The Tourism Ministry has defended rebates given to the film industry, saying they are necessary to grow the sector and create jobs.
The ministry was reacting after Times of Malta revealed that according to figures published on the European Commission’s state aid website, the Malta Film Commission has granted, or committed to give just under€143 million to production houses between 2019 and August 2023.
On Sunday, the newspaper revealed that Maltese taxpayers will be paying €46.7 million to the film company producing the Gladiator sequel.
The cash rebate scheme, which seeks to attract foreign productions to Malta by promising them a rebate on a percentage of their expenses, was first introduced more than a decade ago. The scheme has over the years been expanded and now offers a 40 per cent rebate, making it the "most generous cash rebate scheme in the world", according to a Hollywood producer.
On Tuesday, the Nationalist Party said the government's decision to raise the rebate to 40% was not yielding any profits for the Maltese economy and the millions being paid out were simply funding the salaries of foreign film crews while they worked in Malta.
It said the government needed to give a detailed explanation of how much these productions were contributing to Malta, as compared to the rebates they were given. The media reports, the PN said, showed that the rebates amounted to squandering of public funds to benefit a few people while the government deceived people into thinking that they could have a career in the film industry, when it knew this was not the case.
Ministry slams 'irresponsible systematic attacks'
In its reaction the Tourism Ministry, which is responsible for the film sector, said that the past few years were the best for the film sector in Malta thanks to investment which was aimed at creating jobs and careers while promoting the country as a film industry hub.
This, it said, was a quality industry which the country needed to continue to invest in, and the irresponsible 'systematic attacks' against it were an attack against the country, against jobs, and against those who had invested in the sector.
The cash rebates programme, it insisted, was a fiscal incentive where the country handed back a percentage of the funds spent by local and foreign productions after proof was presented that the funds were spent locally.
The ministry said that what was stated in the PN statement and "campaigns based on information not based on fact", could scare away investment and threaten the film industry.
Malta was competing with the whole world to attract film productions, the ministry said, and attractive fiscal incentives attracted film productions to Malta throughout the year, something which never happened before.
The government was therefore determined to continue to strengthen the film industry and create more jobs leading to careers in the industry, the ministry said.
It did not provide any new figures on the level of cash rebates.
The government has previously argued that the film sector contributes €85 million a year to Malta's economy. But it has failed to provide an explanation or breakdown of that calculation.