‘Yekaterinburg is now aspiring to be a key node in international business communication, so international cooperation is an ever-present issue on our agenda. We hold about two hundred exhibitions every year, which I feel is an indicator of sorts,’ Deputy Mayor of Yekaterinburg Viktor Konteev said at the local exhibition and fair committee’s latest meeting.

‘However, we are faced with a few major problems here. To start with, we actually don’t work with the fair participants enough. About 12,000 to 14,000 companies take part in our trade shows, but we seem unable to provide them with very good equipment or technical and media facilities. We need to improve on the quality of shows and exhibitions through enhancing the quality of the companies’ presentations,’ he noted.

‘Secondly, and most importantly, what the city is suffering from most at the moment is the lack of a professional exhibition area. This undoubtedly makes Yekaterinburg look less appealing,’ Konteev explained.

‘Sverdlovsk Region Government and the city council have some plans to solve this problem. We actually need a pool of trade show events to make sure we can keep up with the earlier and traditional exhibition themes. We also need to create the conditions for the events to be competitive. Once a special exhibition center has been put up in Yekaterinburg, the competition will soar as some federal-level players are bound to hit the market, so this is what the local operators must be prepared for,’ the deputy mayor said.