Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday said that he has been informed by two security service agencies from allied countries that the Egrant whistleblower story was invented by the Russians as payback for Malta’s decision to refuse entry to a Russian naval refueling tanker taking part in the Syrian conflict.
Revelations made by a whistleblower who worked at Pilatus Bank that Michelle Muscat is the owner of a company named Egrant which was opened in Panama. A magisterial inquiry has been launched, and a Russian whistleblower has come forward on the issue. The whistleblower has repeated her claims in an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday and later on INDEPTH.
Dr Muscat was asked a question by a section of the press, which quoted an article by a website called Intelligence Online. The article read that the whistleblower now works for a recently-incorporated firm, Mtacc Ltd, which belongs to another Russian national, Alex Zaslavsky, “with whom she also shares an apartment.”
It goes on to read that the “MI6 and the CIA are highly concerned by what the Russian couple have been up to in Malta. Some officials perceive it as a move to destabilise Malta’s pro-Western prime minister that comes from on high in the Kremlin, especially because it has occurred at a time when Muscat has been openly opposed to Moscow. Malta, which has held the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) since January, has refused to allow Russian vessels crossing the Mediterranean to join operations in Syria to stop over and refuel on the island. That stirred Moscow’s fury as it deemed such refuelling vital.”
The article also read that MI6 and the CIA are concerned about possible Russian interference in the election process.
Responding to a question about the issue, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said: “We were informed by the security services of two other countries that this story was invented after we refused to refuel Russian vessels heading to Syria. Till now we don’t have evidence that the person who invented the story is related to the Russian secret services. It is something the Maltese security services did not come out with, but it was something which security services of allied countries informed us about. We were also informed that the Maltese presidency’s attitude, accelerating discussions to facilitate the visa waiver programme with Ukraine irritated certain people and that there would be some form of payback.”
A number of questions, as a result of the Prime Minister’s statement, have surfaced. Back in late October 2016, government had said that a Russian flotilla that was sailing to Syria would not be refuelled in Malta. It was reported that the government had initially granted permission but withdrew it after the UK and US governments protested.
The Whistleblower has claimed that she arrived in Malta back in December 2015. She has said that she started working as an executive assistant to Seyed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, the owner of Pilatus Bank, in January 2016. She also says that she was given her termination notice at Pilatus on 29 March 2016. This is around seven months prior to the Russian ship incident, and around 9 months before Malta took over the EU Council Presidency.
The Prime Minister has blamed Daphne Caruana galizia for the “lie,” and has even said that Simon Busuttil knew about it beforehand, while also stating that “the lie” was spread through PN coordination. Yet now by choosing to state, without any evidence as he himself has admitted, that he is “informed” about possible Russian interference now suggests that the story could change or expand.
The Prime Minister also chose to reveal this piece of information, relating to national security, in response to a journalist’s question without consulting the National Security Committee beforehand, and decided to address the issue in further detail while wearing the cap of PL Leader at a PL press conference, rather than at an official press conference called by the Prime Minister to address this particular issue.
Additional reporting by Julian Bonnici and Joanna Demarco