Oleg Kononchuk, General Director, Slots City
What is Slots City and which services does the company offer to its clients?
Slots City is a network of legal slot machine halls united under one gaming brand.
The concept of “slot” itself has developed historically. This word means a connector, in particular, - once this was the name for a bill acceptor place in a slot machine, therefore halls with such machines are also called slot halls. Nowadays the mechanism has changed: the balance of funds in the halls is now replenished to the player’s card, and from it to the slot machine. Nevertheless, the name of the slot halls still remains.
In addition, under this brand we have a large project of legal online casino SlotsСity.ua.
In general, we provide the game on slot machines and slot programs, which is a way of entertainment and pastime, but definitely not a way of making money.
How many slot halls of your brand are present in Ukraine and are there any plans to expand?
As of today, we have seven halls in four cities of Ukraine - Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya. Three of them are located in the capital, two in Kharkiv and one each in Odesa and Zaporizhzhya. Soon there are going to be eight.
At the end of November this year, we are planning to open a new slot hall, and next year at least one more hall will be launched.
How do you choose slot machine manufacturers and how many slots do you have in total?
In Kyiv, we currently have over 300 slot machines in different halls. All slot machines are developed by global manufacturers of gambling equipment, and they are completely new and licensed, which is very important.
The choice of equipment suppliers was quite pragmatic. There are products that are familiar to users, on which they play the most and which they love. We mainly focused on such manufacturers.
We have almost all of the world’s providers that supply us with their games. For Live games it is Evolution, for slot machines it is NetEnt, BetaSoft, Spinomenal and others.
We take a very responsible approach to both licensed equipment and copyright not only in ground-based halls, but also online. Thus, recently we signed an agreement for obtaining licensed software with Greentube / Novomatic Interactive - one of the international leaders in the development of gambling technologies. SlotsCity.ua also agreed on software supply for online casinos with other world leading companies: EGT Interactive and Endorphina.
How are you developing your online services?
We have a broad online product of the legal online casino SlotsСity.ua, and we provide quality services of licensed games on the net.
We are presently developing a unified network for our slots and online casinos. In the future, it is going to be one product for the consumer who will have a unified balance, calculations, support, etc.
Unlike most other operators, we exist both online and offline. This means that users can get the service wherever they want.
How does the launch of the business meet your expectations?
The indicators are not bad. Of course, our expectations were a little higher, but I think we will come to that. The market situation will become more predictable and the indicators will level off, first of all, when all illegal halls are closed in Ukraine. Business, guests, and the reputation of the industry as a whole suffer from them.
We have very large investments, more than $ 25 million, and, obviously, they are aimed for a long period of work. It would be difficult to get this money back quickly. The DNA of our brand is based on a new philosophy for the Ukrainian market, which was introduced by our foreign partners. We do not strive to earn everything now, as Ukrainian investors often do. Our philosophy is in a fair, responsible game, long-term relationships with stakeholders, and most importantly, in providing players with an opportunity to enjoy the game.
That is why we are always ready to communicate with users, with the media and talk about the new principles of gambling culture - the principles of responsible gaming. They are new for Ukraine, but not new for other countries, with traditions of civilized markets and responsible business.
What is happening to the compliance with the legal requirement for responsible gaming?
These requirements are still only at the stage of implementation. Responsible gaming is a social story that is absolutely essential in this area of business.
We always say that our services are intended exclusively for people who have the means to play and who can afford to spend money on this type of leisure.
Many people go to the cinema, restaurant, club. Some people prefer to visit slot halls or casinos. There is nothing wrong with that as long as it is legal.
The online casino SlotsCity.ua was also the first on the gambling market to introduce authorization of its users using digital documents in the Diya application, since a legal operator must validate the player from the start of the game.
The platform should make sure that those people who are not allowed to do so by law do not gamble. Diya allows to do this as quickly and comfortably as possible.
What difficulties is Slots City experiencing now?
Our main problem is the illegal halls that exist in the cities of the country. Many consumers go there and not to us. This problem is partly due to the fact that people do not understand, do not want to verify their data.
Unlike illegal operators who lure people with various “goodies”, including bonuses, free alcohol, etc., a legal operator is strictly prohibited from doing this. After all, we are responsible for the players. The license obliges the legal operator to protect the players and their safety, in our case, customer data is protected by law.
What are your plans for the future?
We want to expand and open new locations in new cities.
On a larger scale, we are looking to eradicate stereotypes about the gambling business that have formed in Ukraine during the many years of the existence of underground establishments.
One of our main tasks is to support social programs and initiatives, as well as creating a correct understanding of our product from the consumer’s side.
A new gambling culture in Ukraine needs to be created from scratch, and we have already started doing this.
Originally published Casino Life Ukraine Magazine November 2021
