…SERGEY MUKHANOV
here, since we have easy access to great home-grown talent. Also the energy and exceptional academic output gives Tomsk a “start up village” spirit which is really inspiring. However, the greatest disadvantage is geographical.
Tomsk is a small cold city located so far from gaming industry hubs, therefore it is very hard to conduct international business from here and one of the main reasons we opened an office in Malta.
companies; however, on the other hand I now see more things that would be nice to change than when I first started in this role. This brings its own challenges.
CIO: What qualities do you bring personally to the company that will help ensure ongoing success? SM: I have an ability to focus on and solve complex
tasks and really care about the obligation I have taken on, and I care about the company which has become like a second family. As previously mentioned, being CEO has its rewards but also its challenges and I feel that I have the experience and qualities to find solutions, which in turn will create opportunities. Opportunities for the company to grow and ultimately our customers as we strive to bring innovation to the forefront of all we do.
CIO: What are you focused on right now? SM: My current priority is to increase the company
staff by a further 1.5 times, in order to address the increased demands from our dynamic customers who are growing at a great rate. We are also searching for new ways to recruit the right staff, making the management team stronger and introducing new practices to achieve better productivity – whilst honouring our company ethos. We are also seeking to intensify our PR activity. We feel that Connective Games is the gaming industry’s best kept secret, but we have been powering poker operators for more than 10 years and in fact Connective Games is one of the largest suppliers of B2B-Poker. We significantly increased our marketing and PR activity this year and we hope this will bring results.
CIO: What are some of the advantages and
disadvantages to being based in Tomsk? Is it difficult to attract the tech talent? SM: Tomsk is a 400-year-old Siberian education and scientific center. Tomsk State University - the oldest university in Siberia - was founded in 1878, and today the city has six universities and nine Research Institutions of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science. Interesting facts: 20% of the population are students, more than 200 IT companies and 300 innovative enterprises around scientific cluster. So there are obvious advantages to being based
CIO: How do you see the regulatory landscape panning out in Russia? The government has regulated sports betting; will poker be next? SM: This question has caused many long discussions. In 2014, the First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov instructed the ministries of Economic Development and Justice to produce a report on legalizing online poker, its taxation and regulation. Therefore there is still a lot of uncertainty on the plans to regulate the online poker as well as the timelines for the roll-out. However, we now think the decision is closer. Recently Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Head of the World
Chess Federation and former President of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, said that online poker “should be legalized; too many people are involved and are playing online. There are no reasons that it should be hidden and illegal.” Naturally we support Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s point of view which considers poker as a “game of skill” rather than a “game of chance.”
CIO: What are some of the possible headwinds facing CG and the online gambling industry in general over the next few years? SM: We think gaming addiction is becoming a
greater issue, similar to other industries such as tobacco, alcohol etc. It seems that this threat will force the industry to make major changes or face increasing, stifling regulation. So in this regard, the operators and the software suppliers will have to figure out the plans, adapt to the changing reality, improve their approach and react quickly.
CIO: What will the rest of 2016 be consumed with?
SM: We are continuing to build our poker offering with a variety of launches such as Multi-entry tournaments (including re-entry function), Progressive Knockout Tournaments and Windfall for mobile applications. Perhaps one of the most fundamental will be the launch of the world’s fastest HTML5 poker game client based on WebGL in 2017. With regards to the casino, we are hoping to launch at least two new games that have been made in partnership with Fuga Gaming – a really exciting partnership that has already been well received by customers.
CIO: Where do you want Connective to be in 24 months? SM: That’s easy; to be the largest B2B poker supplier in the world.
OCTOBER 2016 59
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