Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said that he is prepared to write off the debt that LIAT owes to the government of St.Vincent and the Grenadines.
“I am prepared even the money which LIAT owes the Vincentian Government for fees and some taxes and the like, I’m prepared to write that off you know, because I can’t get it back in any case” Gonsalves said.
It was announced late last month that LIAT was entering into liquidation, following the latest obstacle, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following a meeting of LIAT’s major shareholders an agreement has been reached, which Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne said could see the airline flying again “in 60 to 90 days.”
“The meeting went very well, the tone of the meeting was very respectful, the interventions were heard and we came to the consensus that we should sell the three planes that are owned by LIAT and charged to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
“What that will do, that will help to literally eliminate the debt from LIAT’s books for those planes, and, in addition, the proceeds will be utilized to pay down the loan, even though there would be a residual value. The governments will continue to make payment on the residual value after the proceeds of the planes are applied to the loans at the Caribbean Development Bank,” Browne explained.
The Antiguan leader said there are a number of LIAT-related loans with the CDB.
