W.M Mendis and company, a longstanding distiller of Sri Lanka controlled by Arjun Aloysius’s family, has been given permission to resume production after the suspension imposed by the Excise Department the Morning reports.
The newspaper quoted Excise Commissioner General Kapila Kumarasinghe as saying that the move was taken after considering a number of requests made by the company.
It is reported that the company has a large amount of outstanding taxes due to the government and as a result, it has taken steps to suspend the excise license from January 2018.
According to the Commissioner, the re-production was allowed on the basis of an agreement to pay the arrears in installments. Sources further says the company had a tax arrears of Rs. 580 million as at December 2017 and total outstanding is around 720 million rupees.
According to Excise Department sources, part of this amount has been paid before the license is renewed. Perpetual Capital of Perpetual group owned by Arjun Aloysius the main suspect of Bond issue of 2015, acquired control of WM Mendis in 2011 for Rs. 1 billion.
Mendis has been involved in the Sri Lankan alcohol industry since 1960.
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