The privatisation process of the Malta Film Studios in Rinella has moved to the second phase, as the evaluation process of the expression of interest issued by the government last year has been completed, the Times of Malta is informed.

A total of five international companies have submitted their proposals to take over the re-development and operation of the facilities.

So far, it is not yet known whether all or only some of the companies which submitted their proposals will be given the chance to make a second and final submission.

A spokeswoman for the Tourism Ministry, responsible for the privatisation of these facilities, confirmed that a final report on the expression of interest has been concluded.

“The EOI phase has been finalised and now the process will move on to the second phase which is a request for proposals (RFP)”, the spokeswoman said.

“The RFP phase is expected to be finalised by the end of 2016,” she said.

The EOI was issued by the Tourism Ministry last year and attracted a total of five submissions.

Golden Zephyr of the United States, two Italian companies, Island Productions and Safet Spa, and two British companies, Pinewood and Mediante UK, have responded to the EIO.

The Tourism Ministry said that the ongoing competitive process is being handled by a steering committee set up by the Ministry, which appointed an independent board to evaluate and present a report on the proposals received during the expression of interest stage.

The Malta Film Studios, built in the 1970s, returned to the government only in 2014 after a nine-year-long legal battle over unpaid rent which had left the Land Department out of pocket by €1.4 million.

In 1995, a private company owned by German entrepreneur Jost Merten was given a 65-year concession to run the facilities.

However, over the years the company ran up massive debts and repeatedly failed to pay its dues to the Land Department according to the concession agreement with the government. Since 2014, the film facilities have been run by the Malta Film Commission. This arrangement will remain until the privatisation process ends.

Over the years, the studios hosted major productions including Raise the Titanic, Christopher Columbus, U-571, Troy and most recently Pirate Pete and the Sea Monster.

Following the 2014 court decision, the government said that the property would be turned into a ‘city’ for the film industry, offering all of the necessary services and contributing to economic growth.