MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - An international book fair opened in Moscow on Wednesday with nationwide sales on the rise despite the ongoing economic slump.
Opening the fair, Mikhail Seslavinsky, head of the Federal Press and Mass Communications Agency, said: "We were worried while preparing for the event, as the economic crisis has been taking its grip on the industry."
However, as of September 1, 2009 print runs have grown 4% year-on-year, he said.
Echoing his comments, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said more books have been printed despite the crisis, "which means people are reading more, and this is a good indicator."
The president of the Russian Book Union, Sergei Stepashin, said 470 million books were published in Russia this year.
The International Moscow Book Fair, Russia's leading annual event for the publishing industry, will feature 800 expositions by 55 countries and run until September 7.
India is the guest of honor, and Bulgaria is holding a central exhibition at the fair.
The event will include meetings with popular Russian writers, including satirical writer and former dissident Vladimir Voinovich, historian Edvard Radzinsky, novelist and short-story writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya, the prolific science fiction and fantasy author Sergei Lukyanenko, as well as film producers, singers, actors and TV personalities.
The Book of the Year will be selected at the fair.
