On February 5, 2024, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katyrin took part in the opening ceremony of the 31st international exhibition of food and beverages "Prodexpo-2024", which takes place under the patronage of the Chamber in the Expocentre.

The exhibition, which is the largest in Eastern Europe, presents a wide range of food: from basic products and drinks for every day to gourmet delicacies, as well as organic, sports, functional nutrition, products for a healthy lifestyle, halal, and exotic products.

This year, the geography of manufacturers and suppliers represented at Prodexpo-2024 has expanded significantly. 2,145 companies from 40 countries participate in it. Among them are Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Indonesia, Iran, Spain, Italy, China, the Republic of Korea, South Ossetia, Serbia, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Companies from 48 regions of Russia also present their products.

As Sergei Katyrin noted at the opening ceremony, this year the exhibition is breaking records for the number of participants.

“We are very pleased that our Russian manufacturers are very widely represented at the exhibition - there are more than 1,600 of them. And we, of course, are very grateful to our foreign colleagues. Of the 40 countries represented at the exhibition, a third of the exhibitors came from those states whose governments imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation. Despite this, business representatives understand what the Russian food market is: in terms of its capacity and development dynamics. I think none of them would want to give up this market and work with us,” he said.

Katyrin thanked his colleagues at Expocentre, who spent months preparing for the exhibition so that it would take place on such a scale.

“In November 2023, we could no longer accept applications because everything was full: there were more applicants than available square meters to accommodate exhibitors. This once again emphasizes the interest in the exhibition,” noted the head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Also speaking at the opening ceremony were Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues Vladimir Kashin, Governor of the Vladimir Region Alexander Avdeev, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agricultural and Food Policy and Environmental Management Sergei Mitin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artem Kiryanov, member of the Committee for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Dmitry Pogorely, deputy head of the Federal Service for Control of Alcohol and Tobacco Markets Denis Gulyaev, head of the ANO "Russian Quality System" (Roskachestvo) Maxim Protasov.

In addition, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and ambassadors of foreign countries spoke at the ceremony.

At the end of the ceremony, the guests of honor took part in the grand opening of the national exposition of Iran, and also visited the collective stand of the Vladimir region.

The Prodexpo exhibition is open to visitors until February 9.

                                                                                By Nail Shakhvaliyev, Press Service of the Chamber