MOSCOW (AP) -- Aircraft maker Airbus and its parent company, European aerospace giant EADS NV, signed a $4 billion deal with a Russian supplier on Monday for long-term titanium deliveries.
Under the deal, VSMPO-Avisma, part of the state holding company Russian Technologies, will supply titanium products to Airbus until 2020. The two companies reached a framework agreement on deliveries last July.
"From the beginning we planned to develop cooperation with our Russian partners by small steps and then gain speed," Airbus CEO Tom Enders said. "Today we're taking a very big step forward."
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said VSMPO-Avisma would satisfy nearly 60 percent of Airbus's demand for titanium.
Along with Putin, ambassadors of several European countries that are shareholders in EADS looked on as Enders and Russian Technologies head Sergei Chemezov signed the agreement in an ornate government reception building.
VSMPO-Avisma, which already supplies titanium to Airbus, is also eyeing a titanium joint venture with U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing.