Romanian rental association formed

The Romanian Rental Association (RRA) was formed on 27 April in Bucharest with 11 founding members. The founders are a mix of access, crane and lifting rental companies.

The president of the new association is Stefan Ponea, chief executive officer and general manager of Industrial Access SA Romania, an access and general equipment rental company. Secretary general is Toma Marina from Energoutilaj (a crane company) and the association's vice president is Stanislas Delayat of CDP Access, a Haulotte dealer and access rental specialist.

Mr Ponea told IRN that he had been working on the idea of a rental association since 2006, but the momentum grew during the crisis of the last 18 months when rental companies could see the benefits.

"Now the market conditions helped me convince the majority of the Romanian players to contribute to this association, towards the development of a healthy and sustainable Romanian equipment rental market."

He tells IRN that the priorities for the association will be to lobby the Romanian authorities to enforce European safety regulations for lifting and working at height; to help develop the rental concept through market education and the establishment of a unified, professional approach to rental; to promote the Romanian rental market regionally and internationally; and to create an information network among rental companies, customers and other rental associations.

Like many others in Europe, Romanian rental companies faced steep falls in pricing and demand in 2009 after five years of double digit growth. Mr Ponea said that; "As an on ongoing concern, we try to convince the members of the rental community about the benefits of having a common and steady statistical data reporting system that will eventually allow everybody to better adjust their policy to the market reality."

The 11 founding members are: Arons Lift SRLm, CDP Access SRL, Dornseiff Nacele SRL, Energoutilaj SA, Felbermayr Romania SRL, Industrial Access SA, Liftec Utilaje de Ridicat SRL, Prangl Romania SRL, Rolift SRL, Starlift Romania SRL (part of Mediaco France) and T&T Access Solutions SRL.

The association is currently preparing a website that is scheduled to go live before the middle of May (www.rrarental.org ).