SOVIET CLAIMS TO BE TREATED EQUALLY - ACCOUNTANTS
All claims to be settled under a
U.K./Soviet pact agreed last year in connection with
pre-revolutionary Russian bonds and seized assets will be
treated equally, Price Waterhouse and Co (PW) said.
    It said that the treatment for the bonds had not actually
been determined, although it had been estimated that holders
would receive about 10 pct of the nominal value of the bonds,
which was the percentage to be assigned to property claims.
Now, "the face value of the bond will be added to the value of
the property. A dividend will then be calculated and all claims
will be treated equally," PW said.
    PW administers the Russian Compensation Fund, which was set
up by the Foreign Office in 1917 to oversee some 45 mln stg in
pre-revolutionary reserves for claimants of assets seized
during the Revolution.
    PW, which is currently accepting applications for the
claims, said that to date, 2,000 bond application forms and 600
property application forms have been returned.
    Because the number of applications and bonds returned is
increasing rapidly, a special office where the claims are being
processed will remain open beyond the close of business until
midnight on March 31, the deadline for claims to be submitted.
 Reuter
