UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT US$1,020,000,000

The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) today made available a total of $1,020,000,000 to the Government of the State of Kuwait. Payment is being made in respect of the remaining six claims with outstanding balances, all awarded to Kuwait and approved by the Governing Council between 1999 and 2003: four claims in category E (claims of corporations and public sector enterprises) and two claims in category F (claims of Governments and international organizations, including environmental claims). With today’s payment, approximately $17 billion remains outstanding to these six awards.

Pursuant to UNCC Governing Council decision 267 (S/AC.26/Dec.267 (2009)), the remaining claims are paid on a quarterly basis in rounds of $10 million, in the order in which they were approved by the Governing Council.

The Compensation Commission has now made available $35.4 billion to over 100 Governments and international organizations for distribution to 1.5 million successful claimants in all categories.

Successful claims are paid with funds drawn from the United Nations Compensation Fund, which is funded by a percentage of the proceeds generated by the export sales of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products. This percentage was set at 5 per cent under Security Council resolution 1483 (2003), and reaffirmed in a number of subsequent resolutions, most recently under Security Council resolution 1956 (2010).

Further information about the Commission, including the text of Governing Council decisions, can be found on the United Nations Compensation Commission website located at www.uncc.ch.

For use of the information media; not an official record