Ten Russian airlines have opened "type C" ruble-denominated accounts to enable them to make payments to foreign lessors, a government official and a source close to the government told the business daily Vedomosti on June 1.

According to a decree that Russian President Vladimir Putin issued in early March in response to international sanctions after the country's aggression against Ukraine, companies with debts to foreign entities in "unfriendly states" can open type C accounts to send payments to them. A month later, Putin signed a decree temporarily converting contracts "in the transport sphere" to the Russian currency.

According to Vedomosti's sources, among the carriers now ready to pay for leases in rubles are Aeroflot and its subsidiaries Pobeda and Rossiya, S7 Airlines, smartavia, Alrosa Aviakompania, Aurora, Polar Airlines, Yakutia Airlines, and Yamal Airlines. And five more - iFly Airlines, Izhavia, NordStar, RusLine, and Ural Airlines - are in the process of setting up such accounts.