Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is denying there is any secrecy surrounding the sale of Enemalta’s petroleum division, insisting the government has always made its intentions clear.

Dr Muscat was reacting to a Times of Malta report that yesterday revealed the government-to-government sale of the State energy provider’s profit-making petroleum division.

No official announcement of the €83 million deal, aimed at giving a boost to Malta’s public finances, was made.

However, Dr Muscat insisted the move had been announced in Parliament by Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi several weeks ago.

Although Mr Mizzi had indicated that the government would eventually turn the petroleum division into a separate entity last June, he had also said the government would provide plans for this in the following months. These never materialised.

When asked why no details had been revealed, Dr Muscat said he failed to understand the Opposition’s problem with the move.

The Nationalist Party, he said, had floated a similar idea during the previous administration, and had even issued a call for expressions of interest.

“If the PN has just woken up to something that it conceived itself, then I think the Opposition leader is out of his depth on this,” he said.

Sources close to Enemalta had told this newspaper that the petroleum division was sold to settle part of the €150 million Enemalta owed the authorities in excise duties.

“The company used the money it received to pay some of its dues to the government as this was posing a risk to this year’s deficit,” the sources had said.

Two new government companies – Petromal Company Ltd and Enemed Company Ltd, which were registered a few weeks ago – took over the petroleum division.

These companies, which arefully owned by another government entity, Malta Government Investments Ltd, took out a bank loan to finance this transaction.