3/10/2022  Citing the disturbing events in Ukraine, the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf announced that it has decided to suspend the group’s business activities in Russia until further notice. It has also agreed to take in Ukrainian refugees at the Fairgrounds.

A press release said that the decision includes the activities of its subsidiary, Messe Düsseldorf Moscow. “The whole city of Düsseldorf is thinking of the people in Ukraine,” said Dr. Stephan Keller, Lord Mayor of the state capital Düsseldorf, and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf. “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.”

Added Wolfram N. Diener, CEO & president of Messe Düsseldorf, "The current events contradict the mission and values of our company, which is to create international marketplaces for free, cross-border intercultural and economic exchange.” The next scheduled staging of wire Moscow, to held at the Krasnaya Presnya, is in the summer of 2023.

The Messe also announced that by March 1, a thousand cots had been set up in Hall 6 to accommodate Ukrainian refugees who had fled their homeland. By the end of the day, they all were filled.

“On the day of construction, a large number of colleagues spontaneously lent a hand to make the accommodation possible as quickly as possible,” said Diener, who noted that the trade show organizer was pleased to accommodate a request from the Office for Migration and Integration of the city of Düsseldorf. “Because we are moved by the fate of the people. And because we are deeply moved by the plight of the refugees. Receiving and accommodating them is a matter of course for us.”

The cots were set up in Hall 6, which covers more than 25,000 sq m, by the Messe, working with the German Red Cross and the Düsseldorf Fire Department. Some 2,500 meters of partition walls were erected to divide the hall into smaller rooms. Hall 6 has its own changing rooms and 40 shower places. Capacity is supplemented by external shower containers. Catering will be provided by Stockheim, Messe Düsseldorf’s catering partner. All refugees will also have access to free WiFi, which will enable them to keep in touch with family and friends and to find out about developments in Ukraine.

At LinkedIn, the news was warmly greeted, including kudos from Sebastian K. of QUICKFairs, who wrote, “Make fairs, not war.”