The Russian event industry has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years. According to the R&C Market Research Company, in 2023 its volume reached almost 270 billion rubles, which is 31% higher than the previous period. State support plays a significant role in this. Thus, over the past two years, with the participation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, a number of important documents have been adopted for the development of the industry, incl. Strategy until 2030 and roadmap for its implementation. Work in this direction continues. At the same time, one of the important points is measuring the return on public investment in the development of the industry. One way could be to evaluate the effectiveness of activities for regions. Despite the fact that there is no uniform approach in Russia, the Sverdlovsk region, confirming its leadership position, in 2022 developed the first tool for assessing the economic effect of events. It was called "Calculator".

As part of the International Industrial Exhibition INNOPROM in Ekaterinburg, the Ministry of Investment and Development of the Sverdlovsk Region held a session “THE FIRST TOOL FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION EVENTS: PROSPECTS FOR REPLACEMENT IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.”

The panel discussion was attended by:

• Vladislav Barmichev, Director of the Department for Foreign Trade Regulation and Development of the Trade Mission System of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation;

• Dmitry Ionin, Deputy Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region;

• Valery Denisenko, director of the ANO “Agency for International Cooperation of the Chelyabinsk Region”;

• Anna Lyatsu, managing director of the Department of Corporate and External Communications, head of the press service of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), representative of the RUEF;

• Sergey Klimov, General Director of the PRO EXPO company.

The session was moderated by Daria Ostrovskaya, General Director of the All-Russian Scientific Research Center R&C and member of the Board of the National Convention Bureau.

The speakers discussed the results of testing the efficiency calculator at events held in the Sverdlovsk region, the features of its application and opportunities for replication in other regions.

The Russian Convention Bureau, as part of its work with the regions, constantly pays attention to monitoring the results that the local economy receives as a result of the events. “Assessing the effectiveness of events is an important tool for the development of the event industry in the regions,” notes Sagid Zaremukov, director of the Russian Convention Bureau. “It allows you not only to see where and how budget funds are invested, but also to track the dynamics of changes in different projects. Also, the results of such an assessment may become the basis for making decisions on the development of specialized infrastructure in the regions. The Congress Consulting consortium, created on the basis of the Russian Convention Bureau, is ready to provide assistance in scaling and developing such tools in Russia.”