Hayastan faction lawmaker Kristine Vardanyan said the revenues of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) and bookmaker companies are the same or very close to each other. She made the remark in response to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that bets placed during the FIFA World Cup contributed to economic growth.
According to Panorama.am, Vardanyan questioned whether this amounts to Civil Contract’s new model of economic growth. She said the ruling party had once promised a fundamentally different model.
The opposition MP argued that the volume of betting in Armenia has not declined at all. Recalling the authorities’ statements about acquiring a stake in ZCMC and saying the state now receives more money as a result, she asked whether the revenues of the combine and bookmaker companies had been compared.
In her view, if those revenues are identical or nearly so, the question is why the state has not acquired a stake in this sector as well. Vardanyan said bookmaker companies — and more broadly gambling addiction — effectively enjoy state patronage in Armenia, despite the social consequences she said include broken families, suicides and other tragedies.
She also posed a rhetorical question about whether a time could come when similar statements would be made about drug addiction.
The source notes that bookmaking in Armenia is regulated by the state and carried out through licensed companies. The sector operates under Armenia’s Law on Lotteries and related legislation, and bookmaker firms are among the country’s major taxpayers and advertisers.
