SOGAZ Insurance Group has made insurance payments to the relatives of the passengers who were killed in the MI-8MT helicopter crash near Volgograd in July this year.

The amount of the insurance indemnity for each of the deceased amounted to RUR 2,025 million. In this way, the total amount of insurance payment to the relatives of the passengers perished in the helicopter crash was RUR 10,125,000.

According to Konstantin Savisko, Director for Claims Settlement of SOGAZ Insurance Group, this was the first compensation under the airline carrier liability insurance contract effected by SOGAZ in compliance with the new revision of the Air Code. The new revision provides for a substantial increase in the amount of compensation to be paid for each passenger killed in an air crash.

A helicopter, side number RA-22968, owned by Gazpromavia, departed from Volgograd to Kotovo around 08.00 on June 22 with three crewmembers and 5 passengers on board. Communication with the helicopter was lost at 10.20. The MI-8 crashed near the village of Moiseevo, 22 km away from Kotovo. Six people died in the crash including all the passengers.

The insurance payment was effected in execution of the airline carrier liability insurance contract concluded between SOGAZ and Gazpromavia in August 2008.

Amendments to the Air Code of the Russian Federation came into effect in July 2008. According to these amendments the minimum amount of indemnities under airline carrier liability contracts went up from RUR 100,000 to RUR 2,000,000.