Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin says Iran will have to compensate Ukraine's largest air carrier, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), for the downing of a Boeing 737 passenger jet near Tehran in January 2020, despite attempts to avoid the payment.
"It's hard for me to imagine the possibility of avoiding by the Iranian side of responsibility for the downed Ukrainian Boeing, and all the players involved are aware of this," he wrote on Facebook on August 10, 2020.
"During bilateral negotiations, the Iranian side had confirmed its readiness to compensate for losses, including to UIA, whose representatives were invited to negotiations to represent the Ukrainian side. We agreed to include this issue on the agenda of the next round of negotiations," the official said.
Yenin explained if Iran refuses to pay the compensation to UIA, this will be done by the European insurance companies where the plane was insured.
"Indeed, the UIA plane was insured by a European insurance company, which, in turn, reinsured its risks with other insurers. Therefore, Iran will have to compensate the losses to UIA if not directly, then in recourse to the relevant insurance companies, but it will still be about the same compensation," he added.
PS752 downing in Iran: background
- On January 8, 2020, Kyiv-bound Boeing 737 passenger jet flight PS752, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff from Tehran Airport.
- All 176 people on board were killed, including 11 Ukrainian nationals – nine crew and two passengers. Among victims are also citizens of Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK.
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani admitted that the Ukrainian liner had been shot down as a result of an unintentional "human error," and promised to bring those responsible to justice.
- On June 9, media reported that Iran had accused six persons in the PS752 downing case.
- On July 20, the flight recorders were delivered to Paris.
- On July 24, it was reported that data from the black boxes had confirmed external interference in the aircraft's operation.
- On July 29-30, Kyiv hosted the first round of negotiations with Iran regarding compensation to relatives of PS752 victims.
- On August 10, Iran said it did not plan to compensate UIA for the downing of the Boeing 737 passenger jet.
