Nationalist MP claims Air Malta owes Enemed €20 million

Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami has claimed in parliament that Air Malta has pending bills amounting to some €20 million with state-owned fuel importer Enemed.

Fenech Adami asked Energy Minister Joe Mizzi, who is responsible for Enemed, whether he could confirm that there a repayment agreement in place for Air Malta to repay its outstanding debts, which was not honoured by the airline. 

“Can you say whether Enemed is contemplating action against Air Malta to collect this money and can you confirm that it amounts to some €20 million?” Fenech Adami asked

Last month, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi announced that the national airline had registered a €1.2 million profit for the year ending March 2018 – the airline’s first profit in 18 years. Despite the announcement, the company’s financial statements have not yet been published.

Responding to similar questions by Fenech Adami in parliament some weeks ago, Mizzi said he could not comment due to the fact that the information being requested was commercially sensitive.

During today's sitting, the Energy Minister also cited commercial sensitivity, however this did not go down with Fenech Adami.

"Both Air Malta and Enemed are owned by the Maltese people and in the same way that a public announcement was made regarding the fact that Air Malta had registered a profit, the people deserve to be given the comfort and to know whether Enemed is owed €20 million," he said.

Fenech Adami insisted that if it were the case that Enemed was owned such a large amount, it would effectively cancel out the profit registered by the airline. He told Joe Mizzi that he was being asked to shoulder the responsibility in order for the Tourism Minister to look good.

Mizzi again stood up and pushed back against Fenech Adami's claims, again insisting that the information was commercially sensitive. "Do you want me to tell you how much money the Nationalist Party owes Air Malta?" ended the exchange. 

Last summer, following similar claims published by the Times of Malta, Air Malta categorically denied that it was not honouring its payments to Enemed, calling claims to the contrary "merely a fabrication" and that the commercial agreement between the two companies was being honoured by both parties.