Sberbank Leasing, a unit of the state-owned bank, has announced a $1 billion order for Boeing jets as it looks to start financing and leasing foreign aircraft in Russia.
Sberbank Leasing said it is buying 12 Boeing Next Generation 737-800 planes to lease to Transaero, Russia's second-largest airline after state-owned Aeroflot, according to passenger numbers.
The order is worth $1 billion at catalog prices, the company said Thursday in a statement carried by Interfax.
It did not say how much it was paying for the planes.
The agreement between Sberbank Leasing and Transearo is expected to lay the foundation for the creation of infrastructure for the financing and leasing imported aircraft in Russia, Interfax said.
Transaero, whose main shareholders are the husband-and-wife team of chairman Alexander Pleshakov and CEO Olga Pleshakova, operates a nearly all-Boeing fleet of 94 planes after adding 20 last year as it expanded to include new destinations like Los Angeles. The airline flies 24 Boeing 747s, 13 Boeing 777s, 15 Boeing 767s, 39 Boeing 737s and three Russian-built Tu-214s.
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