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Restrictions on gambling in Eastern European jurisdictions such as Poland and difficulties in establishing a foothold in others such as Serbia could make new market opportunities in Central Asian countries increasingly attractive to foreign operators, according to a panel of industry leaders.
The panellists represent major businesses in the region and discussed the difficulties and opportunities they face during a talk at the SBC Summit in Lisbon on September 25.
New Opportunities In Central Asia
Maksym Potomkin, the CEO of RISK, the franchisee of Parimatch in Central Asian countries, believes Uzbekistan offers a “huge potential” for gambling businesses to enter the market in 2025, when the country will establish new gambling regulations and a licensing regime, legalising online bookmaking activities and lotteries after more than 16 years of prohibition.
“The tax regime in Uzbekistan will be tremendously fruitful for operators. The government is not trying to charge consumers so all the taxes are on the operator. It is only 4 percent of gross gambling revenue (GGR), which is very good. It definitely should bring a lot of attention from Western companies as the industry is growing, and the economic landscape is very good and growing."
Kazakhstan is “a little bit tougher”, according to Potomkin, but still potentially very fruitful.
“Today, it is a little bit hard to enter the market. Operators in the market have been established for many years so there are not really any newcomers there. My understanding is this is another opportunity. The market is very stable and no one is disrupting it today. If I were to enter a Central Asian market for sportsbooks, I'd pick Kazakhstan,” Potomkin said.
Tajikistan still has land-based operations, unlike Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but operators looking to enter the market should be aware of a need to be highly localised as it is “very user-specific”.
“[The] key to success in conquering Tajikistan gambling is to have all the locals inside the operation making sure everything is done from within the country,” Potomkin said.
Poland Seen As 'Outdated', 'Over-regulated'
Poland is a prime example of a country with “outdated” legislation and “over-regulation", according to Adam Lamentowicz, the general manager of Romania-based Superbet, who estimates that Superbet has around a 20 percent market share in Poland.
“The Gaming Act (The Law on Games and Betting) originated in 1992. Since then, the market is now 95 percent online-driven. This is the only channel that is growing. Retail is diminishing,” Lamentowicz said.
He believes a major reason for this land-based downturn is due to a 2009 amendment that removed AWPs (low-payout gaming machines) from the market, until 2015 before being monopolised in 2016.
“This has not been very effective. Poland is experiencing around 50,000 illegal slot machines on the market. Around 50 percent of the online market is also a black market, driven by high taxation and a lack of igaming,” Lamentowicz said.
Serbian Market Braced For Change
Savo Bakmaz, the CEO of Flutter-owned MaxBet, an operator with a large share of the Serbian market, as well as a presence in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, explained why businesses looking to enter the online market in Serbia will struggle to get a foothold in the country without a land-based presence.
“We have 450 shops. In Serbia, around 3,000 retail shops. I've never seen anywhere in the world with as many as Serbia. But these are not just betting shops, it is like a sports bar, and it's very hard for foreign online operators to compete with our local domestic businesses,” said Bakmaz.
There are incoming changes to Serbia’s gambling rules that businesses considering entering the market should be aware of.
On September 11, 2024, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) launched a consultation on the draft law on Amendments to the Law on Games of Chance, which runs until the end of the month.
Lamentowicz’s Superbet runs an online-only operation in Serbia after closing down its land-based presence in the country over a year ago and said his business will “adjust its strategy” in Serbia depending on the outcome of the bill.
