INTERVIEW-Russia's rich still spending at Millionaire fair

By Simon Shuster

MOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The economic slump may have rattled markets, but Russia's rich showed their resilience at the weekend by splashing out on luxury goods at an annual Millionaire Fair, the organiser said in an interview.

Yves Gijrath, founder and president of GMG Events B.V., said no figures for total sales at the four-day event were available, but he said items including helicopters, $60,000 champagne coolers for yachts and $30,000 beds were snapped up.

"What we saw to our own surprise is that opening night was busier than ever. According to the official figure, it was 14,500 guests," Gijrath told Reuters.

He said Russia's wealthy elite was better insulated from the crisis than their counterparts in other countries because only a small proportion of them had their assets tied up in shares -- the area of the economy that has so far suffered most.

"Some people think that there is no more consumption, which is absolute nonsense, and that is what we saw at the Millionaire Fair," he said.

"The high net worth individuals are less influenced by the crisis for the moment ... For us it was interesting to see that especially the more exclusive items were very popular."

The Millionaire Fair, now in its fourth year in Moscow, is a trade fair that matches luxury brands with consumers who either aspire to be rich or already are.

The event has become a symbol of Russia's economic boom of the past eight years that has created dozens of billionaires and unleashed a wave of extravagant consumption, making Russia the world's fourth-biggest luxury goods market.

But many fortunes have been clipped by the crisis. It has hammered investor confidence and wiped off more than a $1 trillion from domestic stock values.

Some luxury goods dealers, including Russia's largest one, Mercury Group, have noticed shoppers reining in their spending on pricey items. Mercury's managing director said in October there had been a modest slowdown in sales.

At the gala opening of the Millionaire Fair on Friday, many of those present had the crisis on their minds.

"We're going through a murky and complicated period," socialite Kseniya Sobchak, the master of ceremonies, told guests. "Everyone is a superhero for finding it in themselves to come here tonight, to try to bask in the luxury."

But event organiser Gijrath said the luxury market was proving to be robust. He said the number of exhibitors at the Millionaire Fair was the same as in 2007, while a total of 48,000 people visited, also in line with last year.

He did say though that unlike in past years, there was no rush of luxury brands trying to register for the fair at the last minute, and that financial problems prevented one foreign exhibitor from showing up.

"There is a strong feeling of nervousness about the Russian market, especially looking forward to the first five months of 2009," said Gijrath. "But that doesn't mean that the luxury market is dead." (Reporting by Simon Shuster and Christian Lowe; Editing by Janet McBride)