The company that won the tender to supply new equipment for the Delimara power station has denied bribery claims, saying an investigation by Danish police had failed to find any evidence in support of the allegations.

Burmeister and Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC), through its lawyer Michael Kunz, said police had investigated the claims made in the Danish daily business newspaper, Børsen, and had dismissed them as "without merit".

The Danish newspaper ran stories alleging that BWSC and its Japanese mother company Mitsui handed over millions of euros to win contracts in several countries.

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat last Friday presented Auditor General Anthony Mifsud with a dossier containing the newspaper articles.

Following Dr Muscat's claims, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt wrote to BWSC chief executive officer Soren Barkholt demanding an immediate explanation.

Just a few hours later, Dr Kunz replied on behalf of Mr Barkholt, explaining that the newspaper's allegations were investigated by police and were found to be without merit.

He said the company had a letter from the police in Danish and that he would provide an official translation and forward it to the Maltese authorities.

Dr Kunz said his company had a very strict Code of Conduct that required all of its employees to comply with the requirements of the OECD Convention on Combating of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials.

"The failure by an employee to comply with the spirit and the letter of such a code will result in disciplinary action, which may include the dismissal of that employee," he said.

Mr Barkholt sent the Infrastructure Ministry a copy of the letter, dated October 4, 2004, signed by police assessor Ulla Greibe together with a translation, saying: "The grounds for this ruling are that there is no probable cause that a criminal offence, which could be pursued by the public authorities, has been committed." In a statement yesterday, the Labour Party said the police letter referred to by the government referred to just one of the cases involving BWSC.

The party added that Dr Gatt's ministry was taking on the role of a spokesman for BWSC, when an agent in Malta had allegedly already pocketed around €4 million in commission for ensuring the Danish firm secured the contract.

In the meantime, The Sunday Times learnt last night that the Auditor General has scheduled a meeting with BWSC officials tomorrow morning.