Joseph Zahra expected to be made Maltacom chairman

Joseph Zahra is expected to be appointed chairman of the Maltacom group, sources said yesterday.

The announcement of Mr Zahra's appointment, who has occupied the post of chairman of Bank of Valletta since 1998, is to be made at Maltacom's annual general meeting on Friday, the sources said.

He will be replacing Maurice Zarb Adami, who has been at the helm of the telecommunications company since 1999.

A number of other changes are also expected to be made to the Maltacom board.

When contacted, a spokesman for Government Investments Minister Austin Gatt would say only that the government would be formally making its intentions known at Maltacom's AGM.

An economist by profession, Mr Zahra served as a board member of the Central Bank between 1992 and 1996 and was the co-founder and managing director of MISCO.

Mr Zahra also serves as deputy chairman of Middle Sea Insurance.

He has held various other public positions, including those of member of the board of directors of the Malta Development Corporation.

Maltacom, set up in December, 1997 when it took over the business of Telemalta Corporation, is 60 per cent owned by the government.

The group also owns a number of subsidiary companies including Terranet, Datastream, and Mobisle Communications, providers of Go Mobile services.