A $90 million dollar payment was made on Friday, announced the United Nations Compensation Commission – the body created to process claims and payments stemming from Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990-1991.
This is the first payment since October 2014 when Iraq was allowed to postpone payments due to the war with ISIS and financial constraints.
The payments come from a percentage of Iraq’s oil sales – initially set at five percent, but in November 2017 reduced to 0.5 percent for quarterly payments in 2018 and will increase in subsequent years until payments are finished in 2021.
The Compensation Commission was established in 1991 under Security Council resolutions to process some 2.7 million claims for damages made by individuals, corporations, governments, and international organizations.
It approved 1.5 million claims totaling approximately $52.4 billion.
Only one claim remains outstanding - $14.7 billion for oil production and lost sales filed by the Kuwaiti government on behalf of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Approximately $4.5 billion remains outstanding after Friday’s payment.
In February, Kuwait hosted a donor conference to raise funds for rebuilding Iraq after the war with ISIS. Some $30 billion was pledged during the conference. Kuwait itself announced $1 billion in loans and an additional $1 billion in business investments.
