An Azeri director on the Electrogas board resigned in December, soon after his fellow former director Yorgen Fenech was charged with complicity in journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Socar Trading’s head of LNG trading Turab Musayev resigned as an Electrogas director on December 11, according to documents filed with the Malta Business Registry on December 23.

Mr Fenech was charged over the assassination on November 30.

Socar, Azerbaijan’s State-owned energy company, owns a one-third stake in the power station, with the rest of the shares held by German giants Siemens and a consortium of local businessmen.

One day after the resignation date listed in the filings, self-confessed murder middleman Melvin Theuma told a court that he saw Mr Musayev with Mr Fenech after the bomb that killed Ms Caruana Galizia was detonated on October 16, 2017.

According to leaked Electrogas e-mails obtained by the Daphne Project, Mr Fenech was too “sick” on the day of the murder to sign Electrogas cheques needed to process two “urgent payments”.

Socar made $40 million in a single year in its role as LNG agents for the power station

Mr Theuma, who acted as a runner for Mr Fenech, said he knew Mr Musayev because he sometimes gave him taxi rides to Electrogas meetings.

The middleman said Mr Musayev and Mr Fenech used to speak in English, a language he wasn’t too fluent in.

Mr Musayev has been replaced by another director appointed by Socar.

Contacted by Times of Malta, a spokesman for Socar Trading played down the timing of the resignation. He said Mr Musayev’s resignation was part of a planned process to reflect Electrogas moving from development to an operation phase.

“He continues to be involved with the Electrogas Malta project as head of LNG trading for Socar Trading,” the spokesman said.

Analysis of leaked Electrogas documents carried out by The Guardian led to estimates that Socar made $40 million in a single year in its role as LNG agents for the power station.

Mr Fenech resigned as an Electrogas director eight days before he was stopped as he tried to leave the island on his luxury yacht last November.

He was replaced by Paul Apap Bologna, who was the main promoter of the power station project before Labour swept to power in 2013.