Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning that he had no idea that Shiv Nair, the Indian business consultant who travelled to Qatar with Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi was blacklisted by the World Bank.

“No I did not know he was blacklisted – we were not informed of that,” he told the media.

He specified that there is “no kind of contract” between this person and the Maltese government.

The intention, he said was that he would be helping the government by means of a letter of appointment. “But it was never followed up... This person never received payment from the Maltese government,” said the Prime Minister.

The idea was that this business consultant would be paid something ilke 6,000€ per year. “He won’t be getting paid, because no contract has been made and we were not aware of this blacklisting,” he said.

The Prime Minister stressed “this person” was crucial in the setting up of a meeting at very high level between Minister Konrad Mizzi and the energy minister in Qatar. “And I think he fulfilled his role in a very significant way,” he stressed.