FURTHER details around the extent of Blue Islands’ debt to government have been revealed, with tax receipts totalling more than £65,000 still outstanding.
The update was provided in the wake of a statement given by Treasury Minister Elaine Millar in the States on Tuesday, detailing the financial support given to Blue Islands before it ceased trading and entered liquidation earlier this month.
This included a £10 million loan facility – of which £8.5 million was drawn down – to secure lifeline air connectivity during the pandemic, as well as more recent funding of £1.2 million £0.5 million provided to Blue Islands to prevent the airline collapsing before “effective contingency arrangements” were in place.
In a statement, the government said yesterday that: “The majority of Blue Islands’ outstanding debt to government is from the Covid loan facility and was drawn between July 2020 and April 2021.”
It continued: “A total of £7 million of capital and £0.4 million of interest from this loan is outstanding.
“The loan was secured and thanks to that security we expect to recover sums to cover the majority of the money Government has recently provided to Blue Islands.”
The statement also said that Blue Islands was up-to-date with its tax and social security payments, including ITIS.
But it noted that: “As with many businesses that cease trading, bills that were due to be paid after the point it ceased operations may not now be paid.”
This included October balances of £36,596.00 in ITIS and £30,396.82 in social security contributions.
“The government will make a claim to the liquidators for all money owing to it,” the statement added.
“If Blue Islands made any payments to staff for November before declaring insolvency it is possible there may be an additional outstanding ITIS and social security contributions for that month.”
