The people have a right to know how much of the subsidies being paid by the government to keep energy prices low are sustaining the profits made by third parties, the Nationalist Party said.
The people took the risk, while the profits were taken by others when Malta invested in its energy production.
PN spokesmen Mark Anthony Sammut and Darren Carabott this morning referred to the government’s guarantee to Socar that any debt incurred by Electrogas with regard to the purchasing of gas would be paid up by the government.
The security of supply agreement was signed by former minister Konrad Mizzi in 2015 and effectively provided a blanket guarantee to Azeri energy firm SOCAR. The Mizzi-led deal assured the energy provider - which owns a stake in the Electrogas consortium - that Maltese taxpayers would carry the can if Electrogas could not afford to pay its dues.
The government has replied to this saying that the agreement was never implemented and it has now expired. But, according to the PN, this agreement allowed Electrogas to be able to invest in the project. Without it, Socar were not ready to provide Electrogas with the product.
The government had said in June that it was discussing the agreement with the European Commission, but now we know that the agreement was kept hidden from the commission, the PN said.