§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made in implementing the Foreign Compensation (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (Distribution) Order 1987.
§ Mr. EggarGood progress continues to be made. The Foreign Compensation Commission made an interim payment of 10 per cent. of the value assigned to a bond to successful bond claimants in November 1987. Of 2,596 property claims submitted, 529 have been established by the Commission, 1,120 have been dismissed and 72 have been withdrawn. There remain 875 property claims still to be determined by the Commission. Many of these are held up because information is awaited from claimants. Claimants should note that failure to supply essential information without delay may result in dismissal of their claims.
It is now expected that the final payout to claimants is likely to be in excess of 40 per cent. of the value the Commission assigns to a claim rather than approximately 20 per cent. which was the best estimate at the time of the interim distribution to bond claimants in November 1987.
The target date for announcing the final distribution to claimants remains the end of 1989.