News

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has guaranteed $171 million in financing to support the export of two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft and related items to Uzbekistan totaling $190 million.

We are pleased to announce that this is the first time an official export credit agency has financed an aircraft transaction in a newly independent state of the former Soviet Union, said Martin A. Kamarck, Ex-Im Bank President and Chairman.

The transaction represents an important breakthrough by the The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA into the Central Asian market for long-range aircraft. The new aircraft will be primarily used on Uzbekistan Airways' longest range routes: Tashkent to New York, Frankfurt, Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. Uzbekistan Airways has had strong growth since 1993 and looks forward to expansion as the country's economy grows. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery later this month and in March 1997.

Ex-Im Bank's Board of Directors approved the guarantee of a loan by Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY. Repayment of the loan for the aircraft will be made over a 12 year period, and related items, such as spare parts, will be made over five years.

This marks Ex-Im Bank's largest transaction in Uzbekistan. The transaction is an asset-based lease, where the aircraft serve as collateral, and is supplemented by the guarantee of the Government of Uzbekistan. The lessees will be the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activities of Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan Airways.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance and promote the sale of U.S. goods and services around the world.