Russian rental market down 19.5% in 2009

The Russian equipment rental market was valued at around €580 million in 2009, representing a drop of approximately 19.5% from 2008, according to the Moscow rental consulting firm MS Consulting.

Using official government statistics, MS Consulting estimated that the worst hit sector was rental with operators, which was down 23.4%. This is the largest part of the Rus-sian market, accounting for around 71.5% of the total.

Although 2009 saw a significant fall in the market, MS Consulting's director general, Sergey Nikolaev, writing in the Nov-Dec issue of International Rental News (IRN) magazine, said this should be read in the context of five previous years or ex-traordinary growth, with rental expanding more than two and a half times between 2004 and 2008.

MS Consulting has also surveyed rental companies about their views on growth through to 2011. The survey - undertaken in June and July this year - revealed that almost 50% of companies expect revenue growth in excess of 10% in the year to June 2011. A further 23% of respondents forecast growth up to 10% and only 18% of compa-nies are expecting further falls in revenue.

Any de-fleeting that was going on in 2009 also appears to be complete. The survey finds that only 6% of companies will reduce the size of their fleets in the 12 months to June 2011, with 35% of companies planning to invest for expansion.

The Russian rental market still relies heavily on activity in Moscow and St Petersburg, with revenues in the Central and North West Federal Districts generating almost 50% of all rental volumes.

Mr Nikolaev's full report on the Russian rental market will be published in the November-December issue of International Rental News (IRN). For information on MS Consulting, please visit www.msconsulting.ru