Inside the Marsa project: The massive infrastructure project riddled with problems

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3C68CNs A months-long investigation into the Marsa Junction project has resulted in claims of corruption, deception and a "low" bid to secure the €40 million contract to build its flyovers. Its unusual nature has also attracted the eye of prosecutors at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office , which is now understood to be investigating the EU-funded project. Yorgen Fenech, who is under arrest as he awaits trial for journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, was promised €2 million in success fees by Turkish construction firm Ayhanlar Yol Asfaltlama, in exchange for using his contacts to help the failing company secure the Marsa tender. According to the success fee agreement, seen by Times of Malta, Fenech’s role was to act as a “consultant”, introducing Ayhanlar to “key stakeholders”, and seeing their bid through the tendering process. The way the agreement was structured meant that Fenech would walk away without a penny if Ayhanlar failed to win the contract. Fenech’s €2 million success fee was to be split between two of his companies: New Energy Supply Limited, a Maltese company used to hold his shares in the Electrogas power station; and Wings Investments, the sister company of Fenech’s 17 Black registered in the United Arab Emirates. Ayhanlar was formally awarded the contract in July 2018, after an appeal by a consortium of aggrieved Maltese bidders was shot down by the contracts appeals board. Despite overcoming the initial hurdles, the reality of awarding the project to a financially strained Turkish company undertaking its first major overseas venture – a major logistical challenge - soon hit home for the government. Ayhanlar’s financial problems caught up with them just weeks later, forcing the company to file for debt restructuring in Turkey.