Ana, who are the main clients of Spintec now?
Spintec is a Slovenian company with long tradition of excellence in developing, designing, manufacturing products with high quality and technologically advanced for gambling industry worldwide. Although it's one of the youngest companies as manufacturer of the electronic table games with 10 years, it’s also the fastest growing company with exceptional team of dedicated experts on every field and growing number of very happy clients that have been operating our products in their locations. Spintec's products are distinguished by a unique design, user-friendly interface, stability and security. With innovative technologies, players can enjoy fully automated, diverse virtual solutions and live gaming connectivity. I can say that Spintec's products have proven themselves in longer gaming sessions and therefore higher revenues for the casinos nad slot halls. We offer compact gaming solutions under the Karma trademark and multigame amphitheatres under the Aura trademark. Our company is renowned also for its high level of customer support in terms of equipment installation and after-sales servicing. Spintec's mission is to increase operators' revenues with innovative gaming solutions and excellent customer support to provide players an unforgettable gaming experience. With this in mind, I can say there are plenty of different clients that have been searching for our products.
Our collection of products is wide, clients can select different games, such as Roulette, Sic Bo, Craps, Blackjack, Baccarat, Andar Bahar, Tournaments. We offer variety of gaming solutions: compact automated electronic tables with modular solutions, multigame amphitheatres, standalone virtual multigame playing stations. And the beauty of selecting the products is that clients can choose and combine the automated, virtual and live games at Spintec.
The products are made completely at our facility in Slovenia, all of the development is done in our company, all the production, testing, analyses, there's nothing outsourced. Everything is done in the house because we really do have the priority in the quality since the first day when Spintec was established. Quality of our products is one of our main priorities, and this is one of the reasons why we grow so fast and receive so many amazing feedbacks from our clients.
We are present on all of the continents, even in Australia that has been a continent that many manufacturers don't go there or they don't get the license there. So this is just one example, how Spintec devoted the team to offer our products to every possible location. Monitoring the legislation worldwide, and we go in depth into every detail where we need to go in terms of legislation, of certification, of the local culture and habits, of how the players like the games. Working closely with our clients, we make also modification needed for the local market. This is another reason why we get so much popularity and more and more orders worldwide.
Is Spintec interested in Ukrainian market?
Very much. We show great respect to Ukrainian market and we’re very happy to see the development of Ukraine also on this field. It didn’t happen overnight, we’ve been tracking Ukrainian process of starting developing the legislation for reopening the casino industry in Ukraine since 2009, so it has been a process that is putting Ukraine back on gaming world map, with smart steps to bring investments into the country with it, new jobs, more entertainment and tourism. I myself have been traveling to Ukraine, meeting with locals that have been providing information regarding the draft of the law that was still on the table at that time, cause I wanted to understand in what direction the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada will go in terms of accepting the laws and to understand what kind of equipment will be needed here, to understand the local requirements from the players. So, yes, as you can see, we are very interested in Ukrainian market and we wish to see a great success here.
In 2020 we already sold our products already to Ukraine and we keep discussions with many clients that are planning the opening of their casinos and slot halls. Some of them already installed our products and are waiting only for the licence to open, for example Slots City.
Therefore, we are very happy about this and of course, we’re looking forward to install more Spintec roulettes and other products in other casinos and also other slot halls.
What are the advantages of Ukrainian market for your company? What is the main reason for Spintec to come?
Our vision is that Spintec products are offered in every country, this is no secret, that our products have been so reliable and profitable that clients like to gain the advantages with our products. We respect every client, regardless, if it's the smallest slot club or the biggest casino, we treat everyone with respect and give them our best. Ukraine, is of course, very important market for us. In a way it’s a natural path to lead our products to players that will play in Ukrainian locations, brining them excitement and entertainment. One of the reasons why Ukraine is asking for our products is also that the neighbouring countries around Ukraine have already Spintec products and made great success with them. One of the examples is Georgia, where we’re making really amazing results for the casinos and slot halls. So our reputation as a very good, as a great manufacturer, with very reliable, stable machines that bring bigger revenues. So also Ukrainian clients are calling us just for these reasons already. Ukraine, of course, has a great potential. It's a large country, with the history of gaming, which gives us confidence that also that it will evolve very nicely. Ukrainian government has been preparing the field of this industry in Ukraine for some time, to be suitable for everybody in terms of the bringing the investors into this country, generating new economy and protecting the vulnerable. Countries that regulates this industry actually gain a lot by accepting this industry, wisely regulate it and balances through time with modifications once needed. Lokal players stay in the country and additional players from other countries are coming in getting to know your country not only casinos, but also other touristic attractions. I'm very positive about these changes that Ukraine went into and it will be nice to see how it will evolve in the future.
