Messe Düsseldorf (www.messe-duesseldorf.com), the organiser of K 2022 (www.k-online.com), has announced the suspension of its business activities in Russia. “As a consequence of the disturbing events in Ukraine, the supervisory board of Messe Düsseldorf has decided to suspend the group’s business activities in Russia until further notice. This also includes the activities of the subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf Moscow,” it said in a statement.

Stephan Keller, supervisory board chairman of Messe Düsseldorf, said, “After we have already put the city partnership between Moscow and Düsseldorf on ice, it is only logical that Messe Düsseldorf, as a subsidiary of the city, also suspends its activities in Russia for the time being.”

When asked about new policies being in place for K show exhibitors from Russia and Belarus, Wolfram N. Diener, president and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, told Plasteurope.com: “As a consequence of the disturbing events in Ukraine, Messe Düsseldorf Group is suspending its business activities in Russia until further notice. This also includes the active acquisition of Russian exhibitors and visitors for Messe Düsseldorf events around the world.” This also means that one of the largest Russian polymer producers, Sibur (Moscow; www.sibur.com), will obviously not be part of K trade fair this year.

The organiser is also making its largest hall in Düsseldorf available for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees. In a 25,000 m² hall, the company, along with German Red Cross and the Düsseldorf Fire Department, has set up 1,000 cots and partition walls to divide the hall into smaller rooms. Food supplies and internet connection are also being provided at the site.

Set for 19 - 26 October 2022, the trade fair will also feature a Start-Up Zone, where young companies, 10 years old or less, can present themselves, their developments, and innovations. These start-ups are required to have fewer than 100 employees and a turnover not greater than EUR 10 mn.

Already registered for the Start-Up Zone are Plastship (Waldems, Germany; www.plastship.com), a European marketplace for recycled plastics (see Plasteurope.com of 03.11.2021); Healix (Maastricht, the Netherlands; www.healix.eco), recycler of nets, ropes and other plastics waste based on synthetic fibres, Hage 3D (Obdach, Austria; www.hage3d.com), producer of large format industrial 3D printers; and Enlyze (Cologne, Germany; www.enlyze.com), a software solution provider for quality control.

Registration for the zone is still open for start-up companies.