Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today said that he is informed by two allied security services that the Egrant whistleblower story was invented to pay him back for not allowing a Russian ship to enter Malta for refuelling on its way to Syria.

He said that Malta had received such information from two allied intelligence agencies.

Dr Muscat was asked a question by MaltaToday, who quoted an article by a website called intelligence online, which read that “MI6 and the CIA are highly concerned by what the Russian couple has been up to in Malta. Some officials perceive it as a move to destabilise Malta’s pro-western Prime Minister comes from the Kremlin especially because it occurred at a time when Muscat was openly opposed to Moscow.”

The article itself reads that MI6 and the CIA are concerned about possible Russian interference in the election process.

Allegations have been made 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 government did not have evidence that the people inventing the Egrant story were related to the Russian Secret Services, the Prime Minister said today.

The government was also informed that the attitude of the Maltese Presidency accelerating the visa waiver programme for Ukraine had irritated certain people and that there was going to be some form of retaliation.

Dr Muscat stressed that it was not the Maltese Security services who found this information, but rather the two allied security services.