Oksana Anikeeva, General Director of ITIMF Expo LLC, shared her impressions of the Exhibition «MIMS Automobility St. Petersburg», the city on the Neva, and the fact that even in the crisis period, it is possible to carry out large‑scale projects.
«This year «MIMS Automobility St. Petersburg» looks truly impressive. 60,000 sq. m, 1,487 companies from 15 countries, and this is at the time when our country’s economic situation is rather difficult, and the exhibition market faces budget cuts, cancellations, and project postponements. And when you now go into the pavilion and see the Exhibition and its scale, it’s hard not to call it a unique case». «Could you please tell us what made this possible? What is the main resource of the Exhibition today?»
«To my mind, the main resource of the Exhibition is the industry’s trust. It cannot be bought with an advertising budget, and it cannot be created in a single season. It takes years to build the trust from the product quality, the understanding of the market, and the way how consistently you fulfil your liabilities to participants and visitors.
«MIMS Automobility St. Petersburg-2026» is held for the thirtieth time. Over these years, the professional community, which understands why people come here, has established around the Exhibition. Companies know what kind of audience they will meet here, and visitors know which suppliers and manufacturers they will be able to see. And in the difficult economic situation, this is particularly important: businesses are very careful about counting their money and invest only where they understand the results.
Herewith, we didn’t try to compensate for the relocation with any external effects. On the contrary, we focused as much as possible on the Exhibition itself: on the lineup of exhibitors, on the audience, on the business program, on the service, and on ensuring that the Exhibition addressed the real challenges of the market.
And, of course, a huge resource is our team. Moving a project of this scale to another city, in fact rebuilding the entire infrastructure from scratch while maintaining its volume, is a very serious undertaking. Therefore, for me, these 60,000 sq. m and 1,487 companies are not just numbers. They are the evidence that if you have a strong product, the market trust, and a team that understands what they are doing, you can avoid layoffs and keep moving forward even in challenging conditions».
«The Exhibition has moved to St. Petersburg for the first time, and we can’t help but ask about your impressions of the city, the convention and exhibition centre, and the team».
«First and foremost, about St. Petersburg. It’s a city with a particular history and the status of one of the country’s main business and cultural centres. For us, when relocating a large‑scale industry exhibition, it was fundamentally important that the venue matched the level of the project. So, the choice of the Expoforum was a conscious one.
In Russia, including the entire exhibition community, it is believed that the best venue is the one where a major government event of the level of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum takes place. Of course, the abbreviations SPIEF for our foreign exhibitors and the PMEF for Russian companies are like a magical phrase that requires no further explanation. And when we made the decision to move the exhibition from Moscow to St. Petersburg, knowing that the Expoforum is the venue chosen by the head of our state was naturally important for us. This means high-level organization, team cohesion, and safety measures.
In practice, our expectations were justified. The Expoforum team works professionally: quickly, efficiently, and with the clear understanding of the tasks. At the final stage of the preparation, especially in July, both teams were as concentrated and results-focused as possible. This greatly simplified organizing the project.
Neverthe less, the scale of the Exhibition still posed a separate challenge for the venue. We heard repeatedly, «We didn’t expect there to be so many cars»; «We didn’t expect so much loading and unloading work»; «We didn’t expect such a flow of visitors».
And we, as organizers, kept reminding everyone, «Guys, please keep in mind that there will be about fifteen hundred exhibiting companies. Even if two people come to represent one company, that’s already 3,000 people». And they have catering, animators, hosts, and lottery staff, as well. I said, «You just need to realize that it will be, well, like Kanye West coming to St. Petersburg». To be honest, that’s exactly how we felt.
I can state that the Expoforum is a team of professionals. That’s 100% true. I’ve been in the exhibition business since 2011. I’ve seen different venues, different teams. In my opinion, professionalism should be measured not by the absence of silly questions, but by the absence of misunderstandings. In this case, we spoke the same language, and many things happened simply intuitively».
«This year, the Exhibition is held for the 30th time: that’s a respectable age for a project. Herewith, we can see with our own eyes how fresh and interesting it is, and how much the professional community needs it. How do you explain its long life? Please share us what you do to ensure that the 30th Exhibition looks as good as it did the first time, while remaining number one».
«Here, it should be noted that I, Oksana Anikeeva, am not a well‑known figure within the exhibition community. But if we walk through the Exhibition now, we won’t meet a single person here who doesn’t know Oksana Anikeeva.
It’s not as important to be noticed among professionals in your field as it is to be noticed in the industry you daily work with. This requires expertise, which can be demonstrated either through extensive knowledge or through the influence on the market. Being the exhibition to be held for the 30th time, we have 100% influence on the market.
We constantly deal with the current agenda. The business program is not built around convenient and sterile themes, but around issues that truly concern the market. This year, for example, a separate block is dedicated to online trading and changes in sales models. During the sessions different positions clash, and it is precisely because of this that the discussions are valuable.
For us and our participants, the Exhibition is a neutral platform for exchanging various opinions. We invite both representatives of government bodies who have a position on the laws to have been adopted, and various communities and associations that can and must object to all these reforms. And I personally take part in a very large number of conferences dedicated to automotive parts and automotive topics in general.
