Armenia to overhaul casino licensing

Armenian government is currently overseeing changes to its casino licences and regulations in order to benefit from the country's increased gaming market, according to Russian gambling news outlet News of Gambling.

The changes are being pushed forward by Armenian Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan, and will allow for an investor or group of investors looking to build developments in Armenia to be automatically granted gambling licences following an investment of AMD40bn (£650,000) or more.

Rules on casinos are currently very strict in the nation, however, there are already casinos operating within Armenia in four designated gambling areas. There is also a state run lottery, licensed gaming halls and a number of iGaming operators within the country.

New legislation introduced on the 1 June saw a relaxation of the strict laws as the Ministry of Finance looked to attract wealthy casino goers, whilst still keeping an eye on large gambling transactions as a result of money laundering fears. All those wagering more than AMD1m (£1600) will have all of their transactions monitored in a government database.

Armenia hasn’t seen significant change to its gambling laws since 2006 and the government claims that despite large growth in the gambling sector the state has benefited little financially. As a result it is looking to expand future gambling operations with the view of being able to monitor tax and benefit greater from the industry.