The Opposition this afternoon released several contracts involving Enemalta which it said had been kept hidden by the government.

The 11 contracts are all linked to Enemalta and according to shadow minister Jason Azzopardi were sealed on the same day in a marathon session.

The contracts were mostly concluded on August 25, just two days before the government published legal notices that removed the obligation on Enemalta to go to parliament if it transferred land to third parties.

He said that  among the contracts, in August last year the Lands Department bought the Marsa power station site from Vault Finance Ltd but re-transferred it to Enemalta for 99 years on the same day. Vault Finance is a finance vehicle set up in 2012 to absorb part of the Enemalta debt.

One of the contracts was a private agreement between the Land Department and Enemalta for the transfer of 310,000 square meters of public land for 25 years for the installation of PV panels.

Dr Azzopardi said the Chinese investors in Enemalta at the time were getting cold feet and the government transferred the land to the energy company.

The contracts started being signed early in the day and continued until 4am of the following day.

Other contracts included the sale by government-owned Petromalta Ltd to Enemed (which took over from Enemalta) of sites at Has Saptan, Ghaxaq and Marsaxlokk terminal; temporary emphyteusis by the Land Department to Enemalta for 25 years for the power station land in Delimara and another temporary emphyteusis for 65 years granting Enemalta a number of site sin Ghaxaq. This was backdated to 2004.

PN General Secretary Chris Said said nothing was said about these contracts, raising more questions on the government's commitment to transparency.

This transfer of land to Enemalta, he said, had ensured that the company's asset base was enriched before the deal with Shanghai Electric was concluded. The investors, therefore, had bought into a company which was much better off than originally claimed.

(See contracts by clicking below)

'CONTRACTS PUBLIC' - GOVERNMENT

In a reaction, the government said the contracts the PN spokesmen referred to were public deeds and available to the public.

"It is becoming more evident by the day that the Opposition has not yet accepted the fact that government has attracted the biggest foreign investment of €320 million to our shores in the energy sector, which the previous Nationalist government has valued at €1.

"Enemalta Corporation had a leasehold with Vault Finance for the use of the Marsa Power Station site, which was entered into in 2012.

"Moreover, in 2012 an agreement with Vault Finance Ltd was signed wherein the conditions of acquisition for the release of the leasehold of the Marsa Power Station site from ownership of Vault Finance Ltd, including price, were pre-established in this agreement.

"In preparation for the creation of Enemalta plc in August 2014, the government, in consultation with Enemalta, availed itself of the provisions of the 2012 agreement with Vault Finance Ltd to acquire the temporary emphyteusis for the Marsa Power Station site at the pre-determined conditions of the agreement signed in 2012 . This procedure facilitated the process for transfer of assets and liabilities into the newly created Enemalta plc.

"Separately, the carve out of the profit making Petroleum Division of Enemalta into the newly created Enemed, which is entirely owned by government, was also announced in Parliament.

"The government’s roadmap for energy and Enemalta plc is delivering results which have been commended by the European Union and the credit rating agencies, including the recent Standard and Poors upgrade of Enemalta’s stand-alone credit rating," the government said.

GOVERNMENT'S REPLY 'AMUSING' - PN

The government’s reply, the Opposition said, was amusing.

The same government that did its utmost to keep the contracts under wraps and failed to present them in Parliament prior to the debate on energy was now saying they were public.

If the government was so transparent, it should immediately publish the contracts signed with Henley & Partners, Shanghai Electric on the sale of the BWSC and Enemalta, Electrogas, Socar, Barts and Autobuses de Leon.