Gambling within Central Europe and Eurasia is attracting “lots of attention from Western markets”, according to a global markets panel session at SBC Summit.
As the likes of Entain, Flutter Entertainment and other tier-one operators continue to dip their toes into these markets, experts from across the industry gathered in Lisbon to discuss the potential for expansion across the Balkans and Caucasus regions.
To kick-off a journey around the subcontinent, Max Potomkin, CEO at RISK, explained that Uzbekistan is getting close to a legalised gambling market, presenting potential for a “tremendously fruitful” expansion opportunity.
The market is set to go live on 1 January, 2025, with regulators having just over three months to propose regulations and create a safe, responsible gaming ecosystem, and according to Potomkin, “the set of rules have already been signed”.
Expanding on the nation’s regulation, he stated: “This market has been trying to get legalised for the last five years, which is why this is tough.” Potomkin pointed out that the nation’s regulator has considered “best practices from central asian markets” with other Eurasian market’s specific regulations “already on their list”.
This notion caused Potomkin to encourage any brands wishing to enter the nation to “be compliant with all Central European and Asian regulations that are there already”, with a gambling licence expected to be required.
Looking into one of Uzbekistan’s neighbours, Potomkin detailed that Kazakhstan is “a little bit tougher”. While being one of the “strongest markets” in the region, he explained that “all the operators there have been operating there for many years”.
Despite these companies possibly having a stronghold on Kazakhstan’s gambling sector, Potomkin encouraged brands to consider exploring the nation by suggesting that its lack of newcomers will be an “exciting prospect” for those aiming to take the leap into the market.
“There are a lot of companies that have tried to enter the market solely online and most of those companies have suffered a lot”
Savo Bakmaz, CEO and CFO at Maxbet
He referred to Kazakh players as “very loyal clients”, playing on an average of seven different websites within a short period of time. However, one aspect of the nation’s regulations could cause issues for player retention, as well as an increase in black market activity.
Potomkin stated: “The government has implemented a very interesting programme. Once you disable your account on one gambling website, it will be cancelled on all operators operating with the same licence.”
Moving on to Central Europe, Savo Bakmaz, CEO and CFO at Maxbet, provided an expert opinion on the state of Serbia’s igaming market, which he described as “a very social market” that may cause issues for online-only operators.
Bakmaz noted that Serbian players are fond of sitting in retail shops for a social experience, referring to Maxbet’s various Serbian locations as “sports bars” rather than betting shops.
“The social component is very important for our customers,” Bakmaz said. “There are a lot of companies that have tried to enter the market solely online and most of those companies have suffered a lot.”
According to the Maxbet CEO, Serbia is home to over 3,000 retail betting shops, making it “very hard for foreign online operators to compete with the domestic, local guys”.
“Overregulation is common across jurisdictions right now”
Adam Lamentowicz, General Manager for Romania at Superbet
The footfall in retail locations has also created different channels of profit for companies like Maxbet, encouraging the need to place importance on Serbia’s land-based sector.
Bakmaz added: “We all know that online players are spending more, but they’re sitting in our shops and hanging out with their friends and watching the game. What’s really important is that last year in Serbia we sold three million cups of coffee and three million beers – we are the biggest cafe in Serbia.”
Despite highlighting the operator’s success in Serbia’s land-based space, Bakmaz explained that the nation’s regulator is currently considering updating its gaming law, a move which he referred to as “overregulation”.
The notion of overregulation was echoed by Adam Lamentowicz, General Manager for Romania at Superbet, as he informed the audience on the latest updates within Romania’s gambling market.
“Overregulation is common across jurisdictions right now,” he said. “We’ve seen this in Romania with many amendments in recent years. Since regulation in 2015, we’ve had important changes every year – including a ban on slot machines in shops in regions with less than 15,000 inhabitants.”
Lamentowicz repeated this sentiment for Poland, describing the nation’s market as “a good example of overregulating”, while having very outdated regulation that was originally established in the early nineties – before online casino gaming was introduced to players.
Meanwhile, Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association, stressed the need for operators expanding their online casino offerings to the rising igaming hubs in Eurasia to consider localisation.
Haijer detailed: “It’s not that easy to take your product and place it in a different marketplace. You need that local knowledge and you need to know how the regulator functions.”
This is also a key consideration for compliance, as Haijer explained that “the way that different countries regulate depends on their approach to gambling, which depends on their society”.
