A leading company in the construction machinery and equipment rental market has completed the process whereby Ramirent and Cramo have integrated operations in Russia and Ukraine. The joint venture started operations on 7 March 2013, under the Fortrent brand.

“The integration took ten months and we can now say that it is complete,” says Grigory Grif, President and CEO of the company.

“The integration was carried out in stages. At first, the sales departments were integrated and operations with a unified customer base were arranged to avoid inconveniences for customers during the transitional period. Then a unified maintenance service was set up to take care of repairs and maintenance of the two companies’ equipment. The personnel, procurement and logistics departments were optimised during the integration and now support the company’s daily activities according to common standards. Finally, later in the year, the financial units were integrated, providing the basis for six legal entities to merge into one”.

Thus, Fortrent is represented in Russia by one legal entity, Fortrent Ltd., which includes five branches:

– North-Western branch, with its regional centre in St. Petersburg. Fortrent’s head office in Russia is also located here;
– Central branch, with its regional centre in Moscow;
– Ural branch, with its regional centre in Yekaterinburg;
– Southern branch;
– Volga branch.

At the beginning of 2014, a rental outlet belonging to the Southern branch in Rostov-on-Don will be opened, and then another belonging to the Volga branch in Nizhny Novgorod. The company is also planning to expand its presence in the Central Region and in the Ural area. Investments in new machines and equipment contribute to the company’s development in the regions.

Fortrent is committed to contribute to the active development of the Russian equipment rental market on the whole.