YEKATERINBURG, September 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Western sanctions against Russia have not affected the projects between US aerospace giant Boeing and Russia’s VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, the world’s largest titanium producer, the director of the Russian company’s regional policy and public relations said on Monday.

“All the sanctions that have been introduced have not affected the fulfilment of the projects that are secured by long-term contracts. We are cooperating with Boeing in a normal regime. Both sides are implementing the earlier reached agreements,” Marina Voronkova said.

Titanium contract for Boeing

Last year, Russian manufacturer VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, located in the Sverdlovsk region, signed an agreement with Boeing to supply titanium products for Boeing 777X aircraft.

Sverdlovsk Region Governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev said Boeing Russia/CIS President Sergei Kravchenko should consider plans to use the resources of the Titanium Valley, a planned special economic zone in the Ural Federal District, for future joint projects between Boeing and VSMPO-AVISMA.

On July 14, Boeing and VSMPO-AVISMA extended a long-term agreement for the supply of titanium rolled sheet until 2022. Under the contract, the Russian manufacturer is to continue supplying Boeing with titanium products to meet the needs of passenger aircraft construction.

According to the contract, Russia’s VSMPO-AVISMA is to provide logistics services through its global system of distribution centers in the United Kingdom, Germany, China and the United States.

VSMPO-AVISMA is owned by Russian state-owned industrial corporation Rostec, whose CEO Sergei Chemezov was targeted by Western sanctions in late April for Russia's alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis.

Western sanctions against Russia

Since March, the United States and the European Union have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Moscow over its stance on the conflict in Ukraine. Russia has responded by introducing a one-year ban on imports of selected foods from sanctioning countries (the EU, US and several others).

In mid-September, Brussels introduced further sanctions, for the first time targeting directly the financing of the state-owned oil sector, which is crucial to the Russian economy. Washington similarly strengthened its sanctions, adding Russia’s Gazprom, Europe’s leading energy provider, to the list of targeted companies.