Results of Russian Gaming Week in Minsk

On November 27-28, 2013, National Exhibition Centre "BelExpo" hosted major event of gambling industry in Belarus - first international exhibition gaming expo-forum Russian Gaming Week'Minsk. About 1,500 professionals visited the show.

"We are pleased to be able to honorably represent Russian Gaming Week in Belarus. This market has huge potential, not only we see it, but all our participants also do. RGW in Minsk, in addition to exhibition and conference, has acquired new exciting projects, such as business tour of the best casinos in Belarus, casino dealer championship, and a series of events in informal surroundings, which best contribute to personal and business contacts", - Diana Kenchadze, coordinator of RGW, told reporters.

RGW in Minsk began with business tour; its participants from different countries visited the best gambling facilities of the capital. Delegation consisting of 30 people from eight European countries (Austria, Italy , Hungary, Slovenia, Ukraine, Romania, England, Russia) visited network of modern Belarusian gambling facilities «MaxBet», casino «Millennium», VIP-casino «Shangri La», which is a part of network managed by international company «Storm International», and casino "Belaja Veja" - the largest gaming and entertainment center of Minsk.

Business tour provided tourists with opportunity to deep into the atmosphere of hazard in Belarus, establish new contacts and enjoy communication with management team of the leading gambling establishments in Minsk.

It was followed by two-day program of the exhibition. RGW exposure was represented by 30 companies, including:

• manufacturers of gaming equipment CMS, Belatra (Belarus), Set-Production (Australia), DLV (Latvia), Amatic (Austria), etc.

• supplier of components for gaming equipment Sensis;

• companies in betting segment - SBUK, Maxline, Business.OutcomeBet, betConstruct (Malta), MeridianBet (Malta), GK Trio (Russia), Unionbet (Russia);

• online casinos Business.OutcomeBet, GaminatorCasino;

• manufacturers and suppliers of furniture and accessories for gaming - IGS-Group, Good Wood, SPDSGroup, SmileGames, Emmegierre, Ceramic-Chips;

• manufacturer of promotional products for casino Image-Borovichi;

• software vendors DLV, CMS, Kraten Management Ltd, Amatic, EveryMatrix;

• REC Crystal;

• platform for online casino creation Casexe;

• company rendering sensory marketing services for casino - Market Music;

• well-known Maltese firm providing legal, tax, consulting and corporate services EMD Advokates;

• magazine on gambling business Login Casino;

• information portal and guide to gambling Belarus - Casino.by;

• organization that performs testing, assessment and technical examination of gaming machines - BelGISS;

• Agency of junket tours VipJTravel from St. Petersburg etc.

The widest range of slot machines was presented at stands of DLV, Belatra and Amatic. Exclusive line of ergonomic furniture «Slot & Poker» was presented by Italian leader of gambling equipment - Emmegierre. CMS pleased with another interesting development. Visitors were presented dual-sided display for roulette CMS-WND with the thinnest display in the world, and unique electronic system CMS-Progressive for casino gaming tables, equipped with sensors, audio and video support.

Under slogan "Feel the excitement and limitless drive today!" company “Belatra”, official representative of BMW in Belarus, has presented exclusive next-generation model BMW F15 X5 to expo visitors. Belatra also pleased visitors of their booth with interactive competition on machines, giving winner a certificate for purchase of gaming equipment at a discount.

At the same time RGW platform hosted conference leading industry experts taking part. Conference program was divided into three thematic sections: overview of eastern European market of gambling and entertainment business; legislation and control authorities; news of global casino market.

Speakers of the conference were: Athanasios-Thanos Marinos - CEO of EBGC, Betting Entrepreneur (Greece); Lavrentiy Gubin - PR-director of casino network Storm International; Ruben Yakubov - Director of Russian company "Club of lovers of easy money", engaged in junket tourism; Esteban van Goor – experienced tax lawyer working for the international indirect tax department of PwC the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Andrei Gusarov - Director of PUE "Gusarov Group"; Denitza Dimitrova - international consultant on gambling at EMD (Malta) etc.

Report of Ivan Montik “Bitcoin casino. Risks and benefits” deserves special attention. This topic has been extremely interesting for attendees and participants of RGW'Minsk; there was only standing room in the hall, the speaker was literally bombarded with questions. During round table on the topic "Legal climate in Belarus", such experts as Denitza Dimitrova - international gambling consultant from Malta, and Alexander Pogodin - deputy director of BelGISS (Belarusian State Institute for Standardization and Certification) taking part, participants discussed development prospects and gambling opportunities in Belarus, legislative changes that came into force last year, main aspects of doing betting business, and a number of issues related to responsible gaming.

Also RGW hosted a championship for title of the best casino dealer of Belarus «RGW Awards - Best casino dealer 2013", and participants demonstrated their skills, competing in three categories: American Roulette, Blackjack and Russian Poker.

Best dealer was determined by professional jury consisting of: Igor Akulov, Commercial Director for Russia and the CIS countries of «Egamings Live Casino»; Makovenko Oleg, member of board of directors of «Klondaika», SIA «Furors», casino «Europa Club Casino»; Shamil Ponomarev, well-known in the gambling industry journalist, blogger, co-owner of the first non-commercial media about poker - «Equity»; Petr Ostudin, General Director of casino "Mirage", and Guido Rizzo, general manager of Italian brand Emmegierre.

Winners were awarded during grand VIP-party "Minsk is the new Vegas!", organized in elegant casino "Millennium" specially for RGW participants by Smile Expo.

So, the winner in nomination "Roulette" is Alice Zhigunova (casino "Shangri La"); Karina Menoel (casino "Mirage") is the best casino dealer in nomination "Poker"; Anton Nekhaichik (Casino XO) was an undisputed leader of the score sheet in nomination "Black Jack".

Championship participants and guests of the evening celebrated victory, enjoying beautiful music, talking to each other, savoring great whiskey and treats from organizers. That evening many tried their luck in casino gaming hall. All guests were delighted with the atmosphere that reigned at the event, and expressing gratitude to organizers, asked to continue this wonderful tradition in Moscow at the next RGW show to be held in June.

Summarizing the event, we can state the obvious - for many companies expo-forum RGW in Minsk was a perfect opportunity to discover gambling business in Belarus, present company in the new market and make profitable deals. For the first time in Belarus organizers of Russian Gaming Week brought together large international community of gambling industry professionals, and arranged active business weekend for them.

Smile Expo thanks all exhibitors and exhibition partners for their participation and assistance in organizing and conducting exhibition. In 2014 RGW will present even more intense conference program, increased display area and new interactive activities. A large number of operators from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries are expected to visit RGW in Moscow.

See you at RGW in 2014!

For more information about Russian Gaming Week in Minsk and conference please visit

www.minsk.rgweek.ru

Tel.: +7 (495) 212-11-28

e-mail: client@smile-expo.com