US aircraft maker Boeing Inc. and Russia's OAO VSMPO-Avisma signed a contract worth more than US$1 billion to provide titanium forgings for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner passenger jet.
The contract, covering the years 2011-2015, represents a step forward for the Russian company, which previously had sold raw titanium to Boeing.
VSMPO-Avisma, the world's largest maker of titanium products, is 66-percent owned by a subsidiary of the state holding company Rostekhnologii.
Officials on both sides of the deal discounted suggestions that doing business with a state company could be troubled by tense US-Russian relations.
