Russia begins paying insurance compensation to Azerbaijan

Russia has begun insurance payments regarding the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane that crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, after being fired upon in Russian airspace. In a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, it was reported that Russia's "AlfaStrakhovanie" insurance company has paid AZAL the full insurance value of the aircraft, amounting to 1 billion 3 million rubles (approximately 12.34 million dollars).

The statement noted that compensation claims regarding the 46 passengers out of the 62 on board who were injured or lost their lives have been finalized, and in this context, payments have been made to 7 out of 15 Russian citizens, 35 out of 38 Azerbaijani citizens, all 3 passengers of Kyrgyz nationality, and 1 out of 6 passengers of Kazakh nationality.

The statement further conveyed that a total of 358.4 million rubles (4.4 million dollars) in insurance payments have been made to date to the injured passengers and the relatives of those who lost their lives, and that efforts to determine compensation amounts are continuing in order to reach a full settlement with the victims and the relatives of the deceased.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

The Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane, which took off on December 25 from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to fly to Grozny in Chechnya, Russia, was shot down by Russia in Grozny airspace. The passenger plane, which diverted its route to Kazakhstan, crashed while attempting an emergency landing in the city of Aktau. Of the 67 people on board, including 5 crew members, 38 lost their lives, while 29 survived. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to apologize, as the incident occurred in Russian airspace.