The company that handles utility bills is refusing to say how much it pays the General Workers’ Union for the lease of an office in Valletta.

The office – part of the GWU’s building in Old Bakery Street – was opened by ARMS Ltd in July to better serve customers, given its central location. Although, according to the company, the site was selected following a call for quotations, it refuses to divulge details on the lease.

The furnished office, which until recently was used by the GWU for one of its commercial entities, was not inaugurated officially and, so far, there is no mention of its location on the company’s website.

Asked to give details on the office, a spokesman for Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, who is politically responsible for ARMS, said the company had “published a request for the provision of office space in Valletta and received four proposals”. He said the company chose the “cheapest option and was in line with ARMS’s requirements”.

“The fully-furnished offices were evaluated and are being leased for five years,” the spokesman added.

However, it would not give any details when asked about the cost of the lease and who the lessor was.

ARMS would also not give details on the salary and perks of its CEO, Carmen Ciantar, the international secretary of Labour Women. She is the fourth person to occupy the position since March 2013, when Labour was elected to power.

Ms Ciantar was appointed by the minister without a call for applications.

Nikita Alamango, a member of the executive committee of Labour Women, sits on the company’s management team.