta has managed to get a lot of EU funds, which will contribute to a complete upgrade of our country," he said.

The summit focused on the current deepening of the global financial and economic crises with finance ministers meeting at the margins to try to come out with possible solutions to stabilise the European economy.