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Russia Seized 400 Foreign-Owned Jets. Then an Epic Insurance Fight Began.
保险公司和飞机所有者正在就谁应为俄乌战争爆发之初就被困俄罗斯的飞机买单而争论不休。
2022年初，俄罗斯航空公司的飞机停泊在莫斯科郊外的一个机场。 Russia’s seizure of billions of dollars worth of foreign-owned planes has set off the biggest-ever brawl in the normally staid business of aircraft insurance. 6park.com
俄罗斯扣押了价值数以十亿美元计的外国飞机，这在一向风平浪静的飞机保险业引发了有史以来最大规模的争斗。 6park.com
全球一些保险巨头正在反击飞机所有者的索赔，并指出，这些飞机所有者本应提前采取更多措施，以免飞机被扣押。保险公司还在法庭文件中辩称，美国对乌克兰的支持意味着美方实际上在与俄罗斯交战。这将使一些索赔失效。 6park.comSome of the world’s biggest insurers are fighting back against claims by the aircraft’s owners. The insurers say the owners should have done more to grab planes before they were seized. And they are arguing in court filings that the U.S.’s support for Ukraine means that it is, in effect, at war with Russia. That would void some claims. 6park.com
这关系到数以十亿计美元、400多架飞机和数亿美元的法律费用。有分析师和律师表示，这场波及两个大陆和数十家公司的法律之争很可能会影响对未来冲突的承保范围。 6park.comAt stake: billions of dollars, more than 400 planes, hundreds of millions in legal costs. The legal fight, sprawling over two continents and dozens of companies, will likely affect coverage for future conflicts, analysts and lawyers said. 6park.com 6park.com这些飞机多数是租赁给俄罗斯以及外国航空公司的空客(Airbus)和波音(Boeing)商用飞机，在俄罗斯两年多前开始入侵乌克兰之后，这些飞机便滞留在俄罗斯，当时价值超过100亿美元。 6park.comThe planes, mostly Airbus and Boeing commercial jets leased to both Russian and foreign airlines, were worth more than $10 billion when they were stranded in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine just over two years ago. 6park.com
这些飞机归少数几家大多名不见经传的大型飞机租赁公司所有。对这些飞机承保的既有俄罗斯保险公司，也有西方保险公司，其中包括美国国际集团(American International Group)、安达(Chubb)和瑞士再保险(Swiss Re)等行业巨头。 6park.comThe planes are owned by a small number of big but mostly no-name aircraft-leasing companies. They are covered by insurers from both Russia and the West, including giants such as American International Group, Chubb and Swiss Re. 6park.com
律师们仍在就谁应为此买单这一最基本的问题争执不休。这些飞机是否有可能物归原主？飞机是被俄罗斯的航空公司偷走了，还是被国家扣押了？飞机是否保养不善或损坏严重，已经不值钱了？ 6park.comLawyers are still haggling over the most basic questions about who should pay. Is there any chance the jets could be returned to their owners? Were the planes stolen by the Russian airlines or seized by the state? Have the jets been so poorly maintained or so badly damaged that they are worthless? 6park.com
这一争议可以追溯到乌克兰战争初期的混乱时期。当时，美国和欧洲对俄罗斯实施制裁，迫使租赁公司终止与俄罗斯的航空公司所签协议。数百架飞机的命运由此悬而未决。 6park.comThe dispute dates back to the chaotic early days of the war in Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe put sanctions on Russia, which forced leasing companies to end agreements with Russia’s airlines. Hundreds of aircraft were left in limbo. 6park.com
租赁公司曾聘用资产收回团队趁这些飞机降落在友好机场时将其强制性收回，但几乎没有成功。现在，收回这些飞机的努力已逐渐减弱。租赁公司承认，由于俄罗斯对这些飞机的维护方式是临时性的，它们不太可能再在西方国家飞行。 6park.comLeasing companies hired repo teams to grab the aircraft when they landed at friendly airports. They had few successes. The repossession effort has tapered off. Leasing companies acknowledge that it is unlikely the planes would be able to fly again in the West due to the makeshift way in which Russia has been maintaining the jets. 6park.com
克里姆林宫命令航空公司不得归还这些飞机，这实际上相当于携数以十亿美元计的资产潜逃。其中许多飞机已在俄罗斯注册，正在执飞俄国内航线或飞往海外友好国家。 6park.comThe Kremlin ordered airlines not to return those jets, effectively absconding with billions in assets. Many of the planes have been registered in Russia and are flying domestic routes or going overseas to friendly countries.
