Local business giants Gasan Group have announced their intention to seek an exit from the ElectroGas power station deal over connections being made between the project and the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In a strongly worded statement, signed by the group’s chairman, Joe Gasan, and CEO, Mark Gasan, the executives stated that the group has “not received any dividends and have only registered losses in relation to [its] investment in ElectroGas”.

“Any assertions being made to the contrary are factually incorrect. In view of the controversy surrounding this project and irrespective of the fact that we have done nothing untoward at any point, we have decided to identify all avenues to exit our interest and not to profit in any way from this investment.

“We declare, publicly and unequivocally, that if there is substance to the allegations of corruption in relation to the project, we had absolutely nothing to do with it: we did not participate in it, we did not support it, we did not condone it and we did not know about it. And if it did happen, we condemn it without reservation and trust that justice will be served.”

“We are mortified and shocked that links are being drawn between this project and the brutal assassination of Mrs. Daphne Caruana Galizia. All our sympathies remain with the family of Mrs. Caruana Galizia, and, together with all right-minded people, we look forward to the successful prosecution and conviction of all those who were involved in this terrible act.”

Gasan Group’s involvement stems from GEM Holdings, which it owns a third of, and is a joint venture of Maltese companies which own a third of ElectroGas, together with Azeri state energy company, Socar, and German conglomerate, Siemens.

Together with the Gasans, GEM Holdings also includes the Tumas Group – whose former Executive Director has been charged with complicity in the murder of Mrs Caruana Galizia, and the Apap Bologna family. A separate company, owned solely by Mr Fenech, also has a stake in GEM Holdings, and in turn, the ElectroGas deal.

Mrs Caruana Galizia’s son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, has spoken out about how his mother could have been murdered to prevent her from writing about leaked ElectroGas documents, which, he argued, would have meant the company failed banking compliance checks.

This, he said, together with the announcement that Yorgen Fenech owns Dubai company 17 black, could have resulted in ElectroGas defaulting on its Government-guaranteed loans worth €600 million. Such a default would have spelled major economic trouble for Malta.

The new power station project was a major Labour Party promise prior to the 2013 general election. It was eventually spearheaded by former energy minister Konrad Mizzi, of Panama Papers fame, and has been wrought by allegations of corruption ever since. 

ElectroGas buys its LNG from one of its own shareholders, SOCAR Trading, through a 10-year supply and purchase agreement. SOCAR Trading owns 33 per cent of ElectroGas.

In April 2018, the Times of Malta reported that SOCAR Trading could have made as much as €32.7 million in 2017 thanks to a combination of collapsing international LNG prices and Enemalta's fixed-price deal with ElectroGas.