The Moscow International Automobile Show is underway in the Russian capital. Most of the models in the spotlight this year are from domestic or Asian companies. Western brands appear to be steering away from Russia as international sanctions hit the country. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic visited the event and filed this report.

It is every boy's wish to visit place like this one. A lot of new and shiny cars, luring potential customers to open the doors, take a seat and try for at least few seconds to see how it might feel to own one of these. It's no wonder why so many young boys together with their fathers were taking pictures next to the new cars. And speaking of new vehicles, there were a plenty of them.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC MOSCOW "At this seventh Moscow car festival apparently there is a lot of new automobiles presented, mostly by the Russian car makers. Of course there is a number of Chinese automobile makers as well, but not so many of those coming from the Western Europe."

Some are saying that due to Western sanctions many Western car producers decided to take a low profile at this expo. But producers from the East seem happy to fill the space that created. Among them was Chinese automotive giant Geely, which presented its state of the art hybrid model GE. With a single charge, it can travel 60 kilometers before the petrol engine needs to start. Its batteries can be recharged back at home and it will hit the market in the second half of 2019, with a price tag of under 30,000 US dollars. And there are other achievements too that Geely can boast.

ZHANG SHOUHE, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER GEELY MOTORS "We acquired Volvo, both its cars and commercial vehicles. And in February, our group became the largest shareholder of Daimler. It shows that Geely is positioning itself as a global player in the car manufacturing business."

Russian car maker AvtoVAZ traditionally holds the biggest chunk of domestic market with the famous LADA brand. They've presented here five new models, including this 4x4 concept, that attracted a lot of the attention. AvtoVAZ managers hope that these new cars will help them keep the market share.

NIKOLAY KORSHUNKOV, GENERAL MANAGER AVTOVAZ DESIGN STUDIO "Our cars are a Russian brand. They are produced in Russia, most of the parts are produced in Russia, and we are right to count on success in the Russian market. The company is looking to the future with optimism, we are counting on occupying part of the market, keeping it and maybe increasing it."

According to sales reports, Russian car market has come out of its recession and sales increased almost 20% in April and May compared to the same months last year. A significant reason for the optimism among many here at the expo. Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Moscow.