EUR60 million – wortit, le?
Published:
October 19, 2012 at 1:59pm
With friends like these…
Swedish Match has told a leading newspaper in Sweden that it was asked for EUR 60 million to reverse the 1995 ban on the sale of snus in EU member states other than Sweden, which has a derogation on the matter.
The person doing the asking was Silvio Zammit (tal-Mqaret), John Dalli’s sidekick and fixer.
Make of that what you will.
The prime minister now has no choice but to make a statement, disowning him completely and leaving him in Labour’s skip.
MALTA’S SHAME- and let this be a lesson that there is only one way to deal with crooks, cheats and double-dealers, and that’s to slam them down at the outset.
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I agree, without any reservations this time! What an unbelievably stupid incompetent pig!
Well he certainly had a better pricing strategy that our ex-chief justice.
The Times have got it wrong. They reported it the other way round.
“Zammit was offered €60 million, Swedish newspaper says”
MT (quoting Aftonbladet):
“Swedish Match say they were asked €60 million to reverse 1995 snus ban”
ToM (quoting Aftonbladet):
“Zammit was offered €60 million, Swedish newspaper says Aftonbladet”
Aftonbladet (through googletranslate):
“A source with good insight into scandal surrounding resigned hälsokommisionären Dalli has Aftonbladet revealed the amount Dallis friend Silvio Zammit offered Swedish Match to pay to get a more friendly snuff tobacco directive:
€ 60 million, equivalent to 513 million.”
Anyone knows Swedish and let us know whether Zammit asked for a bribe or offered a bribe?
I do not know Swedish, but I do not think Zammit offered a bribe.
No, he bribed Estoc with mqaret to offer a bribe.
That was meant to read “was offered”. Not sure where the grammar in that last sentence came from, either. I’ll use Hero Franco’s excuse and say that I was rushed.
I speak Swedish and Aftonbladet says just what Google Translate said; that Silvio Zammit offered Swedish Match to pay for a friendlier tobacco directive, i.e. he asked for a bribe. 10 million upfront and 50 million after the new law allowing “snus” to be exported, came in force.
Try Google translate
My version of the Times of Malta says that the Swedish company ‘was asked for €60 million by Silvio Zammit’.
Erm, 60 million just to fix a meeting? I really don’t think so.
The PN has to kick them out, now.
Not this evening, Paul, now.
Seeing how Joseph’s kept silent, I would be surprised if he tried to turn it into a PN ‘skandlu’, not this time, too compromised.
Martin Schultz had better take this one seriously, what with the mishmash of alliances and the monies received finding their way to Mosta and Birkirkara.
Commodities traders, financial consultants and junior salesmen will coalesce.
John Dalli is innocent! Sure why not.
The thing I can’t understand in the whole mess is why the Swedish company is spilling the beans. I mean, I’m sure it’s guilty as much as Dalli and Silvio Zammit are if they’re doing the bribing. The briber is breaking the law as much as the one getting bribed.
[Daphne – Silvio Zammit asked for a bribe. It doesn’t follow that Swedish Match offered to pay. In fact, they reported him instead.]
I’m trying to work out how many mqaret one would get for EUR60 million.
The Times is reporting the story as:
“Manufacturer Swedish Match offered to pay Silvio Zammit a bribe of €60 million”.
Of course, in AftonBladet it actually says Silvio Zammit asked for the money. I hope it’s just an amateur attempt at translation using Google Translate and not something more sinister going on at the Times.
I see they’ve changed the story now to “Swedish Match has claimed that it was asked for €60 million”
Further translation of the complete article makes it clear enough.
That headline is the pits.
Would 60 million cover the deficit between Enemalta’s fuel costs and lower energy tariffs?
It definitely buys a lot of imqaret.
Not sure if it will cover the deficit but with 60M one can purchase 120 million mqaret, enough to feed the whole nation one maqrud every day for a year.
That is the best use of 60 million euros that I ever heard about.
Well Johnny Cash is living up to his title. No half measures, 60 million or no deal.
How many imqaret do you need to sell to earn Eur 60 million?
Arrigo and Vella were in the wrong job.
MONEY THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
[Daphne – LOVE of money, actually, not money itself. Radix malorum CUPIDITAS est.]
Radix malorum est cupiditas.
[Daphne – Radix malorum cupiditas est. Verb after noun.]
Now John Dalli BA is not saying that he did not know anything about the matter but he stated that he was framed.
He should tell the Maltese people what does he mean by being framed.
And also Silvio Zammit should speak out his innocence if he is not involved in anyway and he should tell us also how he met or communicated with this huge company about a serious issue which was under the responsibilty of a Maltese EU Commissioner. I am sure his name was not a ballot by the Swiss company!
I don’t think that all these issues implicated in this case are a coincedence.
How come everybody is forgetting that during OLAF’s investigation, John Dalli was JPO’s star witness to expel RCC from the PN?