The Argentinian capital opened a 30th show yesterday.
"We determined to take part after the Russian Embassy to Argentina appealed to us," says Sergei Garynov, Russian exposition boss and MK Group Director General. The Moscow-based MK, or Mezhkniga, book-traders used to be a mammoth foreign trade company in the Soviet years.
The present Russian exposition generously offers fiction, art albums, history books and foreign language dictionaries. The ten corporate exhibitors have been selected for excellent printing and reasonable pricing, Mr. Garynov said to Novosti.
As Mezhkniga functionaries know, there are many ethnic Russians in Argentina, so they will try to arrange it with local traders during the show to get Russian book imports going. The company is eager to sign partnerly contracts with other interested Latin American companies, he added.
The Buenos Aires display is Russia's initial move to get back to the Latin American book market, said another of our informants-Valeri Malykh, envoy to Argentina of the Roszarubezhcentre, a federal office for contacts with ethnic Russians abroad. He hopes the show will inspire many Russian-based publishers to pay due attention to ethnic Russians who live far away from their ancestral land.
The Buenos Aires show has scheduled a Russia Day for May 9, when Russia celebrates V-E Day to commemorate victory over nazism in World War II. The festive programme includes a gala concert of Russian classical and folk music.
