New Infrastructure Malta CEO Steve Ellul has been placed on a public contract that builds up to €128,000 a year.

Ellul was handed the three-year contract last month after unsuccessfully contesting the European Parliament elections on the Labour Party ticket and following the resignation of Ivan Falzon.

According to Ellul’s contract, obtained by Times of Malta in response to a freedom of information request, he is entitled to a basic salary of €95,500, increasing by €1,000 a year to reach €97,500.

Aside from his basic income, he is also entitled to a 10% “disturbance allowance” and up to 15% annual performance bonus based on “agreed performance objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)”.

His overall pay package also includes a car allowance of almost €4,700 a year – or a fully expensed car including fuel – a driver and a €2,000-a-year mobile phone allowance.

The IM boss also benefits from a health insurance plan and a life insurance policy that would pay out four times his basic salary to his legal heirs in the event of his death during the role.

In addition to a daily allowance for work trips, Ellul will also have “all reasonable travelling and other expenses” covered, provided he can produce receipts “or other acceptable evidence”.

It amounts to a significant pay rise for the former CEO of Project Green, who had a pay package worth €81,000 when he was tasked with implementing the government’s urban greening project.

The former banker’s new salary is more than twice the financial package of the minister he is employed by but previous contracts show it is relatively common for government CEOs to earn six-figure pay packages.

The political appointment to head one of the government’s hottest and most controversial agencies was made to help the government take the roads agency “in a different direction”, according to government sources.