Eastern Europe has proven itself to be one of the most interesting regions for the gambling sector over the last few years, with market innovation and regulatory standards rapidly evolving day by day.

This has also been noticed within the ranks of sportsbook and iGaming provider Digitain, with the company’s regional Head of Sales, Hmayak Arakelyan, highlighting what he thinks are the biggest strengths of Eastern Europe and how Digitain manages to capitalise on them.

“Eastern Europe is not much different from its Western counterpart,” Arakelyan said. “It’s very regulated and more regulations are being introduced,” he added, giving Romania and its recent regulatory changes as an example.

What sets Eastern Europe apart?

Still, as in every market, Eastern European jurisdictions do have their own intricacies that set them apart from other markets globally. One such example is the prominence of the retail sector.

“Retail has a very big impact on the development of the Eastern European market because it is not only a place for a bet, it’s also a cultural thing. For example, in Serbia people will go to the bet shop as if they’re going to the bar. 

“They’ll grab a beer, they sit and they chat. They might not even place a bet. But it brings the community together. What’s more interesting for me is that it is also a place for not only older generations, but also for younger people as well.”

From the previous point on regulation, many markets in Eastern Europe have either recently introduced tax hikes – like Romania – or are planning to do so, like Bulgaria. 

From Arakelyan’s perspective, this could actually bring a huge positive change, as the tax conversation, no matter how hard it is, also means that regulators and governments alike start recognising the value of the industry to their economies. Still, outside of the political aspect, Digitain remains confident that its proposition drives value regardless of the tax environment.

“With Digitian, we are quite relaxed about the tax changes because with the products that we provide, they provide such a margin at the end of the month that it will not be a problem for any operator to secure its taxes with the government and still end up with a profit.”

Ripe with opportunities

At the end of the day, Eastern Europe remains a highly valuable market, with many companies operating locally bringing a heap of experience and technological expertise.

“If we look at it on a country-by-country basis, in Greece we have Betano with its international experience. In Romania, we have Superbet, who are doing a great job with their innovations. In every country we have one or two big operators who have the technological expertise and employees who innovate and influence the betting and gaming industry.”

Such a complex market requires a proven, results-driven strategy to tackle it, and Digitain has found just the right recipe for success that contains three main ingredients – localisation, compliance, and innovation, even going as far as localising the innovation, Arakelyan added.

“Our main ideology is to go everywhere localised. We do not want to go somewhere and dictate on how the market shall work when there are already rules there. 

“Our strategy is to find the biggest operators in a country, work with them, customise the platform so that it is localised for that specific market and basically increase the market share and the revenue for our partners.”