Konrad Mizzi

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The Honourable
Konrad Mizzi
MP
Konrad mizzi.jpg
Minister without portfolio
Assumed office
28 April 2016
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat
Preceded by Position Established
Personal details
Born (1977-11-04) 4 November 1977 (age 46)
Paola, Malta
Political party Labour Party
Spouse(s) Sai Mizzi Liang
Alma mater University of Malta
University of Nottingham[citation needed]
Religion Roman Catholicism[citation needed]

Konrad Mizzi (born 4 November 1977) is a Maltese politician currently serving as a Member of Parliament and as a Minister Without Portfolio within the Office of the Prime Minister. Until April 28, 2016 he served as Minister for Energy and Health.

Minister for Energy and Health

He was appointed by the President on advice of the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as Minister for Energy and the Conservation of Water on the 13th March 2016 following the 2013 general elections in Malta. On 1 April 2014, Konrad Mizzi was also given responsibility for the Health portfolio. On 28th April 2016, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reassigned the Health and Energy portfolio but left Mizzi as a Minister in the Maltese cabinet.

Energy

File:Power and Gas project.jpg
The Power & Gas project being developed in Malta.

As Minister of Energy Konrad Mizzi implemented changes to make Malta's energy sector sustainable and to transform Malta's energy provider Enemalta and strengthen its finances. Shanghai Electric acquired a majority stake in Enemalta, which under the previous administration had been on the brink of bankruptcy, with €840 million debt and consecutive downgrades by Standard & Poor's.[1][2][3]

The minority acquisition of Enemalta was valued at €250million. The restructuring envisaged new investment in the local distribution system as well as transition from oil-fired energy generation to cleaner technolofy such as imported electricity through the Malta-Italy Interconnector, gas-fired plants, and renewable energy sources. It will also invest improvements to the national electricity network itself, increasing grid redundancy and flexibility. Measures to improve operational efficiency, consolidate employee skills and capabilities and enhance customer support services. Investments overseas were also planned to strengthen the company's portfolio. The Government of Malta retained the majority share of the new company.[4]

Shanghai Electric will also be investing in the conversion to gas of an existing power plant which is currently powered by heavy fuel oil, valued at around €70million.[5] In 2016, and following the investment by Shanghai Electric and the restructuring process that followed, Standard and Poor's upgraded Enemalta's rating to BB- with a stable outlook.[6]

Mizzi is also responsible for Projects Malta, the company tasked with overseeing private-public partnership initiative across a whole spectrum of economic sectors including tourism and other infrastructure projects. [7]

Health

File:Stlukes.jpg
Planned renovations to St. Luke's Hospital

On assuming the health portfolio in 2014, Mizzi embarked a transformation of the health sector by attracting a private investment worth €200million to a public-private partnershio initiative. This investment will develop a new world-class hospital on the island of Gozo while existing facilities are being redeveloped.[citation needed] Other facilities will also be redeveloped. The former St. Luke's Hospital will be converted into a new rehabilitation hospital with all the necessary facilities, which are currently do not exist at all in Malta.[8]

Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry will manage a new medical school as part of this project.[9]

Vitals Global Healthcare [10] was selected as the preferred bidder for the €200 million investment into St Luke's Hospital, the Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and Gozo General Hospital. Vitals Global has also teamed up with Partners Healthcare as part of this project, [11] in order to provide the highest-quality health service.[citation needed]

Politics

Mizzi was elected from the Fourth District (Paola, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Tarxien, Santa Lucija and Parts of Marsa and Fgura) in March 2013.[citation needed]

Professional career before entering politics

Mizzi has led major projects and initiatives in the energy sector, both in Malta and in the United Kingdom. He has also led other projects in other sectors which including government, infrastructure, telecommunications and the business promotion.[citation needed]

Mizzi was a partner at Pcubed, a global leader in programme management and headed their energy and infrastructure practice for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). He previously held senior roles with Deloitte and Touche and British Telecom in the United Kingdom. In the UK, Mizzi led various change projects which included the forging of an alliance between seven energy companies which improved services and realised large savings. He has also worked with regional government leaders to transform deprived areas.[citation needed]

Controversies

Panama Papers

Mizzi was one of the individuals named in the leak of the Panama Papers in April 2016. He was initially the only incumbent EU Minister named in the leaks;[12] but the name of a Spanish minister[who?] surfaced in mid-April. Shortly before the news stories based on the Panama Papers were released, it was revealed[who?] that Mizzi had opened a Panamanian company called Hearnville Incorporated. Its shareholder, Orion Trust Limited, was established in New Zealand through a Maltese financial services company called Nexia BT.[13] The trust was purchased by Nexia BT for Mizzi through its parent, the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.[14] The beneficiaries of the trust fund were listed as Mizzi's wife and two children. This is a common means of shielding assets from estate tax.[citation needed]

Keith Schembri, the Maltese Prime Minister's chief of staff, established a similar financial setup at the same time and through the same intermediaries.[15]

Allegations of corruption and financial misappropriation followed, particularly from the Maltese opposition party,[16] which led calls for Mizzi's resignation from the cabinet[17] organised a number of public protests on the issue[18] and presented a motion of no-confidence in the Labour Party government. The motion of no confidence was defeated 38-31.[19] Mizzi was also criticised by a number of high-level Labour Party figures who called for his resignation, including Member of the European Parliament and former Prime Minister Alfred Sant,[20] Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.[21] as well as Labour Party whip Godfrey Farrugia.[22]

Mizzi defended his financial practices, saying that both the trust and the company were publicly disclosed in his declaration of assets at the first opportunity[19] and that the fund was solely intended to protect his family's assets, which include property in Malta and in London.[13][23]Mizzi also said that submitted to the Maltese Parliament at the end of March 2016 his Panamanian company was a shell company that held no assets and was valued at just €92.[24] Mizzi voluntarily requested that the Commissioner for Inland Revenue and an international tax audit[who?] to carry out a tax audit on his assets, which nobody has ever done in Maltese political history. He declared that once the audit is complete, he will close down Hearnville Incorporated and retain only his New Zealand trust.[25] Mizzi said that although he exercised poor judgment, the financial structure he set up was not illegal and he did not attempt to hide it from the public or his peers.[17]

Studies

Mizzi holds an MA with Distinction and a PhD from the University of Nottingham.[citation needed] He holds a BSc from the University of Malta and a Diploma in Finance.[citation needed] He was awarded a Chevening Scholarship from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the United Kingdom.[citation needed]

References

  1. S&P downgrades Enemalta's rating
  2. S&P retains negative outlook on Enemalta
  3. Government to absorb some of Enemalta's costs - will not raise tariffs
  4. Shanghai Electric transfers €250m for Enemalta stake
  5. Agreement on strategic investment in Enemalta by Shanghai Electric Power signed
  6. Enemalta’s credit rating upgraded, outlook stable
  7. Government aiming to take public-private partnerships to next level through Projects Malta
  8. St Luke’s hospital to be transformed into ‘state of the art’ rehab centre
  9. Government's agreement with Barts a 'memorandum of understanding'
  10. Vitals Global Healthcare the preferred bidders for €200 million investment into St Luke's Hospital, Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and Gozo General Hospital
  11. Partners HealthCare International and Vitals Global Healthcare Sign Agreement to Improve Health Care Services in Malta
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External links