Industry News
SAZKA Group: COVID-19 update
SAZKA Group wishes to give an update to its stakeholders regarding the measures our companies and retail partners have taken with regard to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
First and foremost, in order to protect the health and safety of our customers, employees, partners and the public, all our companies have fully complied with all the decisions and recommendations of the public authorities in the countries of their operations. We have successfully implemented contingency and business continuity plans with no significant impact to our business processes, and almost all our employees are currently working from home.
While all our digital channels continue to operate without interruption, our physical retail networks have adopted various measures to safeguard public health and the health of our employees.
We anticipate that these developments will impact our financial performance. The extent of the impact will depend on factors including the duration of the outbreak, how longer current restrictions remain in place, further measures taken by governments, and the extent of economic disruption.
Robert Chvatal, CEO commented: “Management are working on mitigating steps to minimise the financial impact for our companies, our employees, and our partners. SAZKA Group is in daily contact with its local operating companies to coordinate timely response to the developments in individual markets.”
Below is a brief overview of the current situation in our markets:
Greece
On Friday 13 March 2020, the Greek government published its decision to impose a temporary ban on the operation of a wide range of shops, indoor venues and other locations. As a result, all of the OPAP stores and PLAY gaming halls in Greece will be closed for two weeks, from Saturday 14 March until Friday 27 March 2020 inclusive. The horseracing facility at Markopoulo Park will also be closed.
Consequently, during this period, the company’s gaming activities will only be operating through its online platforms, which offer sports betting and certain other lottery games, and via the street vendor network of Hellenic Lotteries, which offers scratch cards and passive lotteries.
OPAP’s stores in Cyprus have been temporarily closed as of.
Austria
On Friday 13 March 2020, the Austrian government published its decision to impose a temporary ban on the operation of a wide range of shops, excluding those providing basic services such as food retail, pharmacies, post offices, banks, petrol stations and tobacco stores. The decision went into force on Monday 16 March 2020. The ban has so far had only a limited impact on the availability of Austrian lotteries products through its main retail channels, as more than 90% of all point-of-sales are excluded from the ban.
Austrian Lotteries’ online gaming activities remain available to the public during the entire period. They include draw based games (including Austrian Lotteries’ major products Lotto and Euromillions), instant scratch cards, online casino, poker, bingo and sports betting.
In coordination with the authorities, Casinos Austria has decided to close all its casinos in Austria and its subsidiary Austrian Lotteries has decided to close all its 19 gaming halls on March 13, 2020. The casinos and gaming halls will be closed at least until April 13, 2020. The Austrian government is introducing measures to support part time work, which may allow reduce Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries to reduce the financial impact of the closure
Casinos Austria International, which operates casinos and VLT businesses in multiple countries, is closely monitoring the situation and acting in accordance with the instructions of local governmental bodies.
Czech Republic
As of Monday 16 March, the State Security Council of the Czech Republic has decided to severely limit free movement in the Czech Republic in order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic. Citizens are allowed going to work and shop for supplies limited to food, vital supplies, fuel and medicine, as well as use of necessary financial and postal services. We estimate that 70% of SAZKA’s Czech retail network, including newsstands and post offices, continues providing their services to the public.
At the same time, we are actively promoting the use of online platforms for lottery products as well as digital-only offerings. In recent weeks we have seen a 25-30% increase in sales via digital channels compared to previous weeks.
Italy
Most shops, restaurants and cafes in Italy are currently closed as a result of a number of recent measures. Tobacconists, which are a key channel for LOTTOITALIA, are allowed to remain open, however traffic has declined.
About SAZKA Group:
We are one of the largest pan-European lottery operators. Our businesses operate lotteries in all the major continental European countries where lotteries are privately operated, including the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria and Italy, and in Cyprus. Our businesses focus on the lottery segment, including numerical lotteries (draw-based games) and instant lotteries (scratch cards), and also provide complementary products, including sports-betting and digital-only games. They sell their products both through various retail networks and through digital platforms.
BetBlocker
New Turkish-language tool from BetBlocker extends service to 90 million additional people
Gambling harm prevention charity BetBlocker today reveals the extension of their award-winning assistance into Turkish.
In 2025, BetBlocker saw a tremendous increase in support, with more than three hundred thousand individual users initiating a block throughout the year. This significant level of engagement has been made possible by the diverse array of languages into which the charity has translated its assistance.
Yesilay, the main Turkish support service, reports that requests for help with gambling are now surpassing those for alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, alongside significant uptake and harm among youth, making the launch of Turkish language support timely and relevant.
