Damages Agreed Upon, Not the Amount

In the last round of talks in Tel-Aviv, Ukraine and Israel have finally drawn up the text of an international agreement on settling the claims arising from the crash of the Tu-154 airplane on October 4, 2001, Oleksandr Chaly, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Ukrainian government commission, told the press. As he put it, still to be negotiated is the problem of the amount of damages to be paid to the relatives of those killed in the crash, “Israeli government representatives accept what we offer only in part.” According to Mr. Chaly, it will be clear later what format — another meeting of the governmental commissions or usage of diplomatic channels — will be chosen. He reiterated the Ukrainian side is determined to see the mechanisms of compensation payments worked out by the second anniversary of the crash of the Sibir Airlines plane downed by a Ukrainian missile over the Black Sea. He said Ukraine was proposing specific ways of doing so, while the national budget has allocated funds to make these payments.

As to talks with the Russian side, the diplomat said there are some other still-to-be-solved matters in addition to the amount of compensation. He refused to name these matters as well as the amounts to be paid. Mr. Chaly noted that the Ukrainian side was ready to announce the amounts, but it was decided, at the suggestion of the Russia and Israel, not to comment on this issue in the press. Another round of talks with the Russian side is slated for late June or early July.

He also said he would not comment on Russian press reports on this subject. As to the lawsuits filed by some relatives of those killed in the crash, the diplomat says Ukraine insists on a political out-of-court settlement of the problem.

In the crash that occurred on October 4, 2001, over the Black Sea, a Ukrainian missile mistakenly downed the Sibir Airlines Tu-154 airplane on a flight from Tel-Aviv to Novosibirsk. The crash claimed the lives of 78 passengers and crew, mostly Israeli citizens.

As is known, Ukraine insists that, since a bilateral investigative commission found that the crash occurred due to a fatal concurrence of circumstances, the question is about ex gratia payments only.