Bringing the suppliers to the buyers, especially when this is Rosatom, quite a great positioning for an exhibition.
The location was ideal, close to the Red Square and the trendy district of Moscow. Moreover, the content of Atomex would potentially attract any supplier: Training to become a supplier of Rosatom, participation in various workshops, B2B meetings with the buyers (AOS, AEM, TVEL…), and the possibility to have a booth in order to show your products to the audience.
The first discussion was right on the spot: Atomstroyexport and Raos described in detail the process to become a supplier, whether you are Russian or foreigner. There was a comprehensive overview of the existing projects in Russia and abroad, the requirements from the foreign safety authorities, the stanfards required, and the financial aspect of the procurement and how to optimize your offer.
However, in the agenda there were other workshops related to the projects and procurement of major companies. While the agenda kept on changing during Atomex, quite not an international standard, we had to listen to Russian suppliers that paid to speak. if several speakers where interesting, the delegates and other visitors did not come to Atomex to listen to their competitors.
The B2B meetings is one of the most important aspect of Atomex. When you register to become a delegate or an exhibitor, you expect at least to have a guarantee of meetings organized. The system of registration is only in Russian, and the confirmation of the meetings is given by email…still only in Russian. You can register to the meetings, but you have no guarantee to get any.
Several companies declined at the last moment the meetings, or the system mixed several persons at the same time with a representative, without any explanation from the organizer. For example, the Turkish delegation, Nüksak, was expecting several important meetings and the disappointment was palpable.
The problem is evident: the organizer arranged meetings with 7 main companies, but Rosatom has 350 subsidiaries. Therefore, many companies paid for the B2B meetings but could attend 2 or 3 appointments if lucky. This is the largest weakness of this Expo: the B2B meeting was not up to the international level and promise.
In the Atomex exhibition hall, the booth of Rosatom was impressive, and that is all.There were not many exhibitors. As for foreigners who invested in Atomex, attendees could see Framatome, MTU-Rolls Royce, The Turkish Pavilion, and a couple of suppliers. The Korean rent a space for B2B rather than a booth. The Atomex exhibition hall is vast but the number of exhibitors pretty small, which gave a feeling of emptiness and even sadness.
Atomex is a local exhibition that pretends to be international, because most of the important aspects of the registration and follow is only in Russian. It has a potential to become a decent event due to its positioning, but the organization is weak, the standard is not up to comparative events in Europe, The Middle-East and North America. Since the B2B meetings are not guaranteed, the organizers need to review their approach to perform better and satisfy their clients who travel thousands of kilometers.