Russian CeBIT does not work
The most popular IT show in Russia, Comtek, is losing popularity. At the entrances to the Expo Center, where the 12th exhibition began yesterday, the usual traffic jams are not noticeable. The usual excitement in the Comtek pavilions is not visible either. The main visitors of the show - teenagers hunting for souvenirs - were pushed into the Forum building, where the "consumer" part of the exhibition takes place. And the second Comtek`2001 pavilion was given away by its current owner, the British company ITE, to business exhibitors who have suffered from teenage attacks for the last 11 years. Comtek`2001 did not need a third building, which housed only about a dozen companies last year. But electronics continue to share the Expo Center with household appliances - on the same days, the CEM exhibition is also taking place at Krasnaya Presnya. This time, 250 companies are participating in Comtek - 20 more than last year. However, for Comtek, which claims to be the Russian version of the German CeBIT (8000 participants), this figure is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. As one of the Comtek`2001 participants noted, “it’s easier to get around a small exhibition in one day.”

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 73 dated April 24, 2001, p. 4

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