Armenian Parliament passes gambling restrictions

The bill passed by the Armenian Parliament only allows gambling to be offered at four towns in the territory.

Armenia.- Armenia continues with its aim to regulate gambling. This time, the Parliament passed at first hearing on Monday a series of gambling regulations that restrict gambling to only four towns in the territory. If passed, the law could come into force in November 2020.

The legislative piece aims at limiting bookmaking activity to just four towns: Tsakhkadzor, Jermuk, Sevan and Meghri. The initiative came to light in order to minimise gambling addiction among the Armenian population.

The bill passed by the Armenian Parliament is co-authored by Vice Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan from the ruling My Step Alliance, along with MP Sipan Pashinyan and opposition Prosperous Armenia MP Naira Zohrabyan.

If passed, only those four locations would be eligible to host casinos, automated gambling machines and other bookmaking activities. This legislation also lowers the number of cash transactions and sets age provisions.

Bookmakers against the restrictions

Last week, operators publicly protested the potential changes outside the Parliament building in Yerevan. They started the protests in order to get a meeting with Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, who came up with a bill in February to limit their operations.

Bookmakers that protested in the parliament said that closing their offices won’t solve gambling addiction. “By closing the offices it is the number of jobs that are being cut. Just look how much we pay in taxes,” a protesting bookmaker said.