PN’s liabilities stand at €11.7 million, with €737,000 deficit for 2024
Leader Alex Borg says PN has more assets than debts
Updated 2.50pm
The Nationalist Party’s total liabilities stand at €11.7 million, with borrowing from third parties and banks making up the bulk of these debts, according to its financial statements, which were finally published on Monday.
It spent €251,000 on its European Parliament and local council elections campaigns last year, a far cry from Labour’s almost €1.6 million spend.
The party’s overdue audited financial statements for 2021-2024 were presented to the Electoral Commission on Monday.
They show the PN had a deficit of €737,000 in 2024.
Media.Link, the party’s media arm, appears to be a major burden on the PN’s finances, according to the accounts, audited by Ryan Borg.
The party has written off €7.7 million off its contributions to Media.Link as unrecoverable, with this expected to rise to €18.5 million.
Media.Link, a separate company owned by the PN, has not published its accounts since 2004. The financial statements published on Monday therefore do not show its financial situation.
A party spokesperson confirmed that a €32 million debt figure quoted in the past includes Media.Link's liabilities.
"Political parties are obliged to file with the Electoral Commission the party's financial audited accounts. The figure cannot include the subsidiaries, since they are separate legal personalities just as Labour did not declare their companies' liabilities when they filed theirs last week."
Fundraisers and donors
The party raised €1.629 million from fundraising events last year, split between €1.4 million in individual donations and €220,000 in corporate donations.
It did not declare receiving any donations over €7,000 from a single donor, which is the threshold for reporting the source of the donation.
PN leader Alex Borg on Monday downplayed concerns about the PN’s €11.7 million in liabilities, saying the party has more assets than debts.
Borg said the presentation of the PN’s accounts for 2021-2024 shows the party is transparent and accountable, even from the Opposition.
He said the party has a serious strategy to overcome the PN’s financial challenges.
Borg ruled out selling any of the PN’s various clubs around Malta, instead saying the party needs to maximise revenues from them.
The PN leader said that contrary to the prime minister, he had published how much was spent on his leadership campaign.
He also criticised the prime minister for failing to publish his and his ministers’ asset declarations.
PL asks: where did PN hide over €20mln in debt?
Reacting, the PL questioned how the PN had gone from declaring a debt of €32 million to €11 million in six months.
In a statement, the party said it was the PN’s own Secretary General who, in several interviews, quoted €32 million as the PN's official figure of debt.
The PN's announcement on Monday "casts serious doubt on where more than €20 million in debt has disappeared from the PN’s accounts", PL said.
"Those who are not credible in managing their party’s finances can never be trusted to manage the country’s finances."