The Fortina Group has strongly refuted the findings and media coverage of a National Audit Office (NAO) report on a 2019 land deal, describing them as containing “significant inaccuracies and misrepresentations.”

The Group issued a lengthy statement to correct what it called misconceptions, particularly regarding the nature of its property ownership and the NAO’s valuation methods.

The company stressed that its ownership of the properties in Tigné, Sliema, acquired as far back as the 1960s and through outright purchases in the 1990s, is absolute and unencumbered.

It clarified that the NAO investigation did not concern this acquisition of land but focused solely on the government’s later waiver of certain restrictions on parts of it, such as height limits and requirements for hotel extensions.

Fortina insisted that a 2000 deed explicitly stated that a future waiver of height limitations would not require additional payment to the government.

The Group challenged the NAO’s core financial conclusion, which found that taxpayers lost nearly €16 million because Fortina paid only €8.1 million for the waiver against an independent valuation of €23.9 million. 

Fortina argued that the NAO’s valuation relied on “methodological flaws” and claimed that, under a new legal framework established in 2024, the required payment would have been significantly lower than what it committed to paying in 2017. The company also complained that it has not been granted access to the full valuation reports used by the NAO, which it considers essential for a transparent assessment.

This rebuttal comes against the backdrop of the NAO’s report, which also flagged serious governance failures within the Lands Authority and the Office of the Prime Minister and noted that Parliament was misled when the deal was approved. The watchdog has recommended further investigations.

While defending its position group stated that it would continue its internal review of the NAO report and provide further commentary once that process is concluded.