EEG Reports

Latvia’s online gambling industry – Free Market Report

Published

8 years ago

August 4, 2016

What makes Latvia’s casino industry so special? Maybe the answer is “diversity”. The diversity that Latvia offers when it comes to casinos, can satisfy almost every wish when it comes to gambling; from little casinos with few slots machines, to big casino-hotels, you have everything. And there’s a reason why we say this: roughly 20% of the total income was brought by tourists visiting the country. According to the “Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspection of Latvia” ( https://www.iaui.gov.lv ) there are 14 land-based companies and 7 on-line gambling companies that hold a gambling license. And they’re doing a great job; these companies have shown a grow in total profits. The stars of this “show”, are of course, the casino hotels in Riga, the capital of Latvia. But let’s see what that profit looks like in numbers.

€124.63m in the first half of 2016

Yes, this is the recorded sum in the lotteries and gambling industries, specified by the Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspection of Latvia. That’s a bit more than a 10% rise in the budget, considering last year’s recorded of €113.06m. And even though a number of 44 sites have been banned in 2014, in an attempt to control online gambling, that didn’t stop the market from evolving. But it’s not just the web sites; Latvia has declared war to the negative effects of gambling. For example, let’s take a look at section 37, in the Latvian law :

~“Section 37. Additional obligations of the gambling organizers in casino, gambling halls and bingo halls.
(1) The gambling organizer to whom license for casino, gambling hall or bingo hall is issued, should ensure during working hours of such venues for arrangement of gambling:
[..]
6) information warning that gambling may create addiction. In casinos and gambling halls at a visible space a self-control test should be placed and possibility to receive it in writing, as well as to receive information where to have recourse to when addiction is caused by gambling should be ensured.”~

Everything started in 1994 when certain laws and bills were passed in order to control crime, assure a fair treatment of the gamblers and transparency. Over time, other laws have made gambling in Latvia a bit more strict, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Betting and interactive games are still the strong point in the increase of profit, Latvia priding itself with over 8,800 slot machines in more than 300 game halls and five main casinos. Slot machines apparently are on the first place, while the lottery is on the last, going down by a few percentages. Betting and interactive games have seen a rise though, almost 17%, raising interactive gambling percentage by up to 74%.If we calculate the lottery and gambling industries turnover we can see an increase of 23.4 percent only in the first half of this year having a total turnover of €14.55m, unlike last year, when the total sum was €2.76m less.

As Janis Laganovskis mentioned in the EEG Report Magazine, The strong points of the Latvian gambling market is represented by “Slots, and they take most part of the market 77, 16%(on net revenues)”. If we compare this to 2014 we can see an increase of 210% taken on the gambling market. Hopefully the industry will continue growing in 2016 (EEG Report Magazine Issue 2-Janis Laganovskis).

Here are the four companies that create 79% of all industry net revenue:

SIA “ALFOR” – largest slot machine operator (almost 30% of all slots machines on the market)

SIA “OLYMPIC CASINO LATVIA”

SIA “JOKER LTD”

SIA “ADMIR U KLUBS”

The first three companies have also received online gambling operating license.

Iulian Sasaran

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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.