A full range of paint and varnish products, raw materials for all types of paint and varnish materials, equipment for the application and production of paint and varnish materials, new technologies and technical developments.
Moscow, Russia – As the Russian manufacturing sector undertakes its most profound transformation in a generation, one trade show has emerged as the definitive barometer of the domestic paints and coatings industry. Interlakokraska, the International Exhibition for Paints and Coatings, is approaching its 30th anniversary edition in February 2026 with demonstrable momentum, record-breaking participation from non-Western suppliers, and a conference agenda squarely focused on the industry’s paramount challenge: achieving technological sovereignty.
From its origins in 1997, Interlakokraska has evolved into Russia’s largest and most authoritative industry platform. The exhibition’s resilience through recent market turbulence offers compelling evidence of the fundamental restructuring underway in Russia’s chemical and materials sectors. Unlike the fashion and HVAC trade shows that have successfully pivoted to new supplier relationships, Interlakokraska occupies a strategic industrial position—its products are essential inputs to construction, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, shipbuilding, and defense. This criticality has only intensified the exhibition’s importance.
2025 in Review: A Watershed Edition
The 29th edition, held 18–21 March 2025 at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds, provided the clearest picture yet of the industry’s new configuration. Official figures confirm 351 exhibitors from 14 countries occupied over 18,000 square meters of exhibition space, attracting more than 12,000 professional visitors. These statistics represent substantial growth from pre-2022 benchmarks and confirm that Interlakokraska has not merely recovered but expanded its market position.
The exhibition’s relocation to Pavilion No. 2 (Halls 1, 2, and 3) at EXPOCENTRE accommodated this growth, with organizers noting that ceiling height and logistical infrastructure were specifically selected to support the expanding exhibition scale. The 2025 edition occupied over 13,000 square meters in this new configuration, with additional space allocated to accommodate the surge in international participation.
What rendered the 2025 edition historically significant, however, was not merely its physical dimensions but the composition of its exhibitor roster. Official exhibitor lists document 185 Russian companies and approximately 138 Chinese manufacturers, alongside delegations from Turkey (7), India (11), Belarus (5), and smaller contingents from South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, and Uzbekistan. The near-total absence of traditional European and North American industry leaders—names that dominated previous editions—has fundamentally altered the exhibition floor’s character.
Notably, prominent Russian manufacturers including ABC Farben, Allnex, Vladakril, Zavolzhsky Pigment, Homa Company, Kvil Paint Factory, Nortex, Omya, Orgchimprom, Pigment, Polyplast, Sibur, and Tecsa maintained strong presentation presence. Their continued commitment underscores that while supply sources have shifted, domestic production capacity remains concentrated among established players.
International Participation: The New Geometry
Interlakokraska’s international character has not diminished; it has been reconfigured. The 2025 edition featured participants from nine countries: Belarus, China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Korea, Turkiye, and Uzbekistan. This coalition of non-Western suppliers—particularly from Asia and the Middle East—now constitutes the exhibition’s international backbone.
China’s dominance is quantitatively staggering. The preliminary exhibitor list for 2025 contains approximately 138 Chinese companies, representing over 39% of total exhibitors and vastly outnumbering all other foreign participants combined. Major Chinese participants included Shuns, YCK, Hoosun Technology Group, Shandong Dawn Titanium Industry, Shanghai Cobil Chemical, and Guangdong Lencolo New Material. Their product coverage spans the entire value chain: resins, pigments, titanium dioxide, additives, production equipment, and testing instrumentation.
Turkey maintains a significant, though numerically smaller, presence with companies including BPC Boyasan, Sozer Makina, Ataman Kimya, Artkim, Gunkem, Hurkimsa, IBA Kimya, Polimer AR GE, and Semkim. Turkish suppliers have particularly strengthened positions in powder coatings and industrial finishes.
India’s contingent, while modest in absolute numbers (11 companies), includes established suppliers such as Soujanya Color, Tridev Industries, Narayan Organics, Rapid Coat, Shreenathji Rasayan, Uniform Synthetics, and Unilex Colours & Chemicals. Their presence addresses specific raw material and intermediate chemical requirements.
Saudi Arabia appeared notably through Tinting Systems Company, reflecting Gulf states’ growing engagement with Russian industrial markets. Serbia (Tritonex) and Uzbekistan (Merit Chemicals) completed the international exhibitor profile.
