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Kurt Sansone
Who would need an office block in the centre of Brussels worth Lm6.5 million? The Malta government, stupid! That is the price to be paid to purchase the property in Brussels which will also house the office of Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana.
For comparison’s sake, pop singer Madonna’s 1,200 acre estate in England cost Lm3.8 million and the Beckham couple’s house in Spain was bought for Lm2.8 million.
Answering a series of questions on the purchase of Malta’s representative office in Brussels, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi confirmed that government will be paying EUR 15.5 million for the building.
It is expected to house the premises for Malta's Permanent Representation to the European Union, the Embassy of Malta to Belgium as well as offices of other national entities. Government will be selling its own properties in Brussels.
The decision to purchase property in Brussels had the approval of the finance ministry when still headed by John Dalli. Asked by MaltaToday about the role of his ministry in the purchase, Foreign Minister John Dalli said the decision was taken when he was minister of finance.
“I had agreed then with the purchase of a property in Brussels. The operation was handled by the Permanent Representative and MIMCOL,” Dalli said while referring this newspaper to the latter two for more details.
Prime Minister Gonzi confirmed that all stages of the process were carried out with the authority of the ministry of finance.
He also confirmed a Maltese legal firm was chosen to represent government on the deal.
According to Gonzi, the legal firm was chosen by MIMCOL on the basis that it had previous experience in property dealings. Government has not yet paid any fees for legal services rendered, but the Prime Minister said the Maltese firm’s charge has been capped at Lm6,000.
A Belgian legal advisor and notary will be paid according to established tariffs.
Malta House was selected by MIMCOL after a list of 15 properties close to the principal EU buildings was drawn up for consideration.
“These were narrowed down to three properties and eventually to two before the property in question was finally chosen by Government on the advice of MIMCOL, which had been appointed by Government to handle this process,” Gonzi told this newspaper.
According to the Office of the Prime Minister the selection criteria focused on the location and size of property, legal matters, technical considerations based on the advice from a Belgian civil engineering company and tax issues based on the advice from KPMG (Belgium).
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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