will to collaborate. So they should be here. After that you have to decide what you want to achieve and put your resources, your budget, your time, your collaboration initiatives, towards those purposes, those goals that you put up there. Then you have to figure out whether you can actually live under that regime or not, and whether you can work towards it or if you have to change it somehow So it’s very much about what are we here for? And I think that’s where, politicians sometimes get it wrong because they don’t really agree with each other. What are the trying to achieve by regulation? And that is extremely damaging for the whole system. MS: And maybe also think about the impact of the measures you take. I’ll give a specific example: we had a online slots tax come into force in 2021, which is relatively high 5.3% on stakes, so the operators were forced to lower the RTP, in order to be able to actually pay the tax. So that immediately resulted in a less attractive product for the customer. This led to some customers going to other places with a higher RTP. So you can see, while tax revenue is being achieved, it results in a less interesting product and ultimately diminishing tax returns. JK: The stated objective of the legislation in Ireland is to create a free environment and to protect the vulnerable and the underage. So they’re saying we have to do this to keep our population safe, but there is obviously an economic undercurrent to it as well. And that’s the whole black market. It’s ongoing, the black market is everywhere. And unless you have a licensed activity that’s properly controlled, you’re not catering for the population who want to engage in some form of gambling. And at the same time there is protection for people who do engage in gambling. Questioner: I completely agree with the necessity for the regulator to talk to the industry, but how would you suggest we combat the inevitable accusations that the regulators are being influenced and under the influence of the lobbyists? Because this is what is happening quite a lot. They’re being photographed with, I don’t know, the owner of Novomatic and saying something shady is happening. JK: Olena maybe you could take this one because I know that in Ukraine, the same as in Ireland, the same as Switzerland everywhere, there are allegations that people are too close. And is there something going on and there is some level of corruption. OV: Yes, it’s a big problem for us. Because of these accusations we are not available to work with our operators closely. So we do it very officially and sometimes it’s really not effective. That’s a big problem. But we’re trying to make our functioning more transparent, so that everybody can see that it’s just a conference or just discussions but anyway, it’s a problem. BS: I think the way to deal with it, number one is to be aware that it is a challenge. Number two, try not to make any difference in how you approach industry, right? So don’t pick up the phone twice as many times with this guy compared to that guy, right? So you need to treat everyone fairly and to the best of your ability, you need to treat them in the same way. So everybody needs to be able to talk to you, meet up with you. Your staff need to be objective, you need to be available, informative and so forth. But, don’t hang around in the bar, late at night and say stupid things that you regret. That’s obviously a no-no. You have to be aware that this is a highly competitive market, like any other industry, and if you don’t understand that at the start, it’s very hard to recover. You get one chance at the start and you have a code of conduct within your team that you follow. So as long as you’re open and accessible, available for talks, that’s part of it. JK: The Irish regulator, at every meeting, she says I’m open to meeting everybody, but the meeting will take place in the government office, and there will be somebody taking notes. And by the way, we have anti lobbying legislation, and you need to register engagement. So to all the points that I think you both have made, that it’s open and transparent, and recorded, as best you can do. From the perspective of an advisor, I think the formal tone needs to be adopted in communications not folksy. KS-H: That also resonates with us because in because Latin America it is very formal, the communication and the
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