A Sudden Ban on Casinos Could Lead to Worse Phenomena, Says Badasyan

During today’s government meeting, the head of the State Revenue Committee, Rustam Badasyan, presented a package of draft laws on "Regulation of Gaming Activities," which aims to limit the number of individuals permitted to place bets. This applies to both online and live gambling. For instance, individuals under the age of 21 will not be allowed to participate, nor will those benefiting from budget subsidy programs or social security programs.

Mediahub later inquired during Badasyan’s concluding press conference whether he believes the outright ban on online or live casinos is appropriate in our country, or if they indeed provide substantial revenue for the budget, thus making such prohibitions impractical.

"I believe the logic is perhaps flawed. That is, the activities of any sector cannot be conditioned solely on state budget revenues. By imposing restrictions, I believe we ensure communication with our society. Everyone knows that indulging in gambling poses dangers, and banning the activity is never a good solution, because when we prohibit operations, worse phenomena and greater risks arise for our citizens. Therefore, we are opting for restrictions. A sharp ban on casinos could lead to even worse phenomena, for example, unregulated, shadowy operations and hard-to-detect casinos, and so forth," Rustam Badasyan stated.