As part of the bidding process for the organisation of World Expo 2025 an Enquiry Mission from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) arrived yesterday in Ekaterinburg. The delegation will assess the bid submitted by Russia to organise a World Expo in the city, located in the Sverdlovsk region, between 2 May and 2 November 2025. It is the second of three such Enquiry Missions, the first having taken place in Japan in March, and the third to take place in Azerbaijan later in April.

During the three-day Enquiry Mission, the BIE delegation will receive detailed presentations of the bid project and exchange with national and local officials, as well as representatives of the business community and members of civil society.

On 3 and 4 April, the Enquiry Mission will meet with the Governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Evgeny Kuyvashev, and local stakeholders, before touring the proposed Expo site. In Moscow on 5 April, the delegation will be received by representatives of the central Government and of the Federal Assembly.

The task of the Enquiry Mission is to assess and validate the feasibility and viability of the Expo project, a necessary step for the candidature to go further in the selection process. This evaluation will ascertain Russia’s proposals for World Expo 2025 following the submission of its bid dossier.

The Enquiry Mission will assess the motivations behind the Expo bid, the attractiveness of the proposed Expo theme, the proposed site and its planned re-use after the Expo, levels of local and national support for the project, expected participation, and the financial feasibility plan.

In its bid dossier, Russia outlines its vision for the Expo and identifies the theme of the proposed Expo in Ekaterinburg as “Changing the World: Innovations and Better Life for Future Generations”, which reflects its mission to understand the implications of technological innovation on the future world. The proposed site for the Expo is located 3km to the west of the city centre, adjoining the Verkh-Isetsky pond, where the Expo would be held between 2 May and 2 November 2025. The bid committee forecasts that the Expo would receive a total of 37 million visits over the six-month period.