The Russian Football Union lifted transfer embargoes on three teams Friday hours before the end of the transfer window.
Amkar Perm, FC Tom Tomsk and FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod had all been banned from registering new players because of unpaid wages and debts to former players.
“In connection with the honoring of financial obligations to footballers, [the decision has been taken] to lift the embargo on registering new players,” the Russian Football Union said on its website.
Volga responded quickly by signing 33-year-old winger Andrei Karyaka, who had been released by Dynamo Moscow.
Karyaka, who played for Portuguese side Benfica between 2005 and 2007, has 27 caps for Russia, scoring six goals.
Struggling club FC Tomsk took a number of players on trial this week, including veteran striker Anton Khazov, who was released by FC Volga on Wednesday.
Former Dynamo player Khazov, 31, told the FC Volga website Wednesday that he was reluctant to leave the city of Nizhny Novgorod, where his family lives, which could prove a stumbling block in talks with Siberian-based FC Tomsk.
Midfielder Renat Sabitov, who left FC Tomsk in January when the club was close to bankruptcy, was also on trial with the club despite earlier reports linking him to second-tier FC Ural, while the club has agreed a loan deal with Rubin Kazan for 23-year-old striker Igor Portnyagin.
FC Tomsk was rescued by a cash injection from new investors Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, both state-owned oil companies, which were encouraged to invest in the club by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The Russian transfer window closes at midnight.
