Largest Central European provider of fixed-odds betting, Fortuna Entertainment Group, has entered the Hungarian and Austrian markets. The group, which until now has been operating in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia, has started to offer Internet betting in Hungary and Croatia under the FortunaWin.com brand through a Malta-based subsidiary company. Fortuna supported the new market entries with local advertising campaigns focused on the upcoming FIFA World Cup tournament.

”Presently, we particularly see Hungary as a market with very good prospects,” said Jiří Bunda, Fortuna Entertainment Group CEO. “Depending on this year's results and legislative conditions in Hungary, we also plan to develop a network of branch offices in chosen towns within approximately 12 months,” he added.

Online betting is the segment in which Fortuna Entertainment Group has seen the most significant growth in recent years. In the past two years, for example, the volume of Internet fixed-odds betting in Slovakia— the country in which Fortuna has provided online betting for the longest period—increased around eightfold. “The interest shown by both Slovak and Czech customers in Internet betting took us by surprise, dramatically outperforming our original estimations in the first two years of its availability,” said Bunda.

In Croatia, Fortuna sportska kladionica is currently finalising preparations for the commencement of online betting on the Croatian market, where the company already has approximately 200 branch offices. This move has been enabled by a change of legislation which enables companies with a local licence to offer Internet betting to Croatian customers from 11 June. “We want to be the first bookmaking company in Croatia to offer this type of betting. I assume that the online betting launch will be a milestone in the development of the Croatian market that will be gradually consolidated. We expect that several stronger players will subsequently shape this market segment, a process that has been seen in other countries,” added Bunda.

In Poland, where permission for online fixed-odds betting has not yet been granted to local companies, new legislation is in preparation which should open the online segment in the first quarter of 2011. Online betting has been provided by Fortuna in Slovakia since 2008, while favourable legislation enabled the company to start offering online betting in the Czech Republic in 2009. Fortuna operates through locally registered companies with the local licences that are respectively required in each of the established markets.