The Nationalist Party yesterday called on the Prime Minister to publish all the fuel hedging deals it entered into last year, particularly the ones with Azerbaijani state company Socar.

Insisting the Prime Minister should shoulder political responsibility for the “mess” created by Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, PN Shadow Minister Marthese Portelli said that following the publication of the NAO report, everyone knew the government had once again deceived the people.

“After months of lies and excuses not to lower fuel prices, now the truth has come out,” Ms Portelli said.

“Now we know that through the direct intervention of Minister Mizzi, the country has lost €14 million on the price of fuel and consumers are being made to pay for this mess,” Ms Portelli charged.

The PN shadow minister for energy challenged the government to publish without further delay all the contracts related to these hedges, including the documents which the NAO could not find on the Socar deal.

She said that according to the Auditor General, Dr Mizzi has not directed Enemalta on policy but recommended the state company buy fuel from the Azerbaijani company.

Shadow minister for the economy Claudio Grech said the argument brought by the government, that it intervened to get fuel at cheaper prices, was false and contradicted by statistics.

He said that when local taxes were excluded, it resulted that Malta was currently buying its fuel at very high prices.

“Currently Malta is paying the highest price for unleaded petrol and the third highest for diesel,” he said.

“This shows that the government’s excuse that it is procuring fuel at cheap prices does not hold any water,” he said.

Mr Grech also questioned the government’s lack of respect for public procurement rules and said it was not on that a minister intervened to direct a State company where to buy its fuel.

“There are strict procurement rules which need to be followed.

“These are in place for good governance. If the government doesn’t want to follow rules, than it must say so,” Mr Grech said.

Mr Grech said that according to the NAO report, while fuel procurement was moving in the right direction when the Advisory and Finance Board was conducting the exercise, things started to go wrong when the Socar deals were concluded on Dr Mizzi’s recommendation.

He said this showed that fuel procurement and hedging should be free from any government intervention.