Joseph Calleja at the Granaries last year. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

The Tourism Ministry has settled its outstanding dues with the Malta Tourism Authority over the sponsorship of last year’s concert by tenor Joseph Calleja, which allowed the standing area to be free of charge.

“The issue related to the funding of last year’s concert has been resolved and this year the MTA will again be supporting the event, considered to be one of the highlights of Malta’s cultural calendar,” a ministry spokesman said yesterday.

Mr Calleja will perform again at The Granaries in Floriana this evening and there will again be no charge for entry to the standing area. Tickets for the seated area cost between €80 and €200.

MTA sources told Times of Malta that the government will once again be sponsoring the company organising the concert through a subvention from the MTA of close to half a million euros.

However, the ministry declined to confirm the amount, saying “it is not our policy to disclose the financial specifics of these kinds of agreements, as they are of a confidential nature”.

The ministry did the same last year, refusing to release details of the financial contribution making up for the organisers’ loss of income.

However, MTA chairman Gavin Gulia last June spilled the beans, complaining that this “large sponsorship” was one of the main reasons why the authority ended last year with a deficit. The government had not yet repaid the money the authority had forked out for the concert, he said.

“This amount [deficit of the MTA] is mostly made up of what the MTA committed and paid for the concert according to an agreement between the authority, concert organisers NnG and the Finance Ministry. Unfortunately the funds from the ministry were not forthcoming during 2013 and hence the increase in deficit,” Dr Gulia complained.