This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS  WARSAW 000985 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE TARA ERATH AND MICHAEL SESSUMS 
USDOC FOR 4232/ITA/MAC/EUR/JBURGESS AND MWILSON 
USDOC FOR 3133/USFCS/OIO/EUR/TMOORE 
USDOC FOR 3150/USFCS/OIO/CEE/MCOSTA 
TREASURY FOR OASIA MATTHEW GAERTNER AND ERIC MEYER 
FRANKFURT FOR TREASURY FOR JIM WALLAR 
STATE PASS TO EXIM BANK FOR DAVID FIORE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ETRD EFIN PREL PL
SUBJECT: BOEING CEO MEETS WITH POLISH MINISTER OF TREASURY 
 
REF: A. WARSAW 0971 
 
     ¶B. WARSAW 0921 
     ¶C. WARSAW 0913 
     ¶D. WARSAW 0749 
 
This cable is sensitive, but unclassified:  not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Boeing CEO, Harry Stonecipher, met with the Polish 
Minister of State Treasury, Jacek Socha, on February 18, to 
discuss Boeing's activities in Poland.  The meeting centered 
on LOT's tender for long-haul aircraft and also touched on 
Boeing's plans to cooperate with Polish companies for tooling 
contracts for the 787.  Socha said that politics will not 
influence the decision on which aircraft LOT purchases. 
Stonecipher told Socha that there was no firm deadline for 
when Boeing would pull the delivery slots for LOT's 787s. 
Stonecipher and Boeing sales executives were pleased with the 
meeting, declaring that it couldn't have gone better. End 
summary. 
 
 
Long-Term Commercial Impact the Key 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Henry Stonecipher came to Poland on February 18 to 
meet with GOP officials, including Minister of State 
Treasury, Jacek Socha, who is likely to have an important 
role in LOT's decision making process.  During the meeting, 
Minister Socha acknowledged to Stonecipher that to stay 
competitive LOT needs new aircraft.  He said that the 767s 
that LOT currently uses are good but "getting old." 
Stonecipher explained to Socha that Boeing was ready to 
address any problems or questions that LOT had regarding the 
financing of the aircraft, even if that required Boeing to 
finance part of the purchase itself.  Socha quickly responded 
by saying that the financing aspect of the deal was a 
non-issue.  Instead, Socha said the largest factor on which 
LOT's supervisory board would make its choice was which 
aircraft offer made the most long-term commercial and 
financial sense for the airline.  LOT Airlines has not made 
money for the past two years and, as the competition from 
low-cost and other flag carriers increases, the airline needs 
to purchase aircraft that will give long term profitability. 
 
 
A Commercial Decision 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Stonecipher said he hoped that LOT will be able to 
make its decision based on the commercial merits without 
political interference.  Socha bluntly stated that politics 
will not play a role in LOT's decision. 
 
 
Timing 
------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Socha asked Stonecipher how long Boeing would hold 
the delivery slots of the 787s for Boeing.  Stonecipher 
responded rather obliquely by saying that he would give 
Poland until sometime in March if a deadline was needed to 
force a decision, but he emphasized that Boeing is very 
interested in working with LOT.  He said that LOT advised 
Boeing on designing and planning the 787 Dreamliner, and that 
Boeing will try to work with LOT without putting down hard 
dates. 
 
 
Production Cooperation 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Stonecipher and Socha discussed Boeing's plans to 
place several tooling contracts with Polish companies. 
Stonecipher said that future cooperation with Polish 
companies to provide machining work might also be possible. 
Socha asked if these contracts would be conditional on the 
sale of the 787 to LOT.  Stonecipher said that both Boeing 
and LOT preferred that these contracts not be tied to the 
 
sale. 
 
 
Increasing Boeing's Presence on the Ground 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Stonecipher also told Socha that Boeing plans on 
opening an office in Warsaw within the year and will have a 
permanent representative on the ground.  Socha was pleased to 
hear this and said that Boeing should have already done so. 
(In a conversation earlier in the week with Econoff, Socha 
acknowledged that Airbus representatives have been very 
active in Warsaw over the past 5 months (reftel B).) 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Considering the Polish government owns 68% of LOT 
aircraft, we expect the Ministry of State Treasury will play 
a key role in determining LOT's final decision on which 
aircraft it will purchase.  We're pleased Stonecipher came 
and met Socha as this helps demonstrate Boeing is committed 
to winning the deal.  We are also pleased that Socha was so 
clear in stating this deal will be decided on the commercial 
merits.  As recent press articles make clear, however, Airbus 
is pushing hard.  Boeing will have to keep up its efforts to 
lobby LOT and the GOP on the commercial issues. End comment. 
 
MUNTER 
 
 
NNNN 

 2005WARSAW00985 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED