Former health minister Konrad Mizzi said on Tuesday that he was not involved in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2014 between the government and some VGH investors.

The government, he said, should immediately publish this MoU.

The National Audit Office said on Monday that there was proof of collusion between government representatives and VGH in the hospitals privatisation deal.

It said the agreement was predetermined and VGH should have been disqualified from the Request for Proposals.

In a statement sent to media houses, Mizzi said he had not signed the MoU and did not have access to it. "It seems that the NAO was not given access to this agreement by the government or its entities. In order to remove all doubt, the government should publish it forthwith," he said.  

Mizzi said Malta Enterprise had presented the project to the Health Ministry, "but we had explained to ME that the proposal that it had discussed with the investors did not make sense in light of public health needs. I am informed that the original investors were notified about this in writing by Malta Enterprise. I believe that the Auditor General should have full access to this documentation, so all doubts are removed," Mizzi said.

On governance and responsibility on the hospitals project, Mizzi said the report and the conclusions of the evaluation committee, as well as the contracts that were eventually signed, were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. In fact, the Cabinet was involved in all stages of the contract and signed all contracts."