News

Gozo chosen by the EU commission to become climate neutral by 2030

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Gozo is among 100 European cities to become climate neutral by 2030 as part of ‘Horizon Europè, a programme of some €360 million funded by the European Union.
The aim of the programme is to develop clean mobility, energy efficiency, green urban planning, research and innovation.
377 cities applied from across Europe with small member states such as Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus each receiving one post. Cities chosen include Rome, Paris, Madrid and Munich.
The cities participating in the project have to draw up a Climate City Contract, which will include a plan to achieve climate neutrality across all sectors, including energy, buildings, waste management and transport. The partecipating cities will be held accountable for keeping up with their climate obligations and to better engage with citizens to deliver on their established goals.
The EU aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Deal and in line with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement.
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(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Covid, multi-million scheme for Maltese SMEs approved by EU commission

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Small and medium enterprises in Malta will have the opportunity to benefit from an €80 million scheme which was approved by the European Commission to address the impact of the coronavirus on the Maltese economy.
The co-lending scheme coordinated by the Malta Development Bank and other accredited commercial banks will provide financial assistance to Maltese SMEs that are willing to invest and diversify their business after they were badly hit by the pandemic. The Malta Development Bank will guarantee a maximum of 60% of the loan lent by the commercial banks.
The European Commission said that the Maltese scheme is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a member state. The Maltese government’s policy is to continue supporting businesses to shift towards greener and more sustainable operations that also embrace digitalization.
Meanwhile, the Maltese government announced that the wage suppliment scheme will not be extended as from June, 1. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Maltese government invested over 720 million to save 50,000 jobs.
First introduced in March 2020, the wage supplement scheme, has been granted to several businesses to cover wages and assist them in recovering from the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Soon after the scheme was introduced, the Maltese government received 17,000 applications and since then some 120,000 employees have benefitted from the scheme.
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(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta to lift almost all Covid-19 restrictions

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese authorities announced the removal of more Covid-19 restrictive measures, described by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne as a “return to normality with responsability.”

As from Monday, 2nd May, the wearing of face masks will be only mandatory in hospitals, health clinics, elderly homes and on flights. Minister Fearne called on people to act responsibly and wear masks in crowded indoor areas, including public transport. However, weddings and parties will also be back to normal.

Quarantine measures will be removed for all except for those who test positive. After seven days, the person tested positive will have to take a rapid test and once this results negative, the individwual can end his isolation. If the person still tests positive, the quarantine period will be applicable for another three days.

Minister Fearne said the removal of most restrictive measures was only possible because of the low numbers in Mater Dei hospital’s intensive care unit. At present 88 people in hospital tested positive for Covid-19, with 39 of them being treated for the virus. He added that two patients are in intensive care.

The Maltese health authorities has reported 249 new positive cases of Covid-19, with the number of active cases dropping to 5,567 following the recovery of 552 patients. The new cases were identified through 1,930 tests, representing a positivity rate of 12.9%.

No new deaths were recorded during the last 24 hours, with the national death toll since the start of the pandemic remains at 684.

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(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta, criticism from the European Public Prosecutor

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese authorities were heavily criticized by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for not doing enough and not taking responsability in the fight against EU fraud and corruption.
While addressing Europarliamentarians, the European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kòvesi referred to her visit to Malta last October and declared that following her meetings, she concluded that the national institutions were shifting the blame with regards to the responsability on identifying such crimes.
“I visited Malta. I had meetings with the national authorities and after two days it was very difficult for me to identify the institution that is responsible for detecting crimes,” she said. “All of them said that ‘it’s not me. It’s them.’ And when I visited them, they said ‘it’s not us’.”
Only two out of 2,200 reports received by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office were from Malta and the Mediterranean island is the only participating member State that has yet to open a single investigation.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office commenced its operations on 1 June 2021 when it started to investigate and prosecute crimes affecting the Union’s financial interests that were committed after 20 November 2017. So far, it has seized some €147 million in assets, made arrests, and currently has 515 active investigations accumulating an estimated €5.4 billion in damages.
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(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta requests the Ukrainian president to address the Maltese Parliament

