It injected life and energy into the show and meant that, throughout the three halls EELEX occupied, there was always something to see and experience. For the many companies whose products cross over into both markets, EELEX must have felt like Christmas – though now it is in a far more Western-friendly spot in September, compared to its usual late-December date. Also new to EELEX was the venue, the Crocus expo centre outside Moscow. It’s a class venue, as the inaugural World of Games in 2005 showed; the question remained as to whether EELEX was shooting itself in the foot by moving to the same venue as its main rival, thereby losing the advantage of its central Moscow location.

The industry need not have worried. Unicum pulled off a very enjoyable exhibition with minimal problems, and all on the eve of that momentous decision from Mr Putin. Luckily for Unicum, the show fell before the announcement from Russia’s President, or there may have been no-one in attendance at all. The repercussions of the announcement about giving Russia only four gaming locations all far away from population centres are still being calculated - but for World of Games and EELEX, the results could be devastating.

Unicum’s huge stand was quite focussed towards showing its new branding, under the ‘U’ the company’s many arms are being streamlined to make a more universally recognisable brand. More on this in a later issue. Its stand was impressive, covering a huge amount of floor space, and drew many visitors. At this, the 15th EELEX, there was both strong international and domestic representation, which is particularly heartening considering that, at the time, no-one knew what might happen with Russian gaming legislation.

Unicum’s official figures state that 68 per cent of the show’s 8,869 attendees were local gaming professionals, with UK visitors next, way down at eight per cent. 1.064 of the visitors were new to the show, which is heartening, with 88 per cent regular EELEX attendees. Breaking things down further, the organisers say the Russian gaming and amusement community took the most active part in the trade event, with 51 per cent of all visitors representing slot operations, 14 per cent were casino operators, followed by amusement operators (13 per cent) and gaming equipment manufacturers (13 per cent). The show also attracted top business managers from all segments, with 44 per cent of exhibition attendees claiming to be presidents, CEOs or business owners, with a further 23 per cent of managers. These visitors would have been wowed by the international big guns, companies like IGT, Novomatic and CATS, who shared a huge stand, and Atronic were also there in force. Most companies were showing games and product available to lease, what with current legislation being so restrictive, but even so there were still many new products and every company there showed honest commitment to the market. Companies like Merkur Gaming, who cross over perfectly between casino and amusements, attracted a lot of attention right across the board from visitors. As Alexandra Soroko, EELEX Director, explains: “EELEX 2006 was quite a new experience for us, its organizers, because we hosted it in a new venue, by a new team and with new exhibits. It has also become a new experience for our visitors who came to the show and discovered a more diversified product offer. A decision to extend amusement and supporting products sections was highly efficient for both our traditional exhibitors and new customers, who were attracted by a new exposition and opportunities.” Planning for next year’s show (October 3 to 5, 2007) is already under way, though events in the next month could affect these significantly. Watch this space.

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