Russia Commits $1.23 Billion to Acquire Planes from Western Lessors

As reported by the finance ministry on Wednesday, Russia has allocated an extra 107.7 billion roubles ($1.23 billion) from its reserve fund to assist a state-owned enterprise that is purchasing aeroplanes from overseas lessors.

The ministry revealed that it has purchased bonds from NLK-Finance, a division of the government-owned NSK insurance company. This brings the total amount of money that the ministry has spent on NLK-Finance bonds to $296.8 billion ($3.38 billion).

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the West imposed sanctions, Moscow made calculated moves, such as re-registering aircraft that it had leased from Western businesses. Following that, talks were launched to acquire these aircraft outright, with a particular emphasis on aircraft built by Boeing and Airbus.

More than 100 aircraft have already been covered by insurance claims that Russia has already resolved with a number of Western lessors, including AerCap. The rainy day fund provided the money for these settlements, and NSK became the new owner of the aircraft.

Major Russian airlines, such as Aeroflot, S7 Airlines, and Ural Airlines, had reportedly successfully settled claims for 147 Airbus and Boeing aircraft with a number of Western-based aircraft leasing companies, including AerCap, as of the end of December 2023.

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