Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi on Wednesday insisted he would not step down in light of the recent NAO report on the Electrogas deal and 17 Black revelations, insisting there was “no evidence of wrongdoing” against him.

Addressing a press conference at the Tourism Ministry in Valletta, Dr Mizzi said that despite the report published earlier on Wednesday and the revelations on the once-secret Dubai company “there were no allegations of corruption”.

“Every process could have certain shortcomings but the Auditor General made it clear, and I think that is the most important point, that notwithstanding any of those comments, the choice of Electrogas or the outcome of the process would not have changed,” Dr Mizzi said, addressing the first press conference since the 17 Black revelations were made earlier this month.

Read: '200 million reasons for Konrad Mizzi to go' - Delia

Asked whether he believed that he should resign in light of these reports so that the police could investigate without any undue pressure, Dr Mizzi told Times of Malta he would welcome any investigations or inquiries into the matters.

“On my part, I never planned to receive any illicit funds,” Dr Mizzi said, reiterating that he had no association with 17 Black. Leaked e-mails had shown that the Dubai company had been listed as one of the companies that would pay millions into the Panama companies of Dr Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri.

Refusing to answer questions by Times of Malta on whether he should resign, Dr Mizzi accused the newspaper of “excluding” him and not carrying statements by his ministry.

When it was pointed out to him that questions sent to his office regularly remained unanswered, the minister again failed to respond.