This composition represents a structural realignment, not a temporary adaptation. The Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Chemical Sub-council has already announced its official delegation for Interlakokraska 2026, explicitly describing the exhibition as “an effective way for Chinese enterprises to enter the Russian market”. With over 30% of exhibition space already reserved as of August 2025, the 2026 edition promises even deeper Asian participation.
Exhibition Scope and Specialization
Interlakokraska’s comprehensive thematic coverage reflects the full vertical integration of the paints and coatings value chain. The exhibition encompasses:
Raw materials and components: Resins, curing agents, solvents, plasticizers, pigments, fillers, and functional additives. This segment has grown significantly as Russian manufacturers seek alternative formulations to replace Western-sourced proprietary chemical systems.
Production and application equipment: Dosing and mixing systems, grinding and dispersion equipment, filtration technologies, filling and packaging lines, spray application systems, and curing ovens. The equipment segment increasingly features Chinese and Turkish machinery positioned as direct replacements for European capital equipment.
Testing and quality control: Laboratory instrumentation, physical and chemical testing apparatus, accelerated weathering equipment, and color measurement systems.
Surface preparation and finishing: Pretreatment chemicals, blasting equipment, cleaning systems, and industrial finishing lines.
Environmental and safety systems: Waste treatment, solvent recovery, emissions control, and workplace safety equipment.
This vertical scope distinguishes Interlakokraska from broader industrial exhibitions. A visitor can source titanium dioxide from Chinese pigment manufacturers, review resin formulations from Indian suppliers, evaluate Turkish spray equipment, and contract Russian contract manufacturers—all within a single visit.
The Conference Program: Strategic Dialogue
The World Climate Congress analogy from the HVAC sector finds its Interlakokraska parallel in the exhibition’s extensive conference program, which has evolved into Russia’s premier forum for strategic paint industry dialogue. The 2025 program featured expanded sessions explicitly addressing the implementation of national projects—state-directed industrial policy initiatives that now shape the industry’s development trajectory.
Key conference topics included:
National project integration: Direct examination of how federal initiatives including “New Materials and Chemistry,” “Infrastructure for Life,” and the “Professionalism” federal project will impact paint and coating demand and production requirements. Representatives from Russian federal ministries and agencies participated alongside industry association leadership and university researchers.
Supply chain restructuring: Detailed assessment of raw material, equipment, and personnel supply challenges, with practical sessions on qualifying alternative suppliers and reformulating products to accommodate different raw material characteristics.
Industry-education collaboration: Structured dialogue between production enterprises and research institutions addressing workforce development and applied research priorities.
Technical regulation: Current issues in safety standards, certification requirements, and the evolving regulatory framework for paints and coatings.
Market development: Evolving consumer requirements and product promotion strategies in the current economic environment.
Asian trade and investment: Structured sessions examining commercial and investment relationships with Chinese, Indian, and Turkish partners.
Digitalization: Industry 4.0 applications in paint manufacturing, process automation, and supply chain digitization.
The conference program’s sophistication reflects the industry’s recognition that simply substituting suppliers is insufficient. Reformulation, requalification, and process adaptation require substantial technical effort. The program provides a mechanism for collective problem-solving and knowledge dissemination that individual companies cannot replicate internally.
Venue Transition: Timiryazev Centre for 2026
Interlakokraska 2026 will mark another significant operational transition. The 30th anniversary edition, scheduled for 24–27 February 2026, will relocate to the newly constructed Timiryazev Centre, occupying the entire first floor’s Vavilov and Chayanov Halls.
This venue shift is strategically significant. The Timiryazev Centre, which opened in late 2024, offers purpose-built exhibition infrastructure designed to accommodate growing exhibition scale. Its location at Petrovsko-Razumovskaya metro station—a seven-minute walk—provides superior public transport accessibility compared to previous venues. The move positions Interlakokraska within Moscow’s next-generation exhibition ecosystem alongside other relocated trade events.
Organizers project the 2026 edition will feature over 400 exhibitors and 13,500 visitors across 16,000+ square meters, representing continued expansion. With over 30% of space already committed as of August 2025, these projections appear conservative rather than optimistic.
Market Context: Strategic Industry in Transition
Interlakokraska’s evolution cannot be understood without reference to the broader strategic position of Russia’s paints and coatings industry. Unlike consumer-facing sectors, this industry supplies critical inputs to construction, chemical and petrochemical complexes, woodworking and furniture production, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and shipbuilding. These consuming industries are themselves central to Russia’s import substitution and technological sovereignty initiatives.
