John Connolly is a 50-year veteran of the casino industry who began his career as a French roulette croupier and earned his British Manager’s Certificate in 1978. Most of his professional life has been dedicated to casino gaming management. His hobby of collecting information on casino cheats, particularly names and faces, started when he moved to Budapest in 1992. In 2003, while working in Switzerland, he decided to transition into consultancy work as a cheat detection expert.
Cristian has served as Chief of Staff at Romania’s National Gambling Office (ONJN) since March 2017, bringing extensive expertise in asset management, corporate restructuring, and strategic oversight across sectors like energy, mining, and banking. With a strong track record in building and leading sales networks, managing state assets, and negotiating complex cases, he has held leadership roles in prominent organizations, including Electrica SA, Transelectrica SA, and Volksbank SA. A seasoned professional with a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and a History degree from the University of Bucharest, Cristian is proficient in English and Romanian, with additional Read More
Jessica Maier is a co-founder of EGARA (Executive Gaming and Risk Advisory), a gaming consultancy firm specialised in providing C-level advice on regulation, licensing, risk-management, and compliance. Having been a partner in a law firm focussed on gaming law and the Chief Risk Officer/Head of Legal and Compliance and Head of Government Affairs in gaming software companies, Jessica comes with both private practice and in-house experience and has worked on various projects and public policy initiatives in close collaboration with regulators, legislators and industry stakeholders. She has been involved in numerous licensing proceedings (B2B and B2C), has performed regulatory due Read More
Rada Gyonova is a member of the Board of Directors of Bulgarian Sport Totalizator. With multiple master’s degrees in Law, European Law, and Responsible and Sustainable Management, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role. Rada heads the company’s key projects focused on “Responsible Gaming” and “Sustainability,” emphasizing her commitment to ethical practices within the gambling industry. Additionally, she has served as the Head of the Legal and Procurement Department at Bulgarian Sport Totalizator for 10 years, demonstrating her extensive experience in legal matters and strategic management.
Miglena Dimitrova is a MDMI Legal Managing Partner. She is an IP and regulatory lawyer and mediator. Her main areas of practice include IP & IT law, financial services, regulatory matters focusing mainly on financial services and gambling. Miglena Dimitrova has developed extensive experience advising and representing clients in the intellectual property, IT, gambling, and media sectors.
Dr. Krasimir Simonski served as National Cybersecurity Coordinator and Chair of the State eGovernment Agency of Bulgaria until 2022. His area of supervision included the ICT infrastructure of the State Administration and national security-related establishments, such as data centers, communication facilities and the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). Prior to this position, Dr. Simonski was Chair of the Bulgarian Research and Education Network (BREN), the Bulgarian partner in the pan European Research Network, a.k.a GEANT. He has developed and managed successfully large scale IT projects, such as the UNDP Project Telecentres – a project, which received high international recognition Read More
Presian Yankulov is a Bulgarian cybersecurity expert with extensive experience in information and network protection. He works as a network security engineer at BaselineIT.eu and is an active member of the cybersecurity community. Presian is one of the organizers of Bsides Sofia, an international cybersecurity event held annually in Sofia. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the “National Cybersecurity Team” association, which aims to prepare and represent Bulgaria at international cybersecurity competitions. Presian is actively involved in training and mentoring young talent in cybersecurity, as part of the team that prepares the national team Read More
To their very first client, Jochen established Chevron Consultants in 2000 to provide support in an application within a regulated market. Over time, the company expanded and evolved into the Chevron Group, a prominent provider of compliance consulting, outsourcing, training, and audits in multiple jurisdictions. Today, the Chevron Group has offices in Frankfurt (Germany), Gzira (Malta), Milan (Italy) and Barcelona (Spain). Notably, one of the group’s members has been recognized as an ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) body by the European Commission since 2019. Apart from his involvement in compliance, Jochen also has a keen interest in technology. He has founded several tech companies and currently Read More
Аleksandar Popov is the Director of the Directorate “Supervision of Gambling and Gambling Activities” of the Bulgarian National Revenue Agency and he is responsible for the implementation of the state policy in the field of gambling. He has more than 10 years of experience in the field of state control over sectors with a significant concentration of public funds and has an extensive background in the development of legislation and management of public interest litigation, regulation, governance and public sector strategy. Aleksandar is a lawyer and he is certified as an internal auditor in the public sector.
Cosmina Maria Simion is the managing partner of WH Simion & Partners in Bucharest. She is a regulatory, technology, intellectual property and corporate lawyer with more than 20 years of professional experience and expertise in various industries, with a particular emphasis on the gambling, media and entertainment and online industries. Cosmina is the First Vice President of International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL), a non-profit association of gaming attorneys, regulators, educators, executives and consultants from around the world. In the gaming field, Cosmina’s experience encompasses the full range of regulatory and operational gaming aspects for betting and gaming operators, software Read More
