Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/616203
8 MATTHEW VELLA SOCAR Trading company, the trad- ing house of Azerbaijan's energy gi- ant SOCAR, has been granted Platt's Award of Excellence in the Strategic Deal of the Year category for its breakthrough Malta LNG project. The 200MW natural gas power plant is the flagship project for the Labour government, which will be constructed by Siemens, together with SOCAR and Maltese entrepre- neurial groups Gasan and Tumas. The plant will use a floating storage and regasification unit and power both the new plant as well as the Delimara power station extension, which currently runs on heavy fuel oil. SOCAR Trading was awarded dur- ing the annual Platts Global Energy Awards ceremony in New York. The project being implemented by ElectroGas Malta consortium, in which SOCAR Trading holds a 20% share, is of strategic importance for Malta. SOCAR Trading will also act as a supplier of liquefied natural gas, floating storage unit and equipment for its processing. The cost of the plant's construc- tion is estimated at €175 million. It is planned to be commissioned in the summer of 2016, and its capacity will enable it to meet up to 50% of Malta's electricity demand. Established in 1999 and often de- scribed as "the Oscars" of the energy industry, the Platts Global Energy Awards highlight corporate and in- dividual innovation, leadership and performance excellence in 17 cat- egories spanning the energy com- plex. Malta has been hosting Azerbai- jan's state oil company since 2007 thanks to its favourable tax regime exempting foreign companies from paying tax on profits generated out- side of the island. Socar Trading Holding Ltd (STHL) acts as the parent company to Socar Trading SA in Geneva, a back-office for the real companies where the money is made: subsidiary SOCAR Trading SA, which trades in crude oil from its Geneva offices. It is this company that will source and sell LNG to the ElectroGas consortium and then onto Enemalta, to power the new Delimara plant. In 2013, STHL and its subsidiar- ies generated $38.6 billion in sales of crude oil, after purchasing $38.5 bil- lion in crude and fuel products from third party and other companies from the SOCAR group. After paying tax in Singapore and Switzerland, and recovering tax benefits from its Dubai subsidiary, the group pays a total of $4.6 million in tax – an effective 16% tax rate. In an effort to rebut accusations of secrecy by the Nobel-nominated Global Witness NGO, SOCAR has admitted using Malta as "an invest- ment platform to benefit sharehold- ers of the holding company from tax advantages provided under the Mal- tese participation exemption system and the EU-Swiss Savings Agree- ment of 2005." Since setting up shop in Malta in 2007, STHL holds 100% ownerships in Socar Trading SA (Switzerland), Socar Trading S&I (Dubai, UAE), and Socar Trading Services S.A.M (Monaco). SOCAR is the owner of two Mal- tese companies: Socar Oil & Gas In- ternational Holding, which in turn is the owner of Socar Oil & Gas In- ternational. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2015 News 8 WIN the book To win answer the right question tick the right answer/answers? ❏ Inga Boissevain was Dutch ❏ Inga Boissevain lived in Malta and spoke Maltese ❏ Inga Boissevain was married to Jeremy Boissevain ❏ Inga Boissevain was Swedish ❏ A Maltese Marriage is historical fiction Send your answers by 17 December to: MediaToday, WIN A BOOK FROM Choppy Books, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann The winner of the set of four books by Arturo Caruana Are Bernice Cohen from Kalkara and Sandra Grech from Attard published by Choppy Books A Maltese Marriage SOCAR's Malta project is strategic deal of the year at 'energy Oscars' THE European Commission is adopting a set of measures to man- age the EU's external borders and protect the Schengen area without internal borders. The Commission is proposing a European Border and Coast Guard to ensure a strong and shared man- agement of the external borders, and the introduction of systematic checks against relevant databases for all people entering or exiting the Schengen area. "In an area of free movement without internal borders, managing Europe's external borders must be a shared responsibility," European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said. "The crisis has exposed clear weaknesses and gaps in exist- ing mechanisms aimed at making sure that EU standards are upheld. Therefore, it is now time to move to a truly integrated system of border management. "The European Border and Coast Guard will bring together a rein- forced agency, with the ability to draw on a reserve pool of people and equipment, and the Member States' authorities, who will con- tinue to exercise day-to-day border management. The system we pro- pose will allow for an identification of any weaknesses in real time so that they can be remedied quickly, also improving our collective ability to deal effectively with crisis situa- tions where a section of the external border is placed under strong pres- sure." The European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopou- los said that where Frontex used to be limited to supporting member states in managing their external borders, the new Border Agency will go beyond this. "What we are creating today is more Europe: to manage our ex- ternal borders, to step up returns of irregular migrants, to allow our asylum system to function properly for those in need and to strengthen checks at the external borders of the European Union. The Border Pack- age we are presenting today will in- crease security for our citizens and ensure high standards of border management." The European Border and Coast Guard will bring together a Eu- ropean Border and Coast Guard Agency built from Frontex and the Member States' authorities respon- sible for border management, who will continue to exercise the day- to-day management of the external border. The coast guard will have a rapid reserve pool of border guards and technical equipment. The Agency will be able to draw on at least 1,500 experts that can be deployed in un- der three days. For the first time the Agency will be able to acquire equipment itself and to draw on a pool of technical equipment pro- vided by the Member States. There will no longer be shortages of staff or equipment for European border operations. The new agency's hu- man resources will more than dou- ble that of Frontex, to reach 1,000 permanent staff, including field op- eratives, by 2020. It will have a monitoring and risk analysis centre to monitor migra- tory flows towards and within the European Union and to carry out risk analysis and mandatory vul- nerability assessments to identify and address weak spots. It will also have the right to inter- vene: member states can request joint operations and rapid border interventions, and deployment of the European Border and Coast Guard Teams to support these. Where deficiencies persist or where a member state is under sig- nificant migratory pressure, putting in peril the Schengen area and na- tional action is not forthcoming or not enough, the Commission will be able to adopt an implementing decision determining that the situ- ation at a particular section of the external borders requires urgent ac- tion at European level. National coastguards will be part of the European Border and Coast Guard to the extent that they carry out border control tasks. A European Return Office will be established within the Agency to allow for the deployment of Eu- ropean Return Intervention Teams composed of escorts, monitors and return specialists who will work to effectively return illegally staying third country nationals. A standard European travel document for re- turn will ensure a wider acceptance of returnees by third countries. To increase security within the Schengen area, the Commission is proposing a targeted modification of the Schengen Borders Code to introduce mandatory systematic checks of EU citizens at external land, sea, and air borders. Obligatory checks on EU citizens will be introduced against databas- es, such as the Schengen Informa- tion System, the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Documents Database and relevant national systems, in order to verify that persons arriving do not represent a threat to public order and internal security. The proposal also reinforces the need to verify the biometric identi- fiers in the passports of EU citizens in case of doubts on the authenticity of the passport or on the legitimacy of the holder. Checks will now also be mandatory when exiting the Eu- ropean Union. Since controls on documents and persons can be carried out in par- allel, authorities should be able to consult relevant databases with- out delaying border crossings. The rules provide for flexibility in cases where systematic checks could have a disproportionate impact on the flow of traffic at the border. In such cases member states can, based on risk assessments, decide to carry out targeted checks at some land and sea border crossings. The risk assessment shall be communi- cated to the agency, which can as- sess the way the exception is applied in its vulnerability assessment. EU to establish border and coast guard European Commission presents measures aimed at securing the EU's borders, managing migration and improving internal security of the European Union