The geography of Russian paint production remains concentrated in three federal districts: the Central Federal District (Moscow and Yaroslavl regions), the Southern Federal District (Rostov region), and the Northwestern Federal District (St. Petersburg). Interlakokraska’s Moscow location provides natural access to decision-makers from the Central District’s production cluster while attracting national procurement authorities.
Industry observers note that the withdrawal of Western coatings manufacturers—many of whom maintained substantial Russian production facilities—has created supply gaps that domestic producers and Asian importers are actively filling. However, this transition involves more than commercial substitution. Military and aerospace coatings, specialized industrial finishes, and high-performance architectural coatings often require specific formulations and extensive qualification testing. The conference program’s emphasis on technical regulation and industry-education collaboration reflects these underlying complexities.
Exhibitor Experience and Commercial Outcomes
The most compelling evidence of Interlakokraska’s continued relevance comes from exhibitor feedback and participation patterns. The Chinese CCPIT delegation reports that 2025 participants “generally reported good on-site results,” driving the organization’s commitment to an expanded 2026 delegation. Russian exhibitor retention rates appear strong, with over 170 domestic companies participating in 2025.
First-time participants from Turkey and India reported successful lead generation. The exhibition’s concentrated buyer profile—over 12,000 industry specialists from across Russia and CIS countries—offers exhibitors access to decision-makers impossible to replicate through distributor networks or individual sales efforts.
For Russian manufacturers, Interlakokraska provides essential visibility to consuming industries. The exhibition attracts procurement professionals from construction, automotive, furniture, and specialized industrial sectors who use the event to survey available offerings and qualify new suppliers.
Looking Ahead: Interlakokraska 2026
The 30th International Exhibition Interlakokraska convenes 24–27 February 2026 at Moscow’s Timiryazev Centre. Registration and space reservation are actively underway, with organizers emphasizing early commitment given limited availability.
Several developments warrant close attention:
Anniversary effect: The 30th edition provides natural opportunity for expanded programming, retrospective analysis of industry development, and forward-looking strategic dialogue. Organizers are positioning the event as a milestone deserving enhanced participation.
Exhibitor roster evolution: Continued tracking of European manufacturer participation—or its absence—will indicate whether any Western companies resume direct engagement with the Russian market. Current indications suggest continued minimal presence from traditional European industry leaders such as AkzoNobel and BASF, despite optimistic projections from some event-listing platforms.
Conference depth: The 2026 program will likely intensify focus on technological sovereignty implementation, moving from problem identification to solution deployment. Sessions examining practical experiences with raw material substitution, equipment requalification, and workforce development should predominate.
Venue integration: The Timiryazev Centre move represents both opportunity and operational challenge. Successful execution will demonstrate organizers’ capacity to support continued exhibition growth with appropriate infrastructure.
Conclusion
Interlakokraska has successfully navigated the most disruptive period in the modern Russian chemical industry’s history. Having lost its traditional European supplier base and confronted urgent requirements for import substitution, the exhibition might reasonably have contracted. Instead, it has expanded—reconstituting its international exhibitor base around Asian and Middle Eastern partners while elevating Russian manufacturers to anchor positions.
This success rests on three foundations. First, the exhibition’s comprehensive vertical coverage—encompassing raw materials, production equipment, application technology, and testing—makes it indispensable for industry professionals. Second, its conference program has evolved into the primary forum for strategic industry dialogue, addressing the technical and regulatory challenges that individual companies cannot solve alone. Third, the exhibition’s institutional backing—from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Russian Chemists Union, the Soyuzkraska Association, and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry—confirms its status as the official platform for industry-government dialogue.
For international suppliers seeking sustained access to the Russian paint and coatings market, Interlakokraska is no longer merely recommended—it is essential. The concentration of qualified buyers, the density of strategic intelligence, and the opportunity to establish relationships with both manufacturers and consuming industries cannot be replicated through any alternative channel.
For Russian industry professionals, the exhibition offers the most efficient means of surveying available alternatives to departed Western suppliers, understanding regulatory evolution, and maintaining competitive technical capabilities.
As Interlakokraska approaches its third decade, it enters this anniversary edition with confirmed relevance, demonstrated adaptive capacity, and an expanded mandate. In an industry essential to national infrastructure, manufacturing, and defense, this Moscow meeting point has become as strategic as the coatings it showcases.
