YEREVAN. - Closing the access to the online casinos in Armenia will pose technical difficulties, Vice President of the