Does Spintec see any risks in Ukrainian market for now?
As a company that is manufacturing and developing electronic table games the risk is smaller in comparison to the operators. Some part of legislation, of course, apply also to us as a supplier. We have been present in many different countries worldwide where we need to be very flexible, change some details, additionally modify something or certify, sometimes when the law changes and other situations. Flexibility is our natural way and we’ve also been knows to make all required steps very fast, so clients don’t wait for our part, when they need something, and not only this, we deliver everything with a smile : )
We’re confident that we’ll have no challenges to provide all necessary modifications that might be needed once the certification process will be clear. I'm aware that there's still the process at Vrkhovna Rada and at the Gaming Commission regarding some details, such as certifications, taxes etc, however we’re been in all the time in communications and making sure to follow all the new rules once they are clear. We work closely with local clients that are giving us all the instructions or requirements, and we follow up on that immediately, so we don't do any delays when making our clients happy.
Are you going to come to Ukrainian market in nearest months? Or you will wait until the situation with certification will be clear?
We definitely don't wait at all. Spintec products are already in Ukraine. Pandemic affected many fields of life, and all of the events and expo worldwide had to be cancelled in 2020 and looks like also 2021 is following this ‘’no-events’’ trend. Of course, we would like to exhibit, present our products and meet all our clients in person. This is why we always plan our presence on every exhibition worldwide. OF course, we planned to exhibit also at the expo in Ukraine, all our products were already ready, however, pandemic has not yet disappeared and expo was postponed. We’ve been in really good position to give clients the best that they can get and of course, we need to be patient taking into consideration the pandemic and also the process of giving the licences to the future operators.
For your opinion, will Ukrainian gambling legislation work for industry development? Or it needs to be changed?
I'm involved mostly on the other side, on the side of the supplier, not having much involvements in the making of any legislation. I do feel that Ukraine is going into the good direction by choosing to reopen the gaming field and taking steps to wisely regulate it is a very good way how to introduce this into the country. I think the main path has been chosen to be very safe, taking into consideration also the location of the schools to protect the minors and so on. This way is good to bring Ukrainian nation comfort, that this is not going to be a risky or harmful industry, but very well regulated. I believe it needs to be a good balance. If the regulation is made in a way that taxes and other limitations are too high, it might push the potential investors away and this way the investment in the Ukraine will not be as large as it could be and the other way around. If it's too loose and the legislation is well written and followed, then it make damage that is not welcomed. So, the balance is needed. Of course, each country knows how well the balance can be implemented in their proceedings and also in their culture. Some cultures have different aspect to gaming and luck that others. The balance needs to be there that everybody are happy and nobody's scared or having too much advantage of it.
Is Ukrainian gambling legislation stricter that in the countries that your company works with?
Well, there are different ways of legislation in the gaming. Some countries are limiting the number of licensing given, some of them are giving very clear rules which products can be installed, some of them are limiting also players in a way that there is a limit how much a player can lose in one hour, Different rules are creating different situations; in those cases where casinos need to be in distance from each other, there is not too much competition between the operators, which makes the investment into the casinos more predictable and it gives a bit more reassurance about the return of the investment in the future. Of course, the competition is always healthy, but if it's too many gaming locations on one site, it can collapse, and starts to downgrade, at the end results also in the quality of the service and also the quality of the products that they might offer to players. So, something in between, is good.
There are many different models how legislation regulates the markets, we’ve been very familiar with Macau legislation, for example, where we have more than 60% market share with Spintec products. The other contrast is United States with their model, and then we look at the Latin America and Africa, that use variety of different approaches to which we always adopt with our priducts, or even Australia that follows their own path. European countries also have variety of models in legislation and regulations.
Taking pluses and minuses of each of them into consideration and trying to find the right balance that suits local culture is always wise. Legislation should also have modifications through time, so it fulfils the current needs of the market and follows the feedbacks from the field, implementing changes when necessary, to make the market better.
Having an open eye and making additional changes that might help to improve what you already have, would be a wise step in every country.
Interview specially for Gamingpost.net
The gambling business portal gamingpost.net monitors the process of legalization of gambling in Ukraine. Read the latest news: What are the differences between the gambling business of Ukraine and Georgia? Experts videoconference report