EVENTS
EVENTS
LIVE SINGERS AND BMX TRICK SHOWS HELPED MAKE VAPEXPO MOSCOW A SHOW WITH A DIFFERENCE
The 4th Vapexpo Moscow December 2016 was a revelation to this weathered vape expo ‘ show-goer ’. Since September 2016 I have visited shows at Warsaw , Dortmund , Birmingham NEC , Kiev , and Madrid – each show has been different to the others , and Moscow had some fantastic elements - which included live singers , huge stage events hosted by DJ Mad Limp and MC Max Larionov , BMX trick shows and all the familiar ‘ trick vaping ’ shows . Let ’ s make one thing clear ; Moscow itself is huge – a population approaching 13 million , six of the seven tallest buildings in Europe are there and the city never seems to rest , which is just as well because the noise and music from the different stands during the show was at times deafening . Eminem seemed to be the popular choice of the different Russian exhibitors , often at the same time and all trying to be the loudest ! I honestly wouldn ’ t like to judge the attendance figures , but some of the organisers reported unconfirmed numbers approaching 15,000 visitors to the 8,300 square metre , two day show . The halls were very swiftly fogged up
with vape , to such an extent that it was sometimes difficult to navigate around the myriad of exhibitors , but everyone attending was in good spirits – even though some ( myself and my fellow attendee Sheila included ) had been forced to wait outside for over two hours with the thermometer reading a chilly minus 5 just to get past the registration desk . This was a very well attended show and included some very big industry names - it was certainly worth the effort of obtaining the visa and travel permits for my all too brief stay at Holiday Inn Suschevsky .
“
THIS WAS A VERY
”
WELL ATTENDED SHOW AND INCLUDED SOME VERY BIG INDUSTRY NAMES
The electronic cigarette market in Russia is behind the UK and USA as far as developments and user numbers are concerned , but it ’ s rising fast , and a recent survey by ‘ Sputnik news ’ has revealed that 51 % of Russian men smoke cigarettes every day ( in the UK it ’ s 20 % of the male population that are regular smokers ) so with the Russian population approaching 150 million , it is evident there is an enormous potential e-cigarette customer base – room enough for the rest of the world to gain a substantial share in this $ 6 billion global market . The Russian juices I sampled were very comparable to anything else you may have tried , but many of the local producers have nothing that is anywhere near TPD compliant – are they simply being lackadaisical or do they know something that we don ’ t ? It will be interesting see the developments within the Russian e-cigarette industry over the coming months and I hope to see you all again in June at the 5th Moscow Vapexpo , but please , make it a three day show with day one as a business to business day .
128 ISSUE 09 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE