Ural Airlines will purchase Western aircraft through financial leasing

According to Kommersant, Ural Airlines managed to agree on the terms of converting Western aircraft into Russian ownership. The airline is preparing to sign financial leasing agreements with NLK Finance, controlled by the Federal Air Transport Agency, for 17 years, after which 19 Airbuses will become the property of the carrier. The agreement on contracts with NLK Finance has been dragging on since the summer, and now the parties have managed to cancel the requirement for an annual transfer of up to 40% of net profit to the lessor. NLK paid for Aeroflot aircraft from the funds of the National Welfare Fund without such conditions with transfer to operating leasing, after which the aircraft would be returned to the lessor.

Ural Airlines, Kommersant found out, managed to agree on the final terms of leasing contracts for their aircraft, for which NLK Finance, controlled by the Federal Air Transport Agency, is ready to pay from the funds of the National Welfare Fund to foreign owners. According to Kommersant’s sources in the industry, in the near future the carrier should sign financial leasing agreements with NLK Finance for 19 Airbuses for 17 years. After completion of the final leasing, the aircraft will become the property of Ural Airlines. At the same time, as interlocutors in the government and close to the Ministry of Transport clarify, as a result of the agreement, one of the most stringent requirements that did not suit the carrier was canceled – the annual transfer of a share of the company’s net profit in favor of NLK Finance. As Kommersant wrote, previously the Urals and charter iFly were offered to annually transfer up to 30–40% of net profit to NLC (see “Kommersant” dated October 25).

The only one that has so far successfully closed insurance settlement transactions is Aeroflot. NSK (which includes NLK Finance) paid for 49 aircraft of the group. Funds for the transactions were allocated from the National Welfare Fund as a soft loan for 15 years. In total, 300 billion rubles were allocated for the purchase of aircraft; in addition to Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and iFly, S7 is also counting on them, but its application is still under consideration. According to Kommersant, Aeroflot received the aircraft on an operating lease (at the end of which the aircraft are returned to the lessor) without the conditions of an annual deduction from net profit. Private carriers wanted the same conditions, but they were required to provide guarantees.

Now, according to a Kommersant source in the Cabinet of Ministers, the airline and the future owner have managed to reach a “difficult, but mutual compromise.”

The carrier will have to transfer net profit for last year, 13.4 billion rubles—this requirement was established by the Ministry of Transport in the summer for carriers who received “anti-sanction” subsidies in 2022. In addition, according to him, the size of the deposit will be adjusted: previously they wanted to oblige carriers to deposit 30–40% of the cost of the vessel, with the standard 10–20%. The exact size of the deposit will be determined in the near future, the source assured Kommersant. Also, according to his information, similar draft contracts with NLC were sent “for coordination and approval” to iFly. “The parties expect that the contracts will be signed by mid-November,” he indicated.

The Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency did not respond to Kommersant at the time of publication, and the airlines declined to comment. Kommersant sent a request to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy.

A source close to the Ministry of Transport confirmed to Kommersant that “the parties are entering the signing stage.” At the same time, he emphasized that the temporary transfer of Ural Airlines permissions for flights to the UAE, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, when Aeroflot, Red Wings and Azimut received them instead of the carrier (see “Kommersant” dated November 3), was not an “action of intimidation or coercion”: the airline currently does not operate flights to these destinations. According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, when transferring approvals, the regulator was guided by the fact that Ural Airlines, whose entire fleet is still in dual registration, flies only to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (these countries, according to Kommersant’s information, could provide guarantees for the safety of the fleet ). This was done to prevent the risk of seizure of aircraft that have not yet been transferred into Russian ownership, he assured, and if the carrier wishes to take permission, he will receive them.

Applications from other carriers for admission to Ural residents will be considered only “within two days after the airline signs a contract with NLK and (foreign— “Kommersant”) lessor”.

According to another version, Ural Airlines intended to open sales to a number of destinations and the regulator decided to “preemptively prevent problems with the return of tickets or passengers in the event of the arrest of boards.” At the same time, now, for example, flights from Moscow to Karshi (Uzbekistan) are still on sale from December 9. A Kommersant source explained this by the airline’s readiness to complete transactions with NLK Finance in the near future.

Aigul Abdullina