Yes, Mr Minister, we had worked out that it was China which made the first move

Published: September 26, 2013 at 12:39pm

Shiv Nair

Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said a couple of days ago that it was China “which approached the Maltese government” about investing in Enemalta.

Er, yes, Mr Mizzi, we had worked it out. That’s exactly what our fears are: that China has identified a Trojan horse into the European Union, in the form of a defective political party desperate for cash, with few principles, led by a man who has been socialising for the last few years with a shady character called Shiv Nair, who has an office in Valletta’s Vincenti Buildings, has his money looked after by a Maltese trustee company, and who makes that money brokering deals FOR CHINA with third-world dictatorships and other non-democracies, generally in sub-Saharan Africa.

And quite frankly, I don’t think China approached the Maltese government, which is why I put that in quotes. It’s far more likely that China approached the Malta Labour Party with a view to helping put it into power as a way of getting what China wants. Hence Shiv Nair’s assiduous courting of Joseph and Michelle Muscat while they were still in Opposition.

He wasn’t doing what would have been the obvious thing and courting the prime minister and Mrs Gonzi, was he. Oh no, he wasn’t. I don’t think they even knew about him.

Times of Malta reports: Asked whether there should have been a public call for expressions of interest for the sale of the Enemalta stake, Dr Mizzi said that there was no need since this was a government to-government deal.

Oh indeed. I almost feel sorry for this stooge. God knows (as do the Chinese and probably Muscat) the size of Shiv Nair’s cut on this deal, and what could have gone into a couple of bank accounts owned by Maltese individuals outside the country. But all Stooge Mizzi got was a job allowing his wife to get as far away from him as possible.




16 Comments Comment

  1. La Redoute says:

    It doesn’t help Malta’s reputation that Shiv Nair is referred to as a ‘Maltese businessman’ in reports of his shady dealings with corrupt governments.

    http://thediplomat.com/2010/07/17/why-china-wins-africa-game/?all=true

    • La Redoute says:

      Isn’t it interesting that Nair’s companion on his visit to Santos in Colombia was his ‘friend’ Pedro Gomez de la serna Villacieros, a former Director in the Ministry of interior of Spain? Spain – coincindentally, no doubt – voted in favour of China’s position in a recent EU Council meeting.

  2. La Redoute says:

    Shiv Nair’s office in Malta included a key staff member of China State Enterprises.

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2008-05-30/news/maltese-company-to-assist-with-beijing-olympics-security-208326/

    The team gave a presentation to the China Information Technology Security Evaluation Centre and afterwards signed an MOU with CETC to provide specialist advisory services for the Olympics as well as the Shanghai Expo in 2010.

    Under the terms of the MOU, CETC will position one of its key staff in British Borneo’s offices in Malta, to assist British Borneo in marketing the services of Chinese State Enterprises in the Mediterranean and North and Central Africa.

  3. La Redoute says:

    Shiv Nair signed “an unusual cooperation agreement with Chinese Gian CNOOCI”
    http://www.i-newswire.com/chinese-oil-major-signs-cooperation/a310359

  4. Anthony Briffa says:

    The Government is obliged to make a statement in Parliament giving details of its dealings and contacts with this Shiv Nair.

    It could easily be that Shiv Nair was also involved in the study which is being carried out by the Chinese on the permanent link between Malta and Gozo.

    How did this Shiv Nair obtain Maltese citizenship?

    • it-Tezi ta' Mario says:

      Shiv Nair was frequently in Joseph Muscat’s company (or was it the other way round?) before the election last March. He principal business is brokering deals between resource companies and governments in what are politely termed less-developed countries.

  5. Chicken says:

    Does Shiv Nair have a face? If yes, can a journalist from the independent media stick a microphone in it while a photographer takes a picture and publishes it for us to see?

  6. Jozef says:

    This Shiv Nair has a habit of pouring money into places where civil conflicts would have reduced the country into a breeding ground of warlords, arms dealers and territorial clans.

    Governments are then ‘encouraged’ to set up nationalised insurance agencies for anything that goes on there with that money. The trick seems to be getting their central banks as stakeholders, which are then taken over by Nair’s newly set up ‘companies’.

    Infrastructure to be had and insured. Sweet.

    Anyone’s guess where the money’s coming from.

    What Kissinger’s America did in the sixties, the people’s republic’s doing better.

  7. it-Tezi ta' Mario says:

    Shiv Nair’s company is BRITISH BORNEO HOLDING LIMITED. He holds various subsidiary companies in Malta and elsewhere, including Lonestar Holdings, Bureau Securitas,

    The company registration number (it is registered in Malta) is C 40540.

    Shiv Nair’s name is registered on the company records (MFSC) as SHIV PREYAN SHANKER.

    His ID number is 40711A .

    His office address is 15/18, STRAIT STREET,
    VALLETTA.

    His nationality is listed as BRITISH.

    Bureau Securitas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nair’s company. Its website describes it as the company’s pathway to “political penetration to the highest levels in selected emerging countries.” Entry through the back door, in other words.

    And now he’s a Malta Enterprise official.

    Nice.

  8. it-Tezi ta' Mario says:

    Shiv Nair seems to have a thing for placing attractive Chinese ladies in the limelight, so as to distract attention from his own shadowy presence.

    http://www.free-press-release.com/news-ghana-new-target-of-chinese-fdi-1279107387.html

    What has gone unnoticed is the presence at both the MOU signature ceremonies of a petite Chinese lady, Ms. Yi Qian Ran, whose business card describes her as Project Director of a Maltese company called British Borneo Holdings. Open source documents show that this company is the vehicle of Maltese Indian business man Shiv Shankaran Nair.

    Nair, whose business activities span three continents has been in the forefront of the Chinese invasion of Africa. Using his friendship with some of the most powerful decision-makers in Africa and Latin America, he has very discretely opened doors for his Chinese clients in over 13 countries.

    His obsession with privacy is so great that no public pictures of him appear anywhere on the web.

    • Jozef says:

      Fancy business in Grenada, Somalia, Chad and Liberia.

      And what these had in common.

    • Victor says:

      I wonder whether Sai Liang Mizzi was chosen for a similar post.

      That she is a pretty lady is indisputable, however I am not convinced about the qualifications presented.

      • La Redoute says:

        It seems likely that Sai Mizzi Liang’s appointment was Shiv Nair’s initiative, not Mario Vella’s.

  9. The Commies are Here says:

    Shiv Nair has a Maltese ID card. That does not make him a national though he is often described (to our shame) as Maltese. I hope that is an error of the press.

    [Daphne – It is. His ID card is A for Alien, not M for Maltese.]

    I wonder if he is a resident under the former residency scheme whereby this multi-millionare (or is it billionaire) is exposed to just Eur4,192 in income tax in this country if he has structured his affairs well.

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