EEG Reports

Eastern European iGaming Report

Published

10 years ago

January 11, 2015

Eastern Europe is a growing ground for maturing gaming sites based in this area. So it’s not yesterday’s news that these companies will keep growing their user base easier than the big sharks of the industry. While some major operators restricting access of players from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and Greece, the locals are ready to take over.

If we focus on the demographics we will find that Bulgaria is one of the leaders of the area, by cutting the 15% turnover tax, which was nonsensical. They’ve managed to attract more operators by replacing this enormous fee to a one-off license fee of BGN 100,000 (circa EUR 50,000), along with a 20% tax on the difference made between the bets made and the winnings paid out. This led to a great profit, which the Bulgarian State Gambling Commission (SGC) announced in its half-year report. The total gaming revenue from fees, gaming taxes, fines, and penalties was just under 30 million Bulgarian Lev, or about $20 million. The $20 million in revenue was almost entirely profit considering the SGC reported only about $500,000 in expenses during the same half-year period.

This is why Bulgaria is the starting flag of Eastern Europe, while neighbours still consider the monopoly of government-run agencies.

Taking a peak at Romania, we shall find that there are rumours of freeing up the market. This is due to the election of a German ethnic president who has deep ties with certain leaders of Europe that might give him advises on what to do. The change is awaited in the next 6 months, since many battles will be fought by the Liberals who intend to bring in these kind of investments. Believe it or not, Romania is quite a mature market for sportsbetting, but it hasn’t opened its eye to bringing online operators for licensing. The betting shops that are spread thorough the country belong to Romanian’s with political background senators and their circles of trust. But, here’s an inside news, most of the owners of these chains of sportsbetting shops are under investigation by the National Anticorruption Directorate and are looking ahead to some heavy years in prison in found guilty. Since 100% of their money came from schemes attracted via EU fund dilapidation some of these businessmen/politicians already sold their shares of the companies to operators that are based in Cyprus or Malta.

Nevertheless, the intention of switching to online operators in the area is heavily lobbied since the country provides an excellent base to start local offices with tech trained employees. The internet speed is quite fast aswell, pulling over 1GBps in any home connection. In-Play bets could be one of the key aspects to operate online sports betting websites and live dealer casinos certainly can prosper aswell. While mobile users enjoy 4G internet connections countrywide, mobile gaming can also be applied. It’s just a matter of time, but it’s certainly going to be and area that’s going to have a large online gaming base.

Be sure to check out my next edition of Eastern Europe Gaming Report, we will bring you a special edition which will focus on Hungarian, a story for which many internet users worldwide raised their eyebrows. It’s not going to be easy to read without getting mad and see how the right to use the internet has received a heavy hit.

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

With an experience of over 8 years in the online gambling industry, as an affiliate, later affiliate manager and consultant, I consider myself a veteran of the industry and can guarantee that you will be served with the most accurate information.

Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 (25-26 March)

Bulgaria

Casino Technology announces Valentina Dobre as new Regional Director for Romania

Published

7 years ago

August 4, 2017

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

Gaming equipment manufacturer Casino Technology has announced a new appointment for Romania to further strengthen the company’s management.

Following its steady plan for continuous market growth, the company named Valentina Dobre as Regional Director for Romania as of 1st of August 2017.

The company claims with Mrs Dobre’s profound expertise, professional background and in-depth knowledge of the gaming industry in the country, she became part of Casino Technology team, ready to implement the overall corporate strategy.

Valentina Dobre commented: “I am honored to accept this position and be part of the high level management team of Casino Technology. I will pursue actively further company positioning and growth on the Romanian market. Casino Technology has been on the country’s market for over 10 years and proved to be leader, having maintained trusted partnerships with local operators and customers.”

Casino Technology stated that Mrs Dobre’s background as Member of the Board of Directors at Romslot Association, Bucharest will additionally increase the Casino Technology market share.

“Valentina Dobre is an important appointment as she brings extensive knowledge of the market, that will help us boost even more our presence in Romania. She will have a crucial role in our further expansion, launching successfully our new line products on the market”, concluded Milo Borissov, Founder, President and CEO of Casino Technology.

Bulgaria

Two major announcements from BEGE Expo and EEGS: Mark your calendars

Published

7 years ago

August 2, 2017

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

The Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE Expo) and the Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS) celebrate their 10^th anniversary this year. Due to the big interest for both events the organizers made two major announcements – BEGE will outspread in one more hall and EEGS will start one day earlier than the announced date.

Over 50 leading companies from the industry have already confirmed their presence for BEGE Expo 2017. Well-known leading manufacturers, amongst them being Novomatic, Casino Technology, EGT, Suzohapp, BetConstruct, Interblock, Merkur Gaming, APEX, Alfastreet Trade, Nsoft, JPL and CPI, as well as new participants, such as the leading sports betting company Bet3000 (IBA-Entertainment Ltd.), EXEFEED, Quixant, Zitro, Change Italia s.r.l., Gamebridge Casino Equipment, JCM Europe GmbH, nano Vo sp. Z o.o., Berkotech Kft. and others will exhibit their latest solutions at this year’s BEGE. The great interest for the event forced the opening of new hall, thus making the 10^th edition of BEGE Expo the biggest so far.

The registration is already open so you wouldn’t want to miss the chance to register.

Another newness that BEGE Expo 2017 will present is the special Affiliate zone. Following the expansion of the online business in the region, this year the exhibiton will create space for online operators and affiliates from the region to interact and create business partnerships. Affiliate program providers will be able to book their own space in the zone and all affiliates will be admitted for free.

EEGS also promises to reach new heights this year. Reschedule your calendars, because EEGS 2017 will start on 20^th of November – one day earlier than intended. This year’s EEGS will continue to follow its main aim – to present the most recent updates from the region, including the countries Serbia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Slovenia, Montenegro, F.Y.R of Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey and Croatia.

Separate sessions will be dedicated to Sport Challenges, Impact on gaming operators by Anti-Money Laundering Act, GDPR and online gaming. Day 3 will be focused on Tourism & Gaming, Responsible Gaming Academy and marketing topics.

BEGE Expo and EEGS have gradually established as a center for the gaming and entertainment industry in Eastern Europe and for 10^th year in a row will be the place where professionals from the field come in order to expand their business, exchange knowledge and promote new products. For any updates you may follow the official websites of the events: eegamingsummit.com and balkangamingexpo.com

EEG Reports

Habanero signs an outstanding deal with BBIN

Published

7 years ago

August 2, 2017

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

A new partnership agreement will see content from quality slots and table games developer Habanero go live with the BBIN Group.

Under the agreement, the supplier will give the software company access to its complete product portfolio of HTML5 games for all of its white label sites.

Recent releases from Habanero, including Fire Rooster, Bird of Thunder, and Panda Panda, have also been made available to the aggregator.

Daniel Long, Head of Sales at Habanero, said the deal was a game-changer for the supplier and one of the company’s most important to date.

He added: “By partnering with BBIN, we have significantly expanded our presence around the world, which means even more players will be able to enjoy our games.

“Many of them will be a natural fit with BBIN’s customers, but it is the diversity and variety of content that will appeal the most.”

Habanero operates a stable of 75 video slots titles, 9 table games, and 50 video poker titles, which are integrated into over 45 operators and aggregators and available in 21 European and Asian languages.