The first edition of HOMI in Milan has not yet drawn to a close. But work is already underway for its arrival in Russia.

The new Fiera Milano event, heir to Macef and radically redesigned to respond to the rapid change ongoing in consumer choices and retail methods, will in fact be in Moscow from 15 to 18 October this year, at the Crocus exhibition centre.

This will be a grand style debut, Fiera Milano strongly backed by its alliance with ITE  Group, an international trade fair operator and leader in Russia with fairs in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.  ITE is also present on many other non-European markets, from Turkey to India, from China to Southeast Asia.

The partnership between Fiera Milano and ITE, quoted on the London stock exchange, was signed today and will include promotion and joint organisation of HOMI in Moscow for five annual editions, from 2014 to 2018. The debut in October will also be able to count on coincidence with the Moscow Furniture Show, the "Saloni Worldwide", due to be held in the same period at Crocus.  Italian style will therefore be presented to Russian buyers in its most complete and convincing guise, with a range of goods that covers the best in furnishings and home design.

"HOMI is a project that sees us heavily committed", says Fiera Milano CEO Enrico Pazzali. "We have shown this with the new fair running as I speak in Milan. And now we are proving it with this agreement with ITE, and extremely fast start-up of the internationalisation process for HOMI. This process is in fact an integral part of the exhibition project that we have fine-tuned and will not stop with Russia. In 2015, we in fact count on taking it to the USA and Asia. In internationalisation of HOMI and more in general of our fairs, partnership with ITE is a very important element that gives us even more guarantees and confidence. As does the great importance represented by having achieved with the International Furniture Show an agreement that will see systematisation of Made in Italy not just in theory but also in practice".

"The agreement with Fiera Milano," says Mikhail Basheleishvili, deputy general director of ITE, "combines our deep knowledge of the Russian market with leadership of the Italian trade fair group in the sector of products for living and home design.  This is a formidable combination, which we are very happy to have brought about and which opens extremely interesting perspectives both for ourselves and also, and above all, for Russian buyers".

Russia and, in particular the cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, which have higher than average consumer models compared to the rest of the country, is a strategic market for Fiera Milano. It is constantly growing thanks to several key factors, such as the increase in the population and changes in lifestyle, which have led to a growth in domestic demand.

With a population of almost 143 million, Russia is the eighth retail sales market in the world and in 2012 its GDP showed an increase of 3.4%.

Italy and Russia are very closely linked in terms of trade and, in particular, Russia is the leading importer of furniture and furnishing accessories made in Italy.

HOMI Moscow will take with it Italian taste, through the best established companies' products, together with new names from creativity and design. But it will also be a showcase of excellence for the more interesting home design ideas from all over the world looking for a qualified and innovative opportunity to penetrate the Russian market.

Fiera Milano Press Office

Sergio Pravettoni +39 0249977875 sergio.pravettoni@fieramilano.it

Rosy Mazzanti +39 0249977324 rosy.mazzanti@fieramilano.it

distributed by