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Elena Pochetova
Flower Associations of Holland and Colombia provide great support for the Russian flower market ("Bloemen Bureau Holland" and "Asocolflores"). The exhibition is usually supported by "Proexport", Government Department of Commerce of Colombia, and "ProEcuador", Ecuadorian Institute of Export and Investment Promotion.
Elena Pochetova
Nevertheless, consumers are willing to wait: imported roses have a more attractive exterior, although they wither more quickly than Russian ones.
Elena Pochetova
In the meantime, Moscow's home-grown roses find it difficult to compete with imports from Ecuador and Colombia, which harvest their crops up to four times a year. Roses from these countries account for 60% of Russia's total imports of cut flowers. In the words of Diana Rivera, who works for Colombia's Invos Flowers Export, it takes 7-10 days for flowers from Colombian or Ecuadorian plantations to arrive at the local florist market.
Elena Pochetova
Nowadays, few have the courage to enter the flower business due to the enormous risks involved: a single power outage can wipe out an entire crop. Besides, starting a business on a small patch of land (less than 3 hectares) makes no sense, since state-owned nurseries already occupy large swathes of territory.
Elena Pochetova
90% of Russia's flower market is made up of imports, mostly roses and carnations from Colombia and Ecuador. Back in the 1990s, Russian nurseries were in deep crisis. Floriculture is known to be a highly energy-intensive process. Deprived of state support following the collapse of the USSR, many nurseries were forced to close.
Elena Pochetova
Maria Landysheva, a manager of the exhibition, says that Russian nurseries are gaining more clout in the flower business, but it is still too early to speak of a breakthrough.
Elena Pochetova
Thanks to recent construction in Russian regions of new modern greenhouse complexes it became possible to grow in distant Siberian regions not only carnations and chrysanthemums, but also roses, the queen of flowers.
Elena Pochetova
It is very important that players of the flower market demonstrate not only flowers grown by the world's leaders but also competitive products of the Russian producers which are not inferior to the imported ones.
Elena Pochetova
A lot of companies from different Russian regions present the national floriculture. They are the largest flower complexes of Russia, growers of quality cut flowers and producers of ornamental gardening products, seed companies, suppliers of products for floristics and landscape design.
Elena Pochetova
Asian companies are optimistic about entering the Russian market. The president of South Korea's KIP Corporation had this to say: "Russians love flowers. What's more, Asian suppliers have a cost advantage over European companies. Most Chinese and South Korean companies cultivate indoor flowers, and such partners could come in very handy for Russian plant nurseries".
Elena Pochetova
Among the participants there are producers and sellers of flowers, plants, nursery products, designers and manufacturers of greenhouses and technological materials, sellers of floristic accessories, scientists, designers, landscape architects, companies providing consulting, logistic and IT services, publishers and sellers of specialized books.
Elena Pochetova
Once a year 16,000 square meters of Moscow's VVTs Exhibition Center are taken up by over 400 companies, among them plant nurseries from Poland, Holland, Belgium, and Denmark, flower growers from Ecuador, Colombia, and the Netherlands, as well as Russian fertilizer and substrate manufacturers.
Elena Pochetova
That fact is hardly surprising because Russia's flower market is an up-and-coming prospect, already worth $130 million and growing at a rate of 15-20% per year.
Elena Pochetova
According to the organizers, the exhibition is visited annually by over 20,000 people from around 22 countries.
Elena Pochetova
The annual International Flower Show, a major event for the Russian and international flower industries, attracts global attention in Moscow.
