Reports appearing in the Times of Malta Newspaper suggest that Palumbo are far from happy with the results of their investment.
The managing director of Shipyard is complaining about the bureaucracy of the Maltese Government saying his has been waiting for months to be issued permits for restructuring work.
In an interview with The Sunday Times (Malta), Antonio Palumbo laments the red tape that “weighs down on business” and the high cost of electricity.
He also speaks about his disillusion when realising that the super yacht facility, which the company bought eight months ago, was nowhere near the picture of excellence it was made out to be.
He raised concerns about the cost of electricity and says the company had paid some €2 million in utility bills over the past 17 months, saying, “It is impossible for a shipyard trying to compete in a globalised economy that is crumbling to have such a high energy cost.”
On the super yacht facility, he says it came to them as “a big negative surprise”.
“We were told that the super yacht facility was a centre of excellence but this was not the case and this left us disillusioned,” he says.
The Italian firm officially took over the Malta Shipyards in June 2010, on a 30- year lease.