Breaking: Steward Terminates Concession Agreement With Malta’s Government
Steward has just given notice to the Government to terminate the Services Concession Agreement and related contractual framework following “breaches of commercial agreements”.
“The company believes that the operating environment and investment climate in Malta is not conducive for foreign companies to have a constructive partnership with the Government,” Steward Health Care Malta (SHCM) said in a statement.
Steward is now saying that the Government’s failure to appeal the Civil Court verdict that labelled its own behaviour corrupt is an admission of guilt in relation to its own governance failings.
This comes after Steward recently filed an appeal against the damning court sentence which nullified the contract.
The concession includes the management and operation of St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo General hospitals, and the Barts Medical School.
“The company’s priority remains the well-being and treatment of its patients and the welfare of its staff. SHCM will ensure that there is an orderly transition of the management of its operations and will work with the relevant authorities in good faith to ensure this is finalised in a reasonable timeframe,” it said.
Steward also expressed that the company is disappointed at the Government of Malta’s failure throughout this engagement to keep faith with the spirit of the public-private partnership agreement.
“Specifically, the Government failed to be accountable for their own liabilities, which had escaped scrutiny; failed to adhere to their own promises to renegotiate the ‘unbankable’ and unsustainable terms of the concession, not once but three times – and more recently being engaged in negotiations up to the time of the verdict; and, therefore, failed to enable Steward to raise finances to deliver fully on the terms of its engagement.”
“More broadly, SHCI is concerned about the deterioration of the business environment in Malta.”
“A decline in the rule of law, shown by the recent Civil Court judgement, and a lack of support for and protection of foreign investors has been mirrored by the recent presence of Malta on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which identified serious structural deficiencies in Malta’s governance and regulation that do not accord with SHCI’s own values.”
This all comes after PN MP and former party leader Adrian Delia’s landmark win in his case against the government over the Vitals-Steward hospitals deal.
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