Although he had met Joseph Muscat “three to four times”, Electrogas shareholder Paul Apap Bologna vehemently denied having discussed the project at any point in time with the former PM. He also remarked that he had never met either Keith Schembri or Konrad Mizzi.

Apap Bologna was summoned to testify before the Public Accounts Committee, which saw the continuation of the inspection of the Auditor General's report entitled ‘An Investigation of Matters Relating to the Contracts awarded to ElectroGas Malta Ltd. by Enemalta Corporation’.

He was assisted by Lawyer Gianella De Marco.

Apap Bologna said that the decision by Cabinet in 2006 to look at electricity generating alternatives and the fact that Malta had high electricity bills forced him to take an interest in this field, even though his general business field is in the pharmaceutical sector. He also stated that he comes from a family which diversify in their investments.

The businessman remarked that he had spoken to then-PM Lawrence Gonzi and explained the idea he had, which was not the first one of its nature that was presented to Gonzi. He had also met with then-Ministers Gatt and Pullicino, he claimed.

Furthermore, the businessman did not discuss this project with the Opposition or the Opposition Leader at that time, he said, because Labour had already endorsed such an idea if they would have been elected to Government.

A tense exchange between Apap Bologna, his lawyer, and PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami ensued, as Fenech Adami asked why he chose to transfer the shares in GEM to New Energy, which belongs to Yorgen Fenech. Apap Bologna said that the financial burden of it was one of the things that put him off.

He said that the number of shares he owned in the project was reduced to 21% from the initial 33% and confirmed that 10% of the 33% were eventually transferred to Yorgen Fenech’s company.

Apap Bologna said that he couldn’t recall how he had met Fenech. However, he had presented this project to Fenech, he said, who then presented it to his father, George Fenech. Apap Bologna said that he met with his father because he (Yorgen’s father) was interested in this project, because they had already applied for a tender for the previous power station but weren’t given that project.

Furthermore, George Fenech asked Apap Bologna whether his son could lead the project more, as George had told him that “Yorgen did not have a lot to do”, he claimed. Apap Bologna said that after this request, he started to take a step back from leading this project.

Nationalist MP Ryan Callus said during the public inquiry, Apap Bologna stated otherwise, and said that the reason the project was given to Yorgen Fenech as he did not have “technical know-how to put this together.” However, Apap Bologna said that this statement still stands as it was also a reason as to why Yorgen had taken more of a leading role in the project. 

Apap Bologna said that this project made him “zero profit” and explained that the consortium took €4.1 million in success fees and €1.1 in development fees.