€21 million in debt: 2019 accounts show PN media company owes millions to creditors

The Nationalist Party’s media company is €21 million in debt, with the party itself owing to €14 million of the dues, according to a report by newspaper Illum. 

The company Medialink, owned by the Nationalist Party, has €7 million in debt that is yet to be repaid to its creditors. Additionally, Medialink owes €14 million to the Nationalist Party itself. 

The €14 million in question covers a period up until 2019, which was when the party’s financial accounts were last published. At the time, the party was being led by Adrian Delia.  

Its 2019 accounts show that the party had €9.8 million in debts and outstanding payments, including VAT dues and utility bills.  

In the same year, Medialink’s accumulated debts stood at €14.3 million.  

Between the party itself and its own media company, the Nationalist Party faced debts amounting to €24.1 million - although this is being disputed by the party. 

Robert Arrigo, the party’s deputy leader, had revealed this back in July 2020, saying that the party’s debts amounted to around €20 million.

The party itself recorded a loss of €1.5 million in this same year. This amount is separate to the finances of the party’s media company.  

Last month, Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said that the party’s debts currently stand at €32 million, suggesting that overall debt increased by almost €8 million in three years.

But earlier on Sunday, the Nationalist Party insisted that the €24 million quoted by the newspaper consists only of the debt held by the Nationalist Party, and not of the media company.  

“The amount mentioned by the leader of the Nationalist Party (€32 million) included accumulated debts, meaning that of the party and of its companies.”