Boeing Halts Moscow Operations, Restricts Data Access

(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. is suspending major operations in Moscow and temporarily restricting employees and partners in Russia from accessing sensitive technical data until it can secure export licenses from the U.S. government.

The Chicago-based planemaker said in an email late Tuesday that it has suspended providing spare parts, maintenance and technical services to Russian customers as it navigates deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Russia.

European planemaker Airbus SE separately said that it would take similar action, citing a growing list of international sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Effective immediately, Boeing is now required to obtain U.S. export licenses before Russia-based workers can access “most technologies and data,” Sergey Kravchenko, the president of Boeing's local operations said in a separate memo to employees viewed by Bloomberg News.

“Boeing needs to restrict access to any export-controlled data to Boeing and partner organizations' engineering employees in Russia,” Kravchenko wrote in a Monday email.

The company said it will seek to find new assignments for some employees and also explore job rotations, business trips and possible days off for employees in Russia while it awaits the new licenses.

On Monday, Boeing said it had closed its office in Kyiv, Ukraine and “paused” operations at its Moscow training campus.

“Airbus has suspended support services to Russian airlines, as well as the supply of spare parts to the country,” the planemaker said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company has a support center in Moscow that provides technical assistance to customers, offers seminars and other support services, according to its website.

An engineering center formed in 2003 employs 200 Russian engineers. The facility, a joint venture between Airbus, Systema Invest and Kaskol Group, has been closed temporarily, a spokesman confirmed, citing “export control regulations and applicable laws.”