Boeing Agrees To Russian Loan

Boeing Co. withdrew its opposition to a $1 billion U.S. loan to the Russian aviation industry when the Russians agreed to open their aerospace market to U.S. companies.

Boeing had bitterly opposed the Export-Import Bank loan to Russia’s Aeroflot airline because it feared the creation of another Airbus Industrie, the European consortium that in two decades grew into a potent worldwide competitor.

But Boeing, the world’s biggest commercial aircraft manufacturer and America’s top exporter, persuaded the Clinton administration to demand concessions from the Russian government. Now Boeing praises the administration for crafting a “balanced” compromise under which the Russians will suspend their 30 percent tariffs on jetliner imports and enact other reforms to encourage lending on aircraft deals.