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Russia's big spenders flock to Millionaire Fair
By Olesya Dmitracova Sun Oct 29, 12:10 PM ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Question: What makes Russian millionaires different from the super rich elsewhere?
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Answer: They spend more.
That was the reply in Dutch-accented English from the founder of Millionaire Fair, Yves Gijrath, at the exhibition's opening in Moscow this weekend.
Eager to cash in on this reputation, businesses have lugged their pedigree stallions, vintage cars and designer furniture to an exhibition hall for the four-day-long show on the outskirts of the Russian capital.
Politicians, businessmen and a show business elite -- mostly Russian and hence generous with their cash -- rolled up to the fair in chauffeured cars to show off their mink and diamonds and to splash out on cutting-edge luxuries.
This is the second time Moscow has hosted the Millionaire Fair, which was first held in Amsterdam in 2002 and is now also being staged in Cannes in France, the Belgian city of Kortrijk, China's Shanghai and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The martini drinks, camera flashes and impeccably dressed waiters inside the Moscow exhibition hall contrasted sharply with the run-down suburbs that surround it.
Almost a fifth of Russia's 142 million people live below the poverty line. However, the wild capitalism of the 1990s and then high world oil and metal prices have brought huge wealth to an elite tier of "New Russians."
Russia, where private wealth was banned under communism, now has 44 dollar billionaires or "oligarchs" as they are often called, according to the Russian edition of Forbes magazine last April.
Moscow boasts more billionaires than London and is second only to New York, according to Forbes.
That compares to the average Russian income of about $5,000 a year. But residents of villages and small towns, where unemployment is high, earn even less.
THE INDISCREET WEALTH OF THE BOURGEOISIE
Moscow, well-dressed, well-heeled and full of expensive cafes and bars, is a world apart from most Russian towns and cities.
Lawyer Ekaterina Poliakova, 43, in a glittering fur-trimmed outfit, came to the Millionaire Fair to look at jewelry, fine china and exclusive holidays for her and her husband, a property dealer.
"He's got more to do with that type of people (millionaires) than me," she said. "His new passion is yachts."
High-tech boats are just some of the luxuries Russia's rich can splurge on at the fair.
Diamonds are the classic favorite at participating NeoGold jewelers who have a store in Moscow's trendy Tverskaya Street. Their diamond-and-white gold necklace or a diamond ring will set you back more than 1 million roubles ($37,340).
For those keen to be surrounded by beauty, a master class on investing in artworks ran on Saturday.
Organizers estimate the fair has attracted some 10,000 visitors every day -- fulfilling the event's unofficial tagline "Millionaires of Russia unite!" in an ironic nod to an old revolutionary call for the world's working proletariat
By Olesya Dmitracova Sun Oct 29, 12:10 PM ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Question: What makes Russian millionaires different from the super rich elsewhere?
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer: They spend more.
That was the reply in Dutch-accented English from the founder of Millionaire Fair, Yves Gijrath, at the exhibition's opening in Moscow this weekend.
Eager to cash in on this reputation, businesses have lugged their pedigree stallions, vintage cars and designer furniture to an exhibition hall for the four-day-long show on the outskirts of the Russian capital.
Politicians, businessmen and a show business elite -- mostly Russian and hence generous with their cash -- rolled up to the fair in chauffeured cars to show off their mink and diamonds and to splash out on cutting-edge luxuries.
This is the second time Moscow has hosted the Millionaire Fair, which was first held in Amsterdam in 2002 and is now also being staged in Cannes in France, the Belgian city of Kortrijk, China's Shanghai and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The martini drinks, camera flashes and impeccably dressed waiters inside the Moscow exhibition hall contrasted sharply with the run-down suburbs that surround it.
Almost a fifth of Russia's 142 million people live below the poverty line. However, the wild capitalism of the 1990s and then high world oil and metal prices have brought huge wealth to an elite tier of "New Russians."
Russia, where private wealth was banned under communism, now has 44 dollar billionaires or "oligarchs" as they are often called, according to the Russian edition of Forbes magazine last April.
Moscow boasts more billionaires than London and is second only to New York, according to Forbes.
That compares to the average Russian income of about $5,000 a year. But residents of villages and small towns, where unemployment is high, earn even less.
THE INDISCREET WEALTH OF THE BOURGEOISIE
Moscow, well-dressed, well-heeled and full of expensive cafes and bars, is a world apart from most Russian towns and cities.
Lawyer Ekaterina Poliakova, 43, in a glittering fur-trimmed outfit, came to the Millionaire Fair to look at jewelry, fine china and exclusive holidays for her and her husband, a property dealer.
"He's got more to do with that type of people (millionaires) than me," she said. "His new passion is yachts."
High-tech boats are just some of the luxuries Russia's rich can splurge on at the fair.
Diamonds are the classic favorite at participating NeoGold jewelers who have a store in Moscow's trendy Tverskaya Street. Their diamond-and-white gold necklace or a diamond ring will set you back more than 1 million roubles ($37,340).
For those keen to be surrounded by beauty, a master class on investing in artworks ran on Saturday.
Organizers estimate the fair has attracted some 10,000 visitors every day -- fulfilling the event's unofficial tagline "Millionaires of Russia unite!" in an ironic nod to an old revolutionary call for the world's working proletariat
I'm so glad to see a domestic bourgeoisie develop to rule over the Russian people
Truly the millionaire class suffered under the Soviet Union, and its good to see them bouncing back. Please ignore the starving man begging outside. He'll die soon, anyway
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