Vijay Mallya, at the United Breweries Holding Limited (UBHL) Annual General Meet, blamed high fuel prices and taxation policies for the failure of the Kingfisher airlines. Kingfisher Air turned out to be a nightmare for the country, he added. Acting as the UBHL AGM’s Principal Officer, Mallya reviewed the performance of the company and said that the UB is still India’s largest exporter of beer to the world. Mallya further added that he could account of every paisa sent by the Kingfisher Airlines. He hoped and urged the shareholders to keep supporting him in the time of crisis.
Mallya expressed his frustration at being projected as the ‘Poster Boy of Bad Loans’ in the country. He said that that he was unnecessarily accused of syphoning Rs 6,000 crores, without any legal basis. Mallya firmly stated that he would contest all the charges before the court of law as the government continued to attach his properties. He said that he would seek judicial intervention to get relief from the situation.
Speaking at the AGM, Mallya said that the operations of the company had further been affected due to the attachment of properties and his shares. Mallya added that efforts were being made to identify a new candidate for the position of the Managing Director of the company. The now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes over Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by SBI. Mallya, who left the country on March 2 and is now in the UK, has been declared a proclaimed offender by a special PMLA court in Mumbai on a plea by Enforcement Directorate in connection with its money laundering probe against him in the alleged bank loan default case.