Founder and Trustee for BetBlocker, Duncan Garvie, offered these comments: “BetBlocker is genuinely excited to roll out our second language expansion of 2026.
We’ve experienced phenomenal uptake of the service over the last 12 months and figures hare steadily rising. One of the biggest drivers of that growth has been improving the accessibility of our support by meeting users where they are and offering support in the language that they’re most comfortable accessing in.
Alongside Turkey itself, there are substantial Turkish speaking communities across Europe, the Middle East and North America. It is our hope that this evolution of BetBlocker will ensure that a deeper level of support is available more widely across the Turkish diaspora.
BetBlocker would like to offer our deepest thanks to Fatmatuz Zehra Pehlivan, a Clinical Psychologist and researcher, who volunteers Green Cresent in the field of addiction treatment. Fatmatuz volunteered her time to help translate our app, and every Turkish language user we support owe her their thanks for the donation of her time and expertise.
As with many of the communities BetBlocker now supports, we would not be able to reach so many people without the kindness and generosity of field experts like Fatmatuz.”
The post New Turkish-language tool from BetBlocker extends service to 90 million additional people appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Anastasia Rimskaya Chief Account Officer at Aviatrix
Aviatrix Launches New Loot Boxes to Deepen Progression and Reward Paths
Aviatrix has launched a new Loot Box feature for its premier crash game, presenting collectible rewards, free bets, and progression bonuses aimed at boosting long-term player engagement.
Loot Boxes are granted through a daily rewards mechanism, with players obtaining them according to their in-game actions and advancement. Every box holds a variety of rewards, such as aircraft skins, complimentary bets, and aviation experience points.
The feature enhances Aviatrix’s developing loyalty system, providing players with fresh options to personalize their aircraft and earn rewards through continuous engagement.
Anastasia Rimskaya, Chief Account Officer at Aviatrix, said: “Loot Boxes are part of our wider vision for Aviatrix as a connected multi-game universe. As we expand our iGaming Metaverse, features like Loot Boxes add another meaningful layer to how players build their profile, customise their aircraft and earn rewards across the ecosystem.”
Unveiled in February, the Aviatrix iGaming Metaverse signifies the supplier’s shift from a standalone crash game to an integrated multi-title ecosystem.
Starting with the imminent debut of Aviatrix Second Chance and continuing with upcoming titles like Aviatrix Fruits and Aviatrix Mines, every game will utilize a single integrated player profile, progression system, and rewards and achievements framework.
The post Aviatrix Launches New Loot Boxes to Deepen Progression and Reward Paths appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Alec Gehlot Chief Executive Officer at PlaySignal
PlaySignal Debuts: Alec Gehlot’s New Sophisticated Responsible Gaming Platform
Alec Gehlot, previous senior executive at Optimove, has introduced PlaySignal, a responsible gaming platform aimed at assisting operators in identifying and addressing player risk promptly.
PlaySignal employs a traffic-light system featuring green, amber, and red signals to steer player conduct and indicate when behaviors start to enter higher-risk areas. The platform seeks to minimize avoidable exclusions by offering operators enhanced visibility of rising risks, while simultaneously giving players more understanding of how their actions are evaluated.
Leveraging behavioural analytics, PlaySignal tracks player actions during gameplay and displays information as distinct signals. This allows teams to act earlier and react more appropriately as risk evolves.
The product connects with current operator systems to assist responsible gaming, CRM, and compliance teams by providing a unified view of activities, encouraging a more uniform strategy among teams as regulatory demands grow in important markets.
Building on his time at Optimove, where he collaborated with operators on segmentation, retention, and user engagement, Gehlot recognized a demand for innovative tools to enhance player protection as regulatory and tax pressures mount in regulated markets.
The company launched PlaySignal at ICE earlier this year, where it was a contender in the Innovators Challenge, and initiated talks with operators in various markets. The initial launch will concentrate on the UK prior to global expansion.
Alec Gehlot, Chief Executive Officer at PlaySignal, said: “Regulation and taxation are only moving in one direction, and operators need new tools to adapt. Player protection can no longer be treated as a compliance obligation; it has to become a competitive differentiator.
“Regulated operators are under real pressure, particularly in the UK, and we believe giving them earlier visibility of risk is essential not just for protection, but for long-term sustainability.”
The post PlaySignal Debuts: Alec Gehlot’s New Sophisticated Responsible Gaming Platform appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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