Italians plough money into Moscow event to bolster shoe trade with Russia
Italian footwear-makers association Assocalzaturifici, event organiser Bologna Fiere and the Italian Trade Agency have ploughed extra funding into Russia-based shoe fair Obuv’ Mir Koži to bolster trade in the historically strategic market.
The fair, which took place this week in Moscow, has been an important event for Italian shoe makers selling to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Sales to these countries have fallen substantially over the past year due to economic sanctions, conflict with Ukraine and the falling rouble.
Italian shoe exports to Russia fell 20% in quantity and 23% in value in the first 10 months of 2014. Russia is now in fifth place in terms of value and ninth in terms of volume in the ranking of the destination countries, accounting for 6.3% of Italy's footwear exports by value and 3.2% by quantity.
The organisations are relaunching the Moscow fair with major investment and reinforcing the number of buyers, who will be offered the services of a special VIP Lounge.
“At this particularly difficult time, we are also seeing widespread restructuring of distribution in the country, confirming the need to be present at trade fairs to ensure that Italian companies are on the front lines of change,” said Assocal.
Exports to the CIS dropped by a 23% in value from January to October 2014, and by 30% in the Ukraine.
Shoes from Italy Almaty will go ahead in Kazakhstan between April 1 and 3, but the Kiev event, scheduled for April 23 and 24, is yet to be confirmed.
