Trade show in St. Petersburg

The exhibitors? stands took up a total of 3 350 m² in a hall area of over 8 000 m². 180 exhibitors were in attendance, primarily from Moscow and the surrounding areas, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saratov, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg. The ten foreign companies exhibiting included Versele Laga (Belgium), Best Friend Group (Finland), Total Alimentos (Brazil) and Smulders (Netherlands). Of the 15 019 visitors who came, 2 252 were trade professionals, underlining the fact that, although the overall number of visitors has increased sharply since 2007, the number of professional visitors registered is declining. When asked by PET worldwide, the fair management stressed that many professionals come at the invitation of exhibitors and do not have to register for admission to the fair. In the view of the organisers, the 18th edition of Zoosphere ("The international exhibition of goods and services for domestic pets") asserted itself as the foremost Russian exhibition of supplies and services for pets and was visited by all members of the domestic pet market and foreign specialists. "World-renowned brand names and the oldest trademarks, demonstrated on the stands of the foreign companies represented in Russia, sat alongside the new Russian products," reports Olga Novozhenova, director of the Zoosphere exhibition. "Zoosphere's total exposition area has decreased, but the reason is smaller booths of participants, not a smaller number of exhibitors." Comprehensive accompanying programme The aquarium design competition "Zoosphere 2009 amateur aquarium" was held on all exhibition days. The organisers of the competition were the German aquarium company JBL and its Russian partner Unitex. The contest's prize fund was approx. € 3 500. Prize winners will be invited to Germany for the JBL 50th anniversary celebration, where they will be able to take part in the final JBL competition. Exhibition visitors also voted for the best aquarium. On the Friday of the fair, three round-table specialists' meetings were held on the subjects of "Pharmaceutical licensing", "Beautiful fur or how to use Iv San Bernard cosmetics correctly" and "Natural pets cosmetic and hygienic goods, based on ASD and bacteriophage". The conference "Topical problems of small pets veterinary" was held a day later. This was a traditional seminar for veterinary specialists. Dog and cat championships The "Zoo Show" programme, aimed especially at private visitors and children, presented dog and cat championships…