Nikola Perić, Director of Betagy
Contribution to economic development
„In every country where it is regulated, gambling industry is an important factor to economic sustainability and development,“ said Nikola Perić, company’s director with enviable international experience. He pointed out that in Serbia, directly or indirectly, over 100 000 people depend on this industry. The gambling industry and its leading companies have improved the aspect of corporate leadership and are constantly improving their personnel, while more and more highly educated young IT professionals sees their chance in this increasingly popular market sector, adds Nikola.
Social responsibility
“In order to see how much gambling industry contributes to the economy, we should look at how active and involved in different projects gambling organizers are – from healthcare to sports.“
“In order to see how much gambling industry contributes to the economy, we should look at how active and involved in different projects gambling organizers are – from healthcare to sports.“ The biggest sponsors of sports clubs and events are “betting” companies and huge funds are set for that”, says Nikola. “The idea of the company that I run, will be to find less popular but successful athletes and encourage their development”, points Nikola and adds that everyone benefits from CSR activities: gambling organizers are promoting certain offer through sports, while they are giving it back to sport clubs and athletes trough sponsorship channels and contracts.
Joint growth of industry and economy
Nikola further points out that if we follow the economic growth of GDP in Serbia in past years, we will notice that the gambling market achieved significant growth as well. In 2017, the total revenue generated by the five leading companies in the industry was 140 million euros, while that amount increased over 100% in next two years and reached over 285 million euros. “What these data are indicating is an increase of salaries, taxes and fees up to 56%, from 41 million euros in 2017, to 64 million euros in 2019”, he says. According to official data in 2019 this industry was employing 12 420 people. Significant growth is noticed in the market of online gambling, which has grown more than 300% for the past three years. As a response to these market changes, our largest companies implemented new technological solutions by developing platforms that are providing stable, safe and simple participation for users.
Regulatory frameworks and our chance
“When we talk about legal regulations related to the gambling, in Serbia it is quite well structured,” said the man who had the opportunity to get acquainted with the regulations in other countries as well. He adds that model in Serbia uses the best practice – the one that monitors implementation of online technologies and transition to online gambling. Recent amendment to the law mostly refers to organizers in retail and it is preventing the opening of new gambling spots within a radius of 100 meters from any existing ones. This law aims to articulate a real expansion of opening new facilities and at the same time to prevent access for minors – and it is supported by all gambling organizers as a unique call for social responsibility”, says Nikola.
The future of online and responsible betting
Unlike organizing gambling in retail, where players can be anonymous, online organizers get identification of each user, which enables more accurate monitoring of responsible betting and prevents minors to participate in the games. “Transition from retail to online, which came late to our market comparing to the Western Europe, is the scope where we see an opportunity for our further development. The key is our expertise and experience from African continent where we, as a BetKing.com, have opened a record of 28 000 betting spots and created a database with more users than the population of Serbia. On the wave of that success we are determined to create a new (winning) approach for betting in Serbia – Victory, fully adapted for our market, whose development we began after extensive market analysis and listening of our customers’ true needs,” said Nikola Perić.
Stability, security, simplicity
“Understanding and knowing the market is the key to the success for any business. Our company focus will be on stability and security of the platform, because we know that is highly important for players; for that reason, we are committed to an impeccable user experience, unique offers, different specials and margins that no one offers, but also to innovation and superfast registration in just three clicks! What is most often called a mission, I would describe as a great commitment to provide players with a new, different and more intuitive user experience. We have made outstanding results with our brand BetKing.com by virtue of our professionals from Malta and Belgrade who are our strongest resource. Together with the best people from the Serbian IT sector, we want to set up a stable local business base in our country, from where we will aim to expand toward regional markets.”
