The government was urged on Thursday to press the Libyan government to pay funds owed to Maltese industrialists for several years.

Shadow minister for industry Jason Azzopardi said in a parliamentary adjournment speech that some Maltese industrialists were owed as much as €15 million and €12 million, and yet they felt forgotten by the Maltese government, which did not appear to be pressing their case.

Azzopardi referred to a recent meeting between the Maltese and Russian foreign ministers in which Malta announced it was ready to hand over to Libya a billion dinar in banknotes which had been printed in Russia and seized in Malta some years ago.

The Libyan banknotes were being shipped in two containers when they were seized at Malta Freeport in 2019. They had been printed by a Russian state-owned printing press and were en route to military strongman Khalifa Haftar at the height of the Libyan civil war. A Libyan unity government was installed recently.

Azzopardi said he would not go into the issue of the Libyan banknotes, but before handing the consignment over to Libya, the Maltese government should ensure that the Maltese industrialists were paid what they were due.