subscribe to news Interlakokraska 2023: new solutions for the paints and coatings industry

The 27th edition of the Interlakokraska 2023 International Exhibition taking place from February 28 to March 3 in the Forum Pavilion opened today at Expocentre Fairgrounds. In over a quarter of a century it has become the main exhibition and congress project for the paint and coatings industry in our country.

In the light of current events, the Interlakokraska 2023 exhibition is particularly relevant in the search for new solutions. This year's exhibition brought together more than 200 companies from Germany, Iran, China, Belarus, Russia, Turkiye and Estonia. Among them are manufacturers and suppliers of finished paint products, raw materials, equipment and technologies, research organisations, engineering and service companies.

Foreign products are showcased by well-known manufacturers such as Ataman Kimya, Ranguin, Dingxin, Hecckem Chemicals, Novachem Oü, Passatstal, Peter-Lacke, and BPC Boyasan. Russian participants include Allnex, Eurohim-1 FD, Metapolymer, Rusal, Ruskhimset, Salavat Petrochemical Complex and Sibur.

The exhibition covering more than 12,000 sq. m presents the latest materials for the treatment of various surfaces, raw materials for all kinds of coatings, equipment for coating production and application of coatings, dosing and cleaning equipment, waste treatment and recycling systems, and much more. The shows Surface Treatment, Special Coatings, and Antirust Protection received further development.

The exhibition is traditionally accompanied by an eventful conference programme. Today the International Coatings Forum took place. It was organised by EXPOCENTRE AO and the magazine Varnishes and Coatings and Their Applications.

At the forum, industry professionals shared their knowledge and summed up the year's results and compared statistics. According to Olga Andrutskaya, editor-in-chief of Varnishes and Coatings and Their Applications, many Russian production facilities in the paint industry suffered last year. "But we still managed to cope. Plants did not stop, some even increased production. Distributors found new suppliers," she said, noting that the sanctions did not hurt the paint industry as much as they could have, although, expectedly, production fell.

Speakers at the forum confirmed that, despite the difficult situation, Russian companies are not standing still. In the experts' view, the sanctions have even pushed them to innovate, and Russian manufacturers should now seek to occupy new niches.

For example, Valery Rammo, Deputy General Director for Technical Affairs at ATTIKA, said that the main concept of his company today is modern high-tech production with a high level of digitalisation: "We have virtually all synthesis done by computer programmes: heating, loading, step-by-step control and so on". In particular, he advised his colleagues on the shop floor to make maximum use of Russian alkyds in the face of sanctions pressure. "Given the emergence of new synthesis technologies and good catalysts, we can offer a fairly stable product," the expert is convinced.

In his turn, Alexander Kosov, Business Development Manager, Allnex Belgorod OOO, said that his company managed to launch a new workshop for production of acrylic polyols at the end of 2022 and the first batches of well-known brands have already been produced. 

Participants of the forum discussed industry prospects, non-standard solutions on the raw materials market, import substitution programme in Russia, new logistics in 2023 and other important topics.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO