Italian exports of furniture and lighting macro system are once again on the Russian market and more generally in the countries of the area. After five difficult years marked by a constant decrease, in January-June 2018 exports of Made in Italy furniture and lighting systems to Russia grew by 3.3%, reaching 234.2 million euro. Certainly positive results that confirm Italy as the second furnishing supplier for Russia with a 23% market share, preceded only by China with 36% and followed by Germany. So Russia is now in eighth place among the main receivers of Italian exports, behind France, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain and China.

In terms of sales value, the main product category of the furniture and lighting macro system exported to Russia is “other furniture“ with 36.3 million euro, followed by lighting system with 35.1 million euro and upholstered furniture with 27.1 million euro.

The sectors that achieved the best results in the first six months of 2018 were: the office system, which recorded a + 132%, followed by the lighting sector with + 35% and professional and commercial furniture with + 22%.

This positive situation is also due to the efforts made by FederlegnoArredo, Ice Agency and Salone del Mobile in Milan that have continued to believe in a certain complex market, but which has always looked with great interest to the Italian product.

The Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow 2018

The strategic choices of the sector find tangible confirmation at the opening of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow 2018, now in issue number 14, which is taking place in these days at Crocus-Expo 2.

“This edition takes place in a climate of renewed confidence in a country that looks very favourably on Italian products: Made in Italy is synonymous with quality and the possibility of furnishing the home with pieces made in Italy that represent a status symbol, to which many Russian citizens aspire“ said Emanuele Orsini, president of FederlegnoArredo.“The Salone del Mobile returns to Moscow - said Claudio Luti, president of Salone del Mobile in Milan - to confirm his strong vocation for internationalization and his interest in a strategic market, consisting of Russia, the countries of the former Soviet republics and, more generally, the geo-political and cultural basin that revolves around that area. We firmly believe in the quality of our proposal and see this appointment as an extraordinary possibility of making a system in the name of excellence, comparing it with foreign interlocutors who have shown to know how to appreciate the content of innovation and the manufacturing value that has always been under our brand“. Over 280 companies present that, in pavilions 7 and 8 on a surface of 9,500 square meters net, offer the best of their production and live the event with great optimism considering it an unmissable opportunity to consolidate their positions and strategies on the Russian market and on that of the countries of the former Soviet republics, more and more interested in the quality product, from the classic piece to that of design and luxury. Reference point for operators, professionals, press and fans of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow awaits more than 30,000 visitors.

The Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow sees the collaboration with ICE, Agency for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian companies, which accompanies the event a delegation of 170 buyers, operators, distributors, architects and interior designers selected from 27 cities of the Russian Federation and from Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and that has also planned a busy schedule of B2B meetings with the aim of introducing more Italian products in always new areas and far from Moscow.

Italy is therefore able to establish a system in Russia and this thanks also to the initiatives of our embassy in Moscow which, as Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano recalled at the inauguration, “is committed to supporting Made in Italy with initiatives and cultural events in the capital, including the world of design“. Attilio Fontana, president of the Lombardy Region, visited the stands at Crocus and recalled the weight of the furniture-design system in Lombardy, which in Russia has exceeded the national growth by touching the 3.9% of exports.