LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - Russia's Air Transport Agency fired an official who publicly outlined the country's plan to keep airlines flying despite sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Kommersant reported.

Valery Kudinov was in charge of overseeing airworthiness at the agency. At an event last week, he told reporters of preparations to keep foreign-owned aircraft worth up to US$10 billion in the country rather than return them to lessors.

According to reports from the Russian daily and other news outlets, Kudinov said on March 10 that more than 100 aircraft had already been re-registered in Russia, and spare parts held back by Boeing and Airbus were being sought from outside the country, including in China, which had refused.

While the Air Transport Agency disavowed his comments at the time, the plan Kudinov outlined has largely taken shape. President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday (March 14) allowing state-owned Aeroflot PJSC and other Russian airlines to keep hold of aircraft and re-register planes.

The agency declined to comment Tuesday on issues related to its staff.

There are about 480 aircraft leased to Russian airlines, with an estimated value of US$10.3 billion, according to aviation consultancy Ishka. European Union sanctions give lessors until March 28 to cancel contracts with Russian airlines.

Many have already done so, and officials in Bermuda and Ireland, where the bulk of the aircraft were registered, have revoked their airworthiness certificates - a move that will accelerate lessors' terminations.

Under the Russian law, a state commission can decide if rented aircraft will be returned to foreign owners. If they are kept, they're paid for in rubles. The new rules also make provisions for Russian registration and upkeep.

Leasing firms are looking for ways to maintain the planes in India, Hong Kong and elsewhere to protect their value, Bloomberg reported previously.

While lessors may be trying to find ways to improve their positions, "focus is now turning to the insurance market, to contingent all-risk and war-risk policies," Ishka said in a report issued Tuesday.

Dublin-based AerCap Holdings, the world's biggest jet-leasing firm, has more than 150 planes in Russia, the largest exposure of any foreign lessor. "Those aircraft are unlikely to be returned," Cowen analyst Helane Becker wrote in a research note.