According to Günter Saathoff's forecasts, the payment of the bulk of compensation will be completed by the summer of next year. He did not rule out that if funds remain in the German fund's account after the second tranche, another payment could be made. The head of the German fund expects that compensation payments to former Ostarbeiters will be fully completed by the end of 2006.
As previously reported, by the end of 2004, the Ukrainian National Fund 'Understanding and Reconciliation' plans to fully complete the payment of compensation to prisoners of Nazi concentration camps during World War II and Ostarbeiters who worked in factories. According to the fund, previously all victims of Nazism in Ukraine received 65% of compensation. Now a new stage has begun - payment of the remaining 35%. As of May, 487,824 people in Ukraine have already received payments totaling more than 533 million euros from the German fund.
In Ukraine, the payment of compensation from Germany began on August 1, 2001. In total, Germany will allocate 1.724 billion (881.5 million euros) for direct one-time compensation payments to victims of Nazism living in Ukraine. The Austrian fund 'Reconciliation, Peace and Cooperation' will allocate 78.487 million euros to Ukraine.