Malta working to avoid impact of new Libya sanctions on Maltese companies

Malta is working to ensure that new EU sanctions against Libyaa will not impact on Maltese companies having Libyan investment.

Sources close to the European Commission in Brussels this morning confirmed that the 27 EU member states are likely to agree this afternoon to include a list of Libyan companies, including the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), into its list of sanctions. The sources said that the sanctions are likely to include a freeze of assets of these companies on EU territory although the exact form the sanctions will take is not known yet.

Although Malta agrees with the sanctions in principle, informed sources told timesofmalta.com that Malta and a number of other EU member states are exerting diplomatic pressure to make sure that these sanctions continue to target the individuals in the Gaddafi regime and not companies which employ hundreds of workers and which have nothing to do with the Libyan conflict.

Malta has several companies with Libyan investment which might be indirectly hit by the sanctions. These include the Corinthia Group, Medavia, Vivaldi Hotel, Milano Due Hotel and Medelec.

The Libyan Investment Authority is the Libyan Government’s investment arm and is worth some $70 billion.

It has a vast range of investments in Europe including a shareholding in Juventus FC, Unicredit, the Financial Times and Fiat.

More details on the new EU sanctions are expected to be given this evening.