The Council of Europe once again calls on Russia to repay the compensation to the Georgian nationals

“1. recalling that in its judgment on just satisfaction, of 31 January 2019, the Court held that the respondent State is to pay the applicant government, within three months, EUR 10,000,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage suffered by a group of at least 1,500 Georgian nationals, and that the applicant government is to set up an effective mechanism for the distribution of the just satisfaction sums to the individual victims of the violations found in the principal judgment while having regard to the indications given by the Court and excluding individuals who cannot be classified as victims; recalling further that the mechanism must be put in place under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers and in accordance with any practical arrangements determined by it in order to facilitate execution and that the distribution must be carried out within 18 months of the date of the payment or within any other time-limit considered appropriate by the Committee of Ministers;

2. recalling also that the deadline for payment expired on 30 April 2019 and reiterating their profound concern that no payment has yet been made;

3. recalling further their Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2020)368 adopted on 3 December 2020 in which they strongly urged the Russian authorities to finalise the consultations without further delay in order to either directly pay the just satisfaction, together with the default interest accrued, to the applicant government or to commit to using the Council of Europe as an intermediary for that payment;

4. deeply regretting therefore the delay in the Russian authorities’ consideration of the draft Memoranda of Understanding prepared by the Secretariat, noted nevertheless the Russian authorities’ recent confirmation of their readiness to continue dialogue to finalise those Memoranda of Understanding to enable payment to take place through a Council of Europe bank account held in escrow as soon as possible;

5. stressing the urgent need to reach concrete results which are in line with the indications given in the judgment, reiterated the importance that the Russian authorities, as well as the Georgian authorities, move forward rapidly to finalise the consultations to enable the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding and the full payment of the just satisfaction to take place without any further delay;

6. strongly urged anew the Russian authorities, by 6 September 2021, to either directly pay the just satisfaction, together with the default interest accrued, to the applicant government or sign the Memoranda of Understanding to enable the payment of those sums to be made;

7. recalling Article 46 of the Convention and insisting again on the unconditional obligation to pay the just satisfaction awarded by the Court, decided to resume consideration of this case at their 1411th meeting (September 2021) (DH) and, in the absence of concrete progress, to consider at that meeting the possible means at their disposal to achieve progress in the full execution of the judgment”.