Air crash over bodensee: remuneration fund to be set up before July 1

Germany hopes that a remuneration fund for relatives of the victims of the air crash over Lake Boden will be set up prior to July 1, that is before the first anniversary of the tragic collision in the air by Bashkir Airlines' Tu-154 and the USA's Boeing cargo. This statement was made Wednesday in an exclusive RIA Novosti interview by Felix Stenschke of Germany's transport ministry.

Negotiators from the governments of Germany and Switzerland and the insurance company representing the Swiss air controllers' Skyguide company have initialed a draft treaty whereby a remuneration fund for relatives of the victims of the air crash should be set up.

The next step is that the ultimate variant of the treaty should be endorsed by representatives of the three sides, said Felix Stenschke.

He also pointed out that the negotiators agreed on keeping the remuneration fund worth in secret while the truthfulness of the sums cited in mass media reports as amounting to $50 million should be left on the conscience of journalists, without any comments or denials.

On July 1, 2002, the air crash in the vicinity of the Ueberlingen settlement over the Bodensee killed 71 people, including 69 Russian citizens, most of whom were children.