Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/598356
JURGEN BALZAN ABU Dhabi based airline Etihad Airways is in advanced talks with the government over an equity investment in the ailing Air Malta. Yesterday, union representatives of Air Malta's employ- ees issued a press release in which they urged the govern- ment to "guarantee that the airline remains Maltese" and insisted that there was no need to privatise the company. MaltaToday understands that the statement was issued following discussions between the unions representing the company's workers who are concerned with the latest developments at Luqa. Sources said that this week, Air Malta was asked to pro- vide information on its workforce, the wage bill and oth- er financial data to Etihad, which prides itself in rescuing struggling airlines. During the company's general meeting held last month, tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis confirmed that the government was in talks with a number of airlines in its pursuit of a strategic partner for Air Malta. He also insisted that any deal will see the government retain its majority shareholding in the national airline. YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday Newspaper post SUNDAY • 8 NOVEMBER 2015 • ISSUE 835 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Hunting for Muatassim' Gaddafi's millions in Malta PAGES 6-7 €1.40 10 Lawyer claims Dutch model and her son are rightful heirs IVF: Mums who say no to freezing 'Bus strike cost me two toes' PAGE 3 The defamation game New emails reveal Farrugia's insider knowledge at transport authority Indiscriminate striker made me walk 2km to Mater Dei • PAGE 11 SAVIOUR BALZAN OIL trader George Farrugia has served as a middle- man in the purchase of lighting systems for Transport Malta and was privy to sensitive information that put the companies he rep- resented in a favourable position to win tenders, new emails passed on to MaltaToday show. The oil trader is the recipient of a presidential pardon granted to him in 2013 conditional on him spilling the beans on the scale of bribery in- side Enemalta, where he greased top officials to assist him in winning fuel procurement contracts for his clients TOTSA and Trafigura. But the emails published to- day by this newspaper show that Farrugia was also keen on keeping con- tact with a key official at the Malta Trans- port Authority (TM's forerunner), going as far as organising a trip for him to Austria to discuss traffic lighting systems. The new information adds more to the complex jigsaw puzzle of George Farrugia and his self-serving friendships with officials inside gov- ernment regulators and corporations. Meet the women campaigning against embryo freezing 13 The defamation game How reforms in libel laws could finally deliver speedier justice 17 16 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD PAGE 3 New emails Etihad in talks for Air Malta