OREANDA-NEWS. On 3 February, ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre hosted the opening of the first – and still one of buyers’ most-beloved – projects under the Russian Jewellery project: Junwex St. Petersburg.  More than 600 participants were on-hand to dazzle St. Petersburg residents and visitors with roughly 1 mln pieces of Russian-made jewellery.

Exhibition participants included such renowned Moscow-based enterprises as Sokolov, Nika, L-Silver, Estet, Cameo, National Treasures, Sidan, MZSS, Bronitsky Jewellers and Gold Mine; the St. Petersburg-based plants Russian Semi-Precious Stones, Northern Capital Jewellers, Sanis and Gold Nugget; the Kostroma-based companies Aquamarine, Kostroma Jewellery Plant, Kostroma Jewellers, Master Diamond, Zolotov, Platina and Topaz; the Ekaterina-based brands Ural Jewellers, Rifiesta, Ural Jewellery Company and Carat; the Yakutia-based firms Yakut Gold, Sakha Jewellers, Sakha Uranium, and many more.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Chairman of the Board at the Russian Jewellers’ Guild – Gagik Gevorkian noted that, despite the challenging times, many enterprises were busy creating new collections, with jewellers looking to effectively promote their products and strengthen their brands. He also remarked on the event’s fine organisation: “It gets warm and cozy as soon as you enter the hall. I hope that this positive ambiance translates into healthy profits from the sale of our jewellery – then we’ll have total harmony,” stressed Gagik Gurgenovich.  

General Director of the Restec Junwex Media Holding Valery Budny announced the creation of the Sergey Trofimov Memorial Foundation for the Russian Jewellery Arts. Every year, the foundation plans to showcase the best design solutions developed by talented jewellers. Valery Vasilievich also noted that the Junwex exhibition, which is held annually in Moscow and Ekaterinburg as well as St. Petersburg, continues to expand its geographical reach – this year, plans include launching the project in Armenia and the Republic of Belarus.

In 2015, the Junwex St. Petersburg exhibition was held at ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre for the very first time. According to organisers, the move to the new venue has made it possible to attract new buyers and participants. In the span of just a few days, the exhibition was visited by more than 25,000 retail buyers and 4,000 commercial specialists from all of the Russian regions and many countries of the near-abroad, while the size of the exhibition space expanded. “This kind of success proves that the new venue has been accepted – even embraced. That’s extremely important to us, because we work hard every day to make ExpoForum even more comfortable for organisers and visitors,” noted the General Director of ExpoForum International, Sergey Voronkov.