EKATERINBURG, Russia — About 70 attendees from 48 Russian rental companies from all over Russia attended the second annual rental conference in Ekaterinburg, Russia, Oct. 12 and 13, with Russian and international speakers. Enthusiasm was high about the future of rental in Russia as penetration improves and construction activity rebounds from the recent economic crisis. With major projects for the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 and FIFA World Cup 2018 to be held in about a dozen Russian cities, the opportunities for infrastructure development and growing awareness of the rental concept are positive developments for the future of rental.

International rental company Cramo, and Komek Machinery, a Komatsu and Atlas Copco distributor, were partners and co-sponsors of the conference.

International speakers included RER editor Michael Roth; Larry Kaye, director general of Script International, and Scott McCall, director of Utility Equipment Sales. RER's Roth offered an overview of the rental market in North America and its development and future prospects. Kaye spoke of trends in the rental markets in developing countries, and offered a half-day workshop on effective rental company management. McCall spoke about promotion and sales technologies and offered a half-day workshop on marketing of rental. Also Fred Bratman, vice president of corporate communications, United Rentals, who was unable to attend the event, sent a video message to the conference attendees.

Nikita Krotkiy, president of the Russian Rental Association, spoke about trends and perspectives of the rental market in Russia. Krotkiy also led a round-table discussion about the launch of the rental association in Russia, with participation from international rental companies Ramirent and Cramo as well as Russian rental company Catprokat JSC. Krotkiy also offered a presentation on investment analysis of the rental market, along with representatives from several Russian banks and financing organizations.

“It was important for us to see such a high interest in the Russian Rental Conference,” said Krotkiy. “The workshops on rental business management held during the conference were very helpful to the participants and we plan to continue including them in future conferences. We were also glad to see that the majority of the first Russian Rental Conference attendees also have come to the second conference.

“Discussions at the conference and participation of several financial investors in the event have proved our assumption that the rental market in Russia is growing and will continue to grow quite fast in the next several years. Participants were actively communicating with each other and we hope that these events will give an opportunity to Russian rental businesses to discuss and organize joint projects.”

Krotkiy added that after holding the first Russian rental conference in Moscow and the second in Ekaterinburg, the association hopes to hold future conferences in a different Russian city each year to continue to attract new regional participants.