MONTREAL CONVENTION DEMARCHE DELIVERED

UNCLAS MOSCOW 000962 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RUS AND EEB/TRA/OTP (BJSILER) MONTREAL PLEASE PASS TO USICAO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON ICAO RS SUBJECT: MONTREAL CONVENTION DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 27782 ¶1. (SBU) We shared reftel information regarding the ratification of the Montreal Convention of 1999 with diplomats in the MFA's Department of North America Affairs and with civil aviation officials at the Ministry of Transportation (MOT). ¶2. (SBU) Elena Mikheeva, Deputy Head of the Air Services Division in the MOT's Department of State Policy in Civil Aviation, accepted the information. However, she said she could not offer any substantive response. The issue would need to be discussed with senior MOT officials. Separately, Oleg Demidov, Deputy Director of the MOT's Department of State Policy in Civil Aviation, told us that ratification of the Montreal Convention was a sensitive issue, but said he also was not authorized to elaborate on Russia's specific concerns, noting that the issue could only be discussed at the Deputy Minister level or higher. ¶3. (SBU) While Russian officials would not share with us the GOR's specific concerns with the Montreal Convention, Russian legal and aviation experts have noted that the convention's liability provisions for passenger injuries and fatalities, and compensation for delayed passengers, are far more generous than current Russian law. Hence, scholars have noted that ratification of the convention would require significant changes to Russian aviation and insurance law, and would likely increase insurance costs for Russian airlines at a time when many are struggling to survive the global economic crisis. ¶4. (SBU) We will continue to seek a more senior-level meeting at MOT to ascertain the GOR's specific concerns with the Montreal Convention. BEYRLE