Sanctions could stop GTLK Global from accessing cash from Russian lessees

GTLK Global — the foreign leasing platform of Russia’s State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) — has been caught in a catch-22 situation due to the raft of sanctions and restrictions that have been placed on the country’s banking and aviation sectors.

With Russia’s central bank cut off from the SWIFT messaging system and many of the country’s top banks sanctioned, Dublin-based GTLK Global — one of the largest providers of leased aircraft to the Russian commercial aviation sector — could face defaults if Russian airlines struggle to submit lease payments.