Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/440087
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2014 11 Café Premier owners get €4.2 million in amicable 'bailout' In 2014, MaltaToday revealed that a multi-million 'bailout' for the owners of a closed-down cafeteria in the heart of Valletta was brokered in January 2014, when the government allowed the Lands Department to buy Café Premiere and its lacklustre 'Great Siege 1565' waxworks attrac- tion. The government said that its "ami- cable acquisition" was a decision to remove any hazard that the catering establishments in the area could pose to the treasures housed in the Biblio- teca, above Pjazza Regina. "But taxpayers had to fork out the unprecedented sum of €4.2 million to pay back the café's outstanding €2.5 million bank loan, their income tax and VAT arrears, energy bills, ground rents and other creditors of the owners of the Café Premier - in a highly controversial decision to buy back a 65-year emphyteusis from the owners," the report said. Government claimed that even if it appropriated the cafeteria forcibly for the protection of the scheduled Biblioteca, it would have had to pay out some form compensation. "But it has also admitted that the café had ceased operating, and that the owners were negotiating with third parties to sell the business, something that is illegal according to the original emphyteutical deed: indeed, the deed forbade the owners from ceasing operations, something that would have led to a breach of the emphyteutical grant and given the government the right to take back the café." Following further investigations, MaltaToday reported that the tax- payer footed a €210,000 payment to a former owner of the Café Premier, whose former business partner said was a commission representing 5% of the total compensation deal, for reaching an agreement with the government to buy out the lease for the Valletta café. 4 March 2014 15 Years 2014 FIMBank p.l.c. is a licensed credit institution regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority and listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. The Bank is a participant in the Depositor Compensation Scheme in Malta. Terms and conditions apply. 2132 2102 helpdesk@easisave.com www.easisave.com 2132 2102 2132 2102 No Hidden Fees or Bank Charges Easy, Flexible and Secure Visit our website, open your online bank account and start beneting from superior interest rates on your savings and xed term deposit accounts. 3 year: 3.00% 2 year: 2.85% 1 year: 2.50% Euro Fixed Term Deposit Minimum Deposit €1,000 Rates of interest are on a gross per annum basis Euro Savings Account Minimum Deposit €50 1.75 % Republic Street, Valletta next to the Courts