It’s essential to stay alert, keep a finger on the pulse of the industry, and communicate with key partners and key associations. And this is where we draw inspiration from, which gives the Exhibition its freshness, vitality, and relevance».
«We understand that it’s still too early to draw conclusions. But still, judging by the number of participants and the interest the Exhibition generates among visitors, how do you assess whether the location gave you any advantages?»
«As a location, St. Petersburg is an amazing city, yes, it’s the Northwestern Federal District. At present, automotive production is being revived here, but it has historically been in the city. And we are very grateful to all the industry associations in the region, which helped inform the professional community that we are now in St. Petersburg. To be honest, it’s the St. Petersburg participants and visitors who are least happy about «MIMS Automobility» to be held in the city on the Neva. They’ve lost out on their long‑awaited business trip. On the other hand, there are now more St. Petersburg‑based manufacturing companies at our Exhibition. Currently, we can see the audience’s renewal: we’ve expanded it due to the relocation, so we’ve managed to boost the North‑West region».
«You’ve mentioned the need and importance of constantly staying in contact with the industry, communicating with key partners and industry associations. In turn, «ITIMF Expo» is a member of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs. How important is it for you to exchange experience specifically with fellow organizers, and participate in the professional community? What advantages does this provide both to the company and to the project?»
«As for me, this is very important, because the exhibition business is rather specific occupation. You can read as much as you like about methods of organizing events, but you understand a huge number of things only when communicating with people who face the same challenges every day as you do.
That is why the membership of «ITIMF Expo» in the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs is, first and foremost, an opportunity for us to be part of a professional dialogue. Watching the industry development, new formats and technologies to emerge, and requirements to be set for security, service, and work with visitors and participants. Moreover, it is very important not just to watch successful cases, but also to discuss challenges, because often it is someone else’s difficult experience that helps you avoid making your own mistakes.
For «MIMS Automobility St. Petersburg-2026», this exchange is also of direct practical significance. Everything we can see at our colleagues’, everything we discuss within the professional community, we ultimately apply to our own project: what can be improved, what can be made more convenient for the exhibitor, and what – for the visitor».
«Next year, the Exhibition will be held at the new VDNH EXPO venue, right? Do you plan to return to St. Petersburg? How would you generally assess the experience of holding the event in our city?»
«That’s quite right: in 2027, the Exhibition will be held at the VDNH EXPO venue. What happens next will largely depend on our audience’s opinion. For us, choosing a city and a venue is not an end in itself, but a tool that should work for the benefit of the participants and visitors.
After the Exhibition, we always go through a whole checklist: we assess the infrastructure, the service for organizers and exhibitors, logistics, the venue’s handling of visitor flows, and the feedback from the participants. If the industry declares that St. Petersburg is needed for the project again, we will consider this decision.
Now, of course, it’s too early to draw conclusions, but based on the feedback to have been heard by me, this experience has turned out to be unique for us as an exhibition, and for us as a team. Our company, «ITIMF Expo», is located in Moscow; with our office and all the employees to be there. And this year, we faced an extremely challenging task of organizing the Exhibition remotely. And I think the experience of 2020 helped us here: back then we learned a lot about doing things remotely, but we hadn’t tried holding an exhibition yet. And this year we’ve conquered that peak, as well.
Relocating is not just an experience for the participants; it’s a huge experience for the organizers, as well. To some extent, we became those pioneers who managed to successfully move the project, or rather, even teleport it».
«Did your expectations match what you saw at the venue?»
«What I can watch at the venue currently exceeds my expectations. Both in terms of the scale and the work of the Exhibition, and the responses of the participants and the visitors».
«Given that this year the Exhibition moved for the first time not just to another location within the usual region, but to a new city, was it difficult to work with the participants and the visitors? What was the main argument?»
«Let’s put it this way. You and we’re part of the same professional exhibition community. And I would really want to see that exhibition organizer who would say, «Oh, there’s nothing difficult about arranging an exhibition». But that’s not the case. The most common question we had been asked was where to find the money for travelling to another city. We have a lot of regional visits, and to this objection we always reply, «Guys, you’re going anyway. And where to go – to St. Petersburg or to Moscow – that’s a secondary matter; you’ll have to go in any case». However, all the companies treat the financial issue as a very pressing one».
«What kind of aftertaste would you like the anniversary Exhibition «MIMS Automobility St. Petersburg» to leave?»
«Satisfaction. If your product is good, you can take it even to the Moon. And on the Moon, you’ll bring both exhibitors and visitors, and you’ll make them satisfied there. And our team has tried to do everything for achieving exactly that kind of aftertaste.
Therefore, my main principle is focusing on our own product. There will always be competitors, but you need to focus primarily on the quality of your own work: on the composition of the participants, on the audience, on the content and the service.
A high‑quality audience of exhibitors, a high‑quality audience of visitors, and then you will get a 100 % pure product that you won’t be afraid of either pushing back the deadlines for, as we did in 2025, or moving to another city, as we did in 2026. «Focusing on the product» is the main message, the aftertaste I want everyone to have, and us to go down in the history of the exhibition business with, I’m not afraid to say.
