As reported by the head of the foundation 'Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation' Igor Lushnikov at a press conference in Kyiv, about 20 people remain for whom the deadline for receiving funds has not yet expired. He expressed confidence that by the end of the month these people will receive their funds, and it will be possible to speak about the final completion of this project.
In total, as a result of the joint work of the German and Ukrainian foundations, compensation payments totaling about €860 million were received by more than 468.6 thousand Nazi victims.
The chairman of the board of the German Federal Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future', Michael Jansen, highly appreciated the cooperation with the Ukrainian foundation and reported that although the individual payment program is over, the German and Ukrainian foundations will continue their work in the form of humanitarian programs, using interest accrued on the foundation's funds that were kept in German banks for several years. He stated that the remaining funds of the foundation will be divided proportionally among the seven countries where this project was carried out and directed to humanitarian medical and social programs for the most needy Nazi victims. According to him, for Ukraine this amount will be about €1 million.
In turn, Igor Lushnikov noted that thanks to the funds saved by the Ukrainian foundation on administrative payments, the humanitarian aid project has already started in Ukraine. In particular, as of January 20, 2007, using the foundation's funds, 61 orthopedic and 1,362 ophthalmological surgeries were performed for the most needy Nazi victims.
Answering journalists' questions, Michael Jansen highly appreciated the work of the banking system in Ukraine. As reported, compensation payments from Germany began on August 1, 2001. It was planned that the deadline for receiving payments would expire on September 30, 2006.
Meanwhile, as reported by 'Deutsche Welle', leaders of Ukrainian organizations of Nazi victims reminded that about 250 thousand Ukrainians were left out of the payment program because they were prisoners of concentration camps located in Ukraine and satellite countries of the Third Reich. Michael Jansen admitted that this became a big problem for the German side as well, but his foundation was forced to be guided by the federal law adopted by the Bundestag. 'I agree with you that we have not achieved full justice and it can only be a matter of some compensation for the suffering endured by Nazi victims,' noted Michael Jansen. 'But we are also glad that we were able to help almost half a million Ukrainians who received compensation.'
Let us recall that the following are entitled to payments from the German foundation: former prisoners of concentration camps (according to the official list of concentration camps) and ghettos (equivalent to 15 thousand German marks); forced laborers in industry and the public sector (4.3 thousand); workers in agriculture, municipal and domestic services (1.5 thousand), children under 12 years old (1.5 thousand). According to the German law 'On the establishment of the foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future', payments were made to citizens of Ukraine and Moldova who suffered from National Socialist persecution during World War II, as well as citizens of the Transcaucasian and Central Asian countries - former republics of the Soviet Union, who suffered from National Socialist persecution during World War II and on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and Moldova.
The completion of the compensation payment program means reconciliation in the future between Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe, as well as further development of Ukrainian-German relations, noted the German Ambassador to Ukraine, Reinhard Schäfers. He expressed hope that this will be given a new impetus by the continued cooperation of the Federal and Ukrainian foundations in providing high-quality medical care to Nazi victims and the implementation of humanitarian programs.