Narek Karapetyan explains how Armenian authorities legalized online  casinos in Armenia

ArmInfo.  Narek Karapetyan, a member of the political council of the Strong Armenia party, explained how, instead of restricting online casinos, the Armenian authorities  legalized them through legislative amendments.

Specifically, on his Facebook page, Karapetyan urged people to  consider how a man who became the speaker of the National Assembly of  Armenia, by amending the law on online casinos, imprisoned an  Armenian citizen for gambling. In this regard, he recalled how the  2019 amendments officially enshrined the status and rules of "online  betting" in law. These same amendments, he said, allowed organizers  to provide software support for online games and manage winning odds.  "Thanks to this amendment, the state hasn't effectively restricted  online casinos, but rather fully legalized them, providing the  opportunity for technological development. As a result, betting has  become a faster, more accessible, and more professionally organized  system, which naturally increases engagement and betting volume," the  party's political council member noted.

Karapetyan then recalled how the 2022-2024 amendments introduced  special gaming accounts, bank card identification, and a completely  cashless betting system, justified by the need to ensure  transparency.  (Article 5.2, amendments: ??-139-?, ??-312-?,  ??-133-?). "However, as a result, betting has become completely  online and integrated into the banking system, accessible from your  phone in just a few clicks.  That is, as a result of the 'reforms,'  technical obstacles are being removed, and betting is becoming faster  and more accessible for everyone. And what was this done in exchange  for?" Karapetyan concluded with a rhetorical question.

As a reminder, on May 7, Narek Karapetyan accused the Speaker of the  Armenian Parliament of patronizing the gambling industry in the  country. He recalled that last year alone, Armenian citizens lost $20  million in online casinos. Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen  Simonyan responded to Karapetyan's post, suggesting that the name of  the speaker of parliament he was referring to be included, and  promising to defend his own interests in court if he was involved. He  asserted that Karapetyan was "afraid of lawsuits," so he did not  mention the speaker's name. It's worth noting that in 2025, Armenia's  gambling industry underwent significant changes aimed at increasing  state budget revenues. A 10% tax on turnover was introduced on July 1  for all types of gambling, including online casinos, bookmakers, and  lotteries. This reform is expected to generate an additional 13  billion drams for the state budget. Gambling duties doubled, reaching  350 million drams for online casinos and 100 million drams for  bookmakers.  According to the Armenian Ministry of Finance, gambling  revenues from the budget during this period totaled 23.4 billion  drams.