The gaming exhibition SAGSE Buenos Aires closed on Friday and today the Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE) opens in Sofia, Bulgaria. SAGSE 2009 was well attended but certainly no records for visitor numbers were broken this year. In Bulgaria the State Commission on Gambling reports a trend in gambling hall closures, with 52 licences not renewed and 39 gambling halls closing in 2008 and another 60 gambling halls closing in 2009. Two casinos also have shut down this year.

There are some well-known names exhibiting at BEGE 2009, including top manufacturers from the Balkan region such as Casino Technology. Other gaming industry exhibitors are WMS, Alfastreet, EGT, Abbiati, AGT, GPI, GLI, SEGA and Shuffle Master. Gaming Partners International (GPI), the company that combines Bourgogne & Grasset, Bud Jones and Paulson, feels that the Balkan market has growth potential and that the closure of casinos in Russia and Ukraine is likely to accelerate the development of casinos in the region. GPI RFID applications, already running in many places, are part of a move by casinos towards more efficiency.

WMS says it hopes that the economic situation in the Balkan region will soon improve and bring back the positive growth the area previously experienced. Alfastreet Gaming Instruments is developing the new technologies in order to be ready when the market upturn begins. As WMS comments: “As we all know, the economy is cyclical, so a crisis, as hard as it is, doesn’t mean development and investment have to be stopped. In fact, it is in the worst crisis that the best opportunities can be found, and operators should definitely be prepared for the day the economic environment is back to normal.”

BEGE 2009, showcasing the latest products and services available for gaming in the Balkan region and beyond, runs from today until Wednesday at the Inter Expo & Congress Center in Sofia. The Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling is patron of the event. (E-10.05.09)

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