Brussels, 01/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The agreement sealed on 1 December on the transparency of charges paid by European airlines in Moscow to fly over Siberia will put an end to a 20-year dispute between the EU and Russia as of 1 January 2014.
On Thursday 1 December, the EU and Russia were able to come to an agreement on modernising the system of Siberian overflight payments. “From 1 January 2014, any charges EU airlines have to pay for flying over Russian territory will be cost-related and transparent. They will not discriminate between airlines”, the European Commission states in a press release, specifying that the agreement was set out in an exchange of letters between Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina, on the Russian side, and Vice-President Siim Kallas and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, acting for the Commission. The agreement will take effect on 1 January 2012 after the WTO ministerial conference has given its go-ahead to Russia's WTO accession, which is due on 16 December 2011.
“Siberian overflight royalties have for decades been the single most important obstacle for further developing EU-Russia aviation relations to the detriment of airlines and passengers”, Kallas said. “The clear commitment we received from Russia to make charges for flying over Siberia cost-related, transparent and non-discriminatory helped pave the way for the EU to support Russia's accession to the WTO”, underlined his colleague for trade, Karel De Gucht. (EH/transl.jl)