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited by the Maltese Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg to virtually address the Maltese Parliament.
During a telephone call with Ukrainès Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Borg confirmed that he asked his Ukrainian counterpart to consider President Zelenskyy to address the Maltese Parliament following the inauguration of the 14th legislature scheduled on May, 7. Minister Borg confirmed that the request was appreciated and Minister Kuleba promised it will be delivered and see it done. He added that the Ukrainian Foreign Minister showed how grateful his goverment is for Malta in helping Ukraine by offering humanitarian aid, medical inteventions, education and in welcoming Ukrainian refugees. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started some eight weeks ago, Zelenskyy has addressed a number of parliaments including the US Congress, the UK’s House of Commons, and the European Parliament. During the phone call, Borg explained Maltàs commitment to impose sanctions on Russia and also spoke on the issue of the expulsion of Russian diplomats following last week’s declaration that Malta will not be expelling any Russian diplomats but will instead be freezing a pending request by Russia to deploy more diplomatic staff here. In Monday’s conversation with Kuleba, Borg said that his counterpart “understood why Malta has so far not expelled Russian diplomats given Maltàs small embassy in Moscow”.
(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta refuses to expel Russian diplomats

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Russian diplomats will not be expelled from Malta. However, the Maltese authorties are freezing a request from the Russian government to deploy more diplomatic staff to the Mediterranean island. This was confirmed by the new Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg following the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.
Minister Borg stated that the decision reflects Maltàs small size and limitations of its diplomatic presence and wanted to ensure that Maltàs embassy in Moscow will be kept functioning. However, the minister’s statements highlight how Russiàs invasion of Ukraine has disrupted Maltàs ongoing efforts to develop further ties with Russia.
The Maltese Foreign Minister added that Malta has “reaffirmed its position to condemn, without reservations, the atrocities that we are witnessing” without referring to Russia. Meanwhile, Malta also pledged to cooperate fully in the implementation of any sanctions that are decided at EU level.
Minister Borg confirmed that there had been an “expectation” that Malta would expel diplomats as other member states had done. In Malta, calls to expel diplomats have been made by former Nationalist Party MP Jason Azzopardi.
Diplomatic expulsions were stepped up after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and EU countries justified the expulsions on national security grounds, with governments insisting that the diplomats were a cover for espionage efforts that would only serve to undermine the countries hosting them.
(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta seizes 800 kilos of cocaine, the biggest bust in its history

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese authorities uncovered a record amount of cocaine linked to Colombian drug traffickers. 800 kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of €108.2 million were found hidden in a 40ft reefer container.
The container was selected by the Customs Container Monitoring Unit following a tip off, and was screened, along several other containers, where some discrepancies were flagged. The cargo with a refrigerated payload of 1,200 boxes of bananas had left the port city of Turbo in Columbia, considered as drug transitting town and was on its way to Mersin, the largest seaport in Turkey situated in the south of the country. Customs officers together with Police Drug Squad officials opened the container and physically inspected all the boxes. A total of 80 packets containing high purity cocaine were found inside 26 boxes. The packets carried a net weight of 1kg each and were concealed within the boxes of fruit. However, the difference in density and consistency was immediately flagged by the scanning officials.
The case was handed over to the Malta Police Drug Force, for further investigation. In 2021, the department had intercepted 740kg of cocaine worth €100 million, also hidden in boxes of banana.
(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta starts offering the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta started to administer the fourth dose against Covid-19 to immunocompromised people and residents at homes for the elderly. This was announced by the Minister of Health Chris Fearne adding that Malta continues to enjoy one of Europès highest vaccination rates.
He added that the fourth dose will be made available voluntary to people over 80 years as from 18 April. Elderly people eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine will be notified by the health authorities. The Health Minister confirmed that it will have no impact on the validity of the Covid-19 vaccine certificates.
The European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Control stated that a fourth dose can be given to adults of 80 years of age and above after reviewing data on the higher risk of severe COVID-19 in this age group and the protection provided by a fourth dose.
Malta is currently registering high rate of positive cases. Following yesterday’s over 800 new cases, today the local health authorities confirmed 731 new cases of coronavirus, as a spike in cases is apparently related to the general election campaign activities particularly those organised during the last week of March. The local health authorities confirmed that in the last 24 hours, 401 patients recovered from Covid-19.
The number of active cases has reached 8,357, a number last recorded in January.
Two new deaths were recorded bringing the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic to 652.
(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