1月，加里宁格勒哈拉布罗沃机场的乘客。 The leasing companies, which own around half of the world’s commercial jets, typically require airlines to insure their planes with a local company, which then sells off some of the risk to international reinsurers. The leasing companies also have their own insurance, covering war and other risks. 6park.com 6park.com上述保险巨头给出了许多不理赔的理由。其中一个理由是，它们在乌克兰战争开始后就撤销了对俄罗斯的承保服务，而它们曾承保的这些飞机当时还没有被困俄罗斯。 6park.comThe insurers have offered many reasons why they shouldn’t pay the claims. One is that they withdrew coverage for Russia after the war started but before the planes they insured got stranded there. 6park.com
这些租赁公司拥有全球约半数的商用飞机，它们通常要求航空公司向当地保险公司为其飞机投保，当地公司接着会将部分风险转移给国际再保险公司。这些租赁公司也有自己的保险，涵盖战争险和其他风险。 6park.com
英国投保咨询服务公司Mactavish的首席技术官Rob Smart认为，如果保险公司在这一理由上获胜，而且若买家怀疑相关保险在面对任何新冲突时的可靠性，恐将破坏这些保险产品的前途。 6park.comIf they win on that argument, it “could undermine the future of the insurance product itself if buyers doubt that cover is reliable for any new conflict,” according to Rob Smart, chief technical officer at Mactavish, a U.K. firm that advises policyholders. 6park.com 6park.com保险公司还辩称，即使国家之间实际上并没有发生战争，也会触发战争免责条款。这些保险公司表示，西方国家给予乌克兰的资金和其他支持就是参与俄乌冲突的证据。瑞士再保险在一份法庭文件中称，战争不再仅仅是指直接派兵作战。 6park.comInsurers are also arguing that exclusions for war can be triggered even when countries aren’t actually fighting with each other. The insurers said the financial and other support given to Ukraine by the West is proof of involvement in the conflict. “‘War’ is no longer merely ‘boots on the ground,’” Swiss Re said in a court filing. 6park.com
保险公司认为不应理赔的另一个理由是，飞机租赁公司本可以采取更多措施收回飞机。安达在一份法庭文件中称，这些租赁公司在2022年2月24日之前和之后都有机会将其资产从俄罗斯转移出去。只要它们没有这样做，就等同“自愿放弃这些资产”，因此相关资产不在保险公司的承保范围内。这些租赁公司表示，除了极少数情况外，其他情况下都不可能收回这些飞机。 6park.comAnother defense is that the aircraft-leasing companies could have done more to retrieve their planes. Chubb said in a court filing that the companies “had opportunities prior to and after February 24, 2022, to remove their assets from Russia.” To the extent they failed to do this, they “voluntarily abandoned their assets” and so aren’t covered by the insurance. The leasing companies say it was impossible to retrieve the jets in all but a handful of cases. 6park.com
代表租赁公司Carlyle Aviation Partners的律师事务所Podhurst Orsec律师Steven C. Marks称这些“荒谬的抗辩”是一种拖延战术，并质疑保险公司是否都有足够的资金进行理赔。他在上个月写给负责监督保险业的美国政府机构联邦保险办公室(Federal Insurance Office)的信中说，保险公司对涉俄索赔的管理“可能导致更大范围的问题，包括破产和欠款的多米诺效应”。 6park.comSteven C. Marks of law firm Podhurst Orseck, representing leasing company Carlyle Aviation Partners, called the “ridiculous bunch of defenses” a stalling tactic and questioned whether all the insurers had adequate funds to pay the claims. The insurers’ management of Russia-related claims “could lead to larger-scale problems, including a domino effect of insolvencies and missed payments,” he wrote last month to the Federal Insurance Office, a U.S. government body that monitors the insurance industry. 6park.com
一些监管公告和公司声明显示，在外国保险公司还在打官司之际，俄罗斯的保险公司已经为100多架飞机支付了价值20多亿美元的理赔金。爱尔兰租赁公司AerCap Holdings已同意了涉及该公司在俄113架飞机中67架的理赔交易，共获得13亿美元现金。2022年，该公司对其滞留在俄罗斯的飞机进行了27亿美元减记。 6park.comWhile foreign insurers are fighting, Russian insurers have paid settlements worth more than $2 billion for more than 100 aircraft, according to securities filings and company statements. Irish leasing company AerCap Holdings, which in 2022 took a $2.7 billion write-down on its planes stuck in Russia, has agreed to deals for 67 of its 113 planes in the country, getting in total $1.3 billion of cash. 6park.com
这些理赔交易对相关飞机的估值似乎低于俄乌战争开始前的价值。AerCap上个月表示，该公司所获理赔金额相当于这些飞机保险价值的70%左右。批评人士称，俄罗斯在设法以低价获得这些飞机的所有权。 6park.comThese deals appear to value the aircraft at less than they were worth before the war began. AerCap got around 70% of the insured value of the aircraft, the company said last month. Critics say Russia is trying to get ownership of the planes on the cheap. 6park.com
但官司远未结束。AerCap仍在就其注销的113架飞机向西方保险公司索赔22亿美元，其中包括在其和解协议中未收回的部分。AerCap首席财务官Peter Juhas上个月对投资者说：“因此，这些钱并不一定会损失掉。” 6park.comBut the legal fight is far from over. AerCap is still pursuing its Western insurers for $2.2 billion for its 113 written-off planes, including amounts not recovered under its settlements. “So it’s not as though that money is necessarily lost,” Peter Juhas, the company’s chief financial officer, told investors last month. 6park.com
还有一些飞机租赁公司拒绝了俄罗斯保险公司的折价提议。凯雷投资集团(Carlyle Group)旗下Carlyle Aviation Partners正在佛罗里达州法院就23架飞机索赔超过7亿美元。该公司拒绝了俄罗斯保险公司提出的以这些飞机账面价值的一定折扣进行赔付的提议。 6park.comOthers are rejecting the discounted offers from Russian insurers. Carlyle Aviation Partners, owned by the private-equity giant, is pursuing a 23-plane claim for more than $700 million in Florida state court. It rejected an offer from Russian insurers to settle for a discount to the jets’ book value. 6park.com
代表该公司的律师Marks说：“之前我们也收到了同样的提议，但我们不会同意。”他指责西方保险公司在拖延时间，目的是让飞机租赁公司同意有折价的赔偿。 6park.com“The same template was offered to us and we’re not agreeing to it,” Carlyle lawyer Marks said. He accused the Western insurers of dragging their feet to try to persuade aircraft-leasing companies to agree to discounted offers.
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