Electrogas has said that its IT systems may have been breached, after the revelation that murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had received a cache of documents from within the power station firm. 

In a statement issued on Friday, Electrogas said that it had detected a "possible" breach of its IT system and filed a report with the police force's Cyber Crimes Unit to that effect after seeking legal advice. 

The extent of the possible breach and specific details of it were still not yet known, the company said. 

Electrogas' admission comes just days after reports from the Daphne Project collaborative project revealed how energy experts have flagged concerns about Malta's LNG deal, saying the country is losing tens of millions through existing contracts. 

The government has denied that claim and argued that reports did not take into consideration the fact that Enemalta had neither the capability nor the money to manage and administer LNG supplies itself. 

The Daphne Project is made up of 18 news organisations from across the world, including the New York Times, the Guardian and France TV. Times of Malta is among the partners. 

It is being coordinated by French NGO Forbidden Stories, which seeks to continue the work of murdered journalists. 

In its statement, Electrogas said that it has been selected to run the gas-fired power station following a transparent tender procedure which was subject to the "highest level" of scrutiny, including vetting and approval by the European Commission. 

That scrutiny, the company said, had confirmed that the rate of return was "in line with similar projects". 

Electrogas, the company clarified, was not involved in the trading of LNG. "Its sole business is the provision of safe and reliable gas-powered electricity to Enemalta." 

Electrogas shareholders include German technology giants Siemens, Azerbaijan's state-owned energy firm Socar and local consortium GEM. A fourth shareholder, UK's Gasol, had to pull out of the venture before the power station became operational after running into financial trouble.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.