Malta, EU commission issues last warning over the “golden passport”

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese government was warned for the last time by the European Commission over its’ ‘golden passport’ scheme before taking the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The commission considers the granting of EU citizenship in return for pre-determined payments or investments, without any genuine link to the Member State concerned, is in breach of EU law.
However, Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela is refusing to scrap the scheme, and now his government has two months to reply to the European Commission.
Malta has recently suspended the ‘golden passport’ scheme for Russian and Belarusian nationals following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“While this was a positive step, Malta continues to operate the scheme for all other nationals and did not express any intention to stop it,” the commission said. Insisting that European values are not for sale, the European Commission said investor citizenship schemes undermine the essence of EU citizenship and have implications for the Union as a whole.
Malta and Cyprus are the only two EU countries selling passports following last month decision by the Bulgarian government to scrap its scheme. EU citizenship automatically gives the right to free movement, access to the EU internal market, and the right to vote and be elected in European and local elections.
The Maltese government is argueing that the grant of citizenship falls within the national competence “and it should remain as such.” The ggovernment reiterated that only worthy individuals benefit from an important right as citizenship on such basis, and that it will be keeping an open dialogue with the Commission.
Despite Abelàs reassurances from the Maltese Prime Minister that no Maltese citizen is on the Russian sanctions list, last week the US treasury department sanctioned two Russian individuals who bought Maltese passports. In response to the sanctions, the Maltese government started the process to revoke their Maltese citizenship in accordance with the Maltese Citizenship Act.
During the recent election campaign, Abela was accused of having direct financial interest in Maltàs ‘golden passports’ scheme, with his wife Lydia Abela having been listed as the accredited agent of a passport sales in 2018. Abela has also admitted to renting out his ?ejtun villa to two Russian passport applicants.
(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

FATF in Malta to analyse reforms in the fight against money laundering

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Experts from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are in Malta on a three-day visit to assess whether the Maltese authorities have started to implement the necessary reforms to improve the fight against money laundering and tax evasion following the decision taken in June, 2021 by the FATF to include Malta on its grey list.

The grey list is updated by the FATF regularly and if countries commit to implementing the necessary reforms and thus improving their legal framework to bring it in line with FATF standards, then it is possible that these countries will be removed from the organisation’s grey list.

The FATF team are holding meetings with various Maltese government officials to assess if the country is doing enough to combat financial crime.

The decision to carry out an onsite visit was confirmed by the FATF at its plenary session in February 2022 wherein it was expressed that Malta has substantially completed its action plan. Last month, the FATF publicly announced that initial indications showed Malta had substantially completed its action plan and appeared to have addressed the shortcomings identified ten months ago. However, the FATF is expected to announce its decision about Maltàs greylist status during its next plenary session, scheduled for June.

As a major fiscal centre, the gambling and financial services industries play a key role in Maltàs economy – as of last year, betting and gaming generated €700 million annually and accounted for 12% of the nation’s GDP. Malta also provides a base for headquarters or regional offices of over 250 betting operators including Betsson, Tipico and William Hill. As of last year, the gambling industry, directly and indirectly, supported 9,000 jobs on the island.

(ITALPRESS).


Source: medNews

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