Armenian Prime Minister says there is a need for an operator in the gambling area

YEREVAN, March 5. /ARKA/. A separate operator will regulate the gambling sector in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

“A legislative regulation has been worked out, according to which such an operator will appear in the near future. We will receive information about bets, winnings and other things on an individual basis,” Pashinyan said during the government Q&A session in Parliament on Wednesday.

He said that taking into account the risks of artificial lobbying for operator candidates, a decision has been made to introduce a separate duty from April 1.

“We are waiting for the operator to come out. An agreement has been reached that until the operator comes out, the duty will be gradually raised. The purpose of this is not so much fiscal. It is conditioned by the intention to engage the operator as soon as possible,” Pashinyan said.  

On March 5, the Armenian parliament approved a new duty in the field of gambling in the amount of 10% of turnover for online games with winnings, online casinos, but not for sweepstakes and bookmakers.

According to the legislation, an operator of online winnings games must be involved. However, the companies operating in this area hinder this process. For this reason, a clause has been added to the draft, according to which if an operator is not established, the amount of the levied duty will be doubled every six months.-0-