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| Closing Report: Eaconomic Crisis Leaves Cholodexpo Rossija Cold CholodExpo Rossija has more than lived up to expectations in its second year: The international exhibition for the refrigeration, air conditioning and cooling industry from 10-12 March 2009 maintained its position in Russia, which is otherwise battered by the economic crisis. Whereas some other exhibitions there even had to be cancelled due to lack of exhibitors, CholodExpo Rossija again attracted great interest among the experts. Almost 3, 000 visitors – a slight rise over 2008 – gathered information about their industry's latest trends in the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre in Moscow. There was an international flair again in the display area of altogether 1, 548 square metres – 30 per cent more than the year before. The 82 exhibitors – over ten per cent more – came from eleven different nations, and the visitors travelled to Moscow from 32 countries. The international participation in the exhibition therefore increased over the premiere in 2008. This proves that there is still a lot of interest in the Russian market. The conclusion of exhibitors at CholodExpo is positive: The majority rated the quality of visitors and the overall success of their exhibiting as "very good" or "good". About 60 per cent made new business contacts at the exhibition, like TEKO Gesellschaft für Kältetechnik mbH of Germany. "TEKO's second appearance at CholodExpo has been very satisfactory and many new contacts have been made in addition to existing ones. There was also a lively exchange of information about future projects and expected business, " says Wolfgang Jakob from the refrigeration technology company TEKO. On the other hand, Michael Denisov from the Russian company Ariada especially praises the high-quality structure of the exhibitors. "I hope the exhibition continues to develop in this direction, " he says. Sergej Derevianko, representative of the Rivacold Group in Russia, has a similarly favourable verdict: "An exhibition with this high degree of specialization is unique in Russia and the CIS." For many companies, CholodExpo was an opportunity to gain a foothold in the Russian market. Günter Schuboth of Armaturenwerk Altenburg explains: "The Russian market offers us great potential. CholodExpo Rossija enabled us to establish some initial contacts." Besides Germany with 24 exhibitors, especially Italy with 17 companies was strongly represented. In addition to many companies from Russia, there were companies representing Turkey and China. For the first time, CholodExpo Rossija was included in the form of a German pavilion in the official foreign exhibition programme of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) and the Refrigeration and Heat Pump Section of the Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbauer (VDMA). Qualified trade visitors The visitors were particularly interested in refrigeration components. More than half of them were looking for business partnerships, a quarter came to the exhibition because of potential suppliers and a third wanted information about commercial refrigeration. 20 per cent of the exhibition visitors were interested in the special segment of transport refrigeration. The whole spectrum of the industry was represented: insulation, heat pumps, control & instrumentation, installation material for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, and services for refrigeration and air conditioning are just a few of the product groups presented at CholodExpo. The companies included Bock Kältemaschinen, Dorin, Embraco, Eliwell and ThyssenKrupp Bausysteme. For many major manufacturers, it was the second time they had exhibited at the Moscow exhibition. The exhibitors are meanwhile not only pleased about the lively response to the event, but also about the high degree of specialization of the host of visitors. "The highly qualified visitors make the difference between CholodExpo Rossija and other exhibitions, " explains Simona Bottecchia of the Italian company Thermokey and Refcomp, which exhibited at CholodExpo for the first time in 2009. "The great majority of the people who came to our stand work in companies specializing in our field – heat exchangers and compressors. They are therefore potentially interested in serious cooperation with our companies." Ahto Heldna from the Finnish company Arctest Oy, which manufactures test equipment and was present at CholodExpo for the first time, also confirms the high quality of the visitor contacts: "We were pleased with the good response of visitors at CholodExpo. They were very interested in our products." User-orientated conference with top speakers The success of the exhibition concept was also reflected by the accompanying conference programme organized under the direction of the Russian refrigeration association "Rossojuscholodprom" and the Giproholod Institute, the official partners of CholodExpo Rossija. The topics of "Status and Development Prospects of the Refrigeration Industry in Russia" and "Technical Regulation of the Refrigeration Industry Market", and the user-orientated presentations on the second day of the exhibition were especially popular with the visitors, and the conference was packed at times. The speakers included Bernhard Schrempf from TÜV Süd, Dr. Rainer M. Jakobs, DMJ Consulting and executive board member of the German Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Society (DKV), Dietmar Schittenhelm, lecturer and Director of the Federal College of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology (BFS) in Maintal, and Prof. A. Malyshev from the University of St. Petersburg. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Exhibition News :: home page |