MaltaToday previous editions

MaltaToday 20 July 2022 MIDWEEK

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1473976

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 2 of 15

3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 JULY 2022 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA LABOUR luminaries and former PM Joseph Muscat broke into wide grins at news that the EU had signed a gas deal with the Azeri autocracy of Ilham Ilayev, as the bloc searches for new partners to replace Russian fossil fuels in a climate of rising energy prices. Since 2014, Malta has sourced gas through Azerbaijan's trading arm in Geneva, SOCAR, a deal tainted by corruption accusa- tions linked to Muscat's closest allies in government at the time the Panama Papers broke. But news of Ursula von der Ley- en's deal with Aliyev to double gas production for Europe was relished by Labour proponents, who treated the news as a confir- mation of Muscat's gas strategy – despite the links to a corrupt offshore payment scandal. It was only a matter of time un- til former prime minister Joseph Muscat, architect of the priva- tisation deal for the Electrogas plant partly owned by Azerbai- jan's SOCAR, issued his own message on Facebook, clearly enjoying the moment. "We were hauled over the coals for our cooperation with Azerbaijan, years before other countries did... I remember Joe Debono Grech first telling me that countries would be queuing up to this state. He said 'Mintoff opened up to China and he was taken to task, but they all fell in line after him. You do the same, and that is what will happen.'" Unbeknownst to the public, after the 2014 Electrogas deal, Muscat's energy minister and chief of staff had been planning offshore companies in Panama linked to a mysterious offshore company, 17 Black, owned by Electrogas owner Yorgen Fenech, the Tumas magnate. The Dubai company was used to channel payments from oth- er Azeri sources believed to be connected to SOCAR officials. Fenech stands charged with mastermininding the assassina- tion of journalist Daphne Caru- ana Galizia, who revealed the existence of 17 Black in Febru- ary 2017. Muscat today defended his policy on gas, which opened the doors to SOCAR Trading, Azer- baijan's state gas company. "It was part of a plan to reduce en- ergy bills that had impoverished the vulnerable, ruined a middle class and stagnated business. We kept these prices stable, as well as fuel prices, for years without the need of any subsidies." In a reference to the Egrant af- fair, the investigation launched after Caruana Galizia alleged that Muscat's wife had received a $1 million payment from the Aliyevs, Muscat said: "One won- ders whether they will call Von der Leyen corrupt or that she falsified some signature for her husband to take cash from the Azeris." Other Labour voices joined the fray earlier on, however without making mention of Joseph Mus- cat and instead praising his suc- cessor, Robert Abela, for guaran- teeing price stability. Labour deputy leader for par- ty affairs Daniel Micallef called out the "false morality" of what he said were "oracle" silenced by Europe's embrace of the auto- cratic regime of Azerbaijan. Micallef argued that the sanc- tions against Russia were not working, forcing the EU to search for gas sources elsewhere as the rising prices of energy threatened stability in EU coun- tries. "You have to observe the lack of the word 'peace' in the narra- tive of European politics. Indeed, it's almost a race for who gets to talk into appearing as the biggest bully – there were many speech- es from leading exponents who are totally detached from peo- ple's realities, then they are sur- prised with Brexit and other de- velopments," Micallef said. Micallef too pointed out the cynical reality of "false morality being sidelined for convenience" suggesting that Malta's unhap- py association with SOCAR had now become acceptable to Eu- rope. "It's not all roses... rising pric- es are felt by everyone, and hav- ing the lowest inflation rate in Europe is no coincidence, but neither is it the consolation we should rely on," Micallef said, launching into praise for Robert Abela. Chris Bonnett, parliamentary secretary for EU funds, used the development to pile into what he called "pseudo-cavaliers of rule of law" allied with the National- ist Party. "We're the only country where the Opposition and 'civil socie- ty', elements of whom feasted at the trough to their hearts' con- tent, trash Malta openly in Eu- ropean fora, purely because the people have not elected them to government." Joseph Muscat, Labour relish EU's Azerbaijan gas deal THE European Commission has embraced the autocratic regime of Azerbaijan's Il- ham Aliyev, as its search for gas in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine took Ursula von der Leyen to Baku. There, the EC president and energy commisisioner for energy Kadri Simson, met Aliyev to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Part- nership in the Field of Energy in a bid to move away Europe away from Russian fossil fuels. "Not only are we looking to strengthen our existing partnership which guaran- tees stable and reliable gas supplies to the EU via the Southern Gas Corridor. We are also laying the foundations of a long-term partnership on energy ef- ficiency and clean energy, as we both pursue the objectives of the Paris Agree- ment. But energy is only one of the areas where we can enhance our cooperation with Azerbaijan and I look forward to tap the full potential of our relationship," Von der Leyen said. In May, Brussels hosted rare face-to- face talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbai- jani President Ilham Aliyev, whose coun- tries are locked in a dispute over the Na- gorno-Karabakh region. Nagorno-Karabakh hosts an ethnic Ar- menian enclave within territory interna- tionally recognized as Azerbaijan's. Russia's gas deliveries to Europe amounted to 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2021, but current EU plans call for Azerbaijan to supply only a fraction of that, just 12 bcm, by the end of this year. Currently, the EU and Azerbaijan are also negotiating a new comprehensive agreement, which will allow for en- hanced cooperation in a wide range of areas, including economic diversifica- tion, investment, trade and making full use of the potential of civil society, while underscoring importance of human rights and rule of law. The memorandum doubles the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor to deliver at least 20 billion cubic metres to the EU an- nually by 2027. Azerbaijan is already now increasing deliveries of natural gas to the EU, from 8.1 billion cubic metres in 2021 to an expected 12 bcm in 2022. "The Commission has long supported the expansion of the Southern Gas Cor- ridor as a major contribution to secure, reliable and predictable natural gas sup- plies in South Eastern Europe and, po- tentially, also in the Western Balkans, via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline," the EC said. Former PM Joseph Muscat meets Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in 2014. The meeting happened without the Maltese government inviting the press to report the event

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MaltaToday 20 July 2022 MIDWEEK