Minister Konrad Mizzi's "direct involvement" in Malta's gas supply deal with Azerbaijan make the deal "more suspect," Alternattiva Demokratika said on Saturday.
AD were reacting to revelations, published last Wednesday by Times of Malta and other partners in the Daphne Project, that Malta is losing tens of millions through a gas supply deal struck as part of the country's shift to gas-powered electricity.
The agreement with Azeri energy firm Socar stipulates that Malta must buy gas at a fixed price for a five-year period, in a deal energy experts have described as "poor".
The multiple energy contracts, signed in April 2015, bind Enemalta to buy €131.6 million worth of LNG from Electrogas yearly. Since the deals were inked, oil and gas prices have crashed.
This LNG provision by Electrogas is contracted out to Socar, who in turn buy it at lower marker prices from energy giants Shell.
'One sided'
AD said that while it could not comment in depth due to the paucity of details, "everything seems to point towards a very shady deal."
In its statement, the party described the deal as "one sided", noted that fixing a gas price for a long period was "risky" and highlighted concerns about doing business with "one of the most corrupt regimes in the world."
"Konrad Mizzi’s direct involvement, as does the involvement of Brian Tonna and Nexia BT makes the deal more suspect," AD said.
Malta's government has insisted that there is nothing untoward about the deal, saying Enemalta had neither the capacity or technical ability to manage and administer LNG itself, and had therefore opted for a deal in which the contractor - Electrogas - was responsible for infrastructure and sourcing gas.
Enemalta also did not have the required cash flow to enter into hedging agreements directly, it added.
Electrogas has said that its bid was transparent and heavily scrutinised and had passed the European Commission's muster.
Despite those assurances, AD noted that questions continued to surround the deal.
"The questions raised by the Daphne Project need to be answered," the party concluded. "This contract was awarded in a context: secret companies and bank accounts, shady characters from Azerbaijan and a bank which is reported to be involved in laundering Azerbaijani money.”
The Daphne Project is a collaborative endeavour between 18 news organisations from across the globe. It seeks to continue the work of Daphne Caruana Galizia and is being coordinated by French NGO Forbidden Stories.