Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said yesterday that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s confirmation, that he had indeed tried to phone Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in connection with the power station contract totally confirmed what he stated in the Public Accounts Committee last week in his regard.

Minister Gatt was referring to a story carried yesterday in an Israeli newspaper and reproduced in timesofmalta.com, which carried the confirmation.

According to the Israeli newspaper, Mr Olmert stated that he had phoned as a private citizen and not as an ex-Israeli Prime Minister.

The newspaper Haaretz said yesterday that the former Israeli Prime Minister had tried to talk to Dr Gonzi about the power station extension contract “to warn the Maltese Prime Minister of irregularities in the tender process by the Danish company”.

The contract was awarded to Danish company BWSC, which came ahead of MANN and Israeli company Bateman in the tendering process.

“Minister Gatt does not doubt Mr Olmert’s statement but, considering that Mr Olmert had only resigned from his position as Israeli Prime Minister a few week before, and since Dr Gonzi does not receive or take too many calls from Israeli private citizens, one may doubt whether or not the fact that he was an ex-Prime Minister had no bearing at all on the matter,” the Infrastructure Ministry said in its statement, yesterday.

The Israeli newspaper also stated that the Bateman bid was €40 million lower than the BWSC.

This, the Infrastructure Ministry said, was “an outright lie” and the Auditor General report clearly stated that the BWSC plant was the lowest bid received (actually by €280 million lower than Bateman). Dr Gatt last week complained of improper pressure by the Israeli ambassador and Mr Olmert for the contract to be awarded to Bateman.