Robert Abela has confirmed that talks between the government and Steward Health Care about their concession agreement are at a standstill, with no talks currently underway.

"The government is insisting on collecting remaining tax arrears and there is a judicial process underway," he told journalists during a news conference on Wednesday.

"We will make sure the company honours its contractual obligations."

However, he was reluctant to provide further details on the halted negotiations. He did not say why discussions stopped and would not indicate what the government views to be the way forward at this stage.

On Wednesday, the Malta Independent quoted Steward Healthcare as saying that "no negotiations are ongoing" between the two parties at the moment. 

The US healthcare provider is running three state hospitals - Karen Grech, St Luke's and the Gozo General Hospital - as part of a multi-million deal, after it took over from the original concessionaires, Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) in 2015.

The €4 billion hospitals contract hinged on the promise that the private investors would spend €220 million to completely revamp the decrepit health facilities.

VGH however crashed out of the government contract just two years into the 2015 deal, with Steward Healthcare coming in to pick up the pieces.

The US company has been locked in talks with the government about improving the terms of the deal ever since taking over the contract from VGH.

Last month it was revealed that the company is refusing to pay €36.5 million in unpaid taxes and has taken the tax commissioner to court to resolve the dispute.

Steward has blamed problems with the concession on VGH, saying it found no management accounts and no money to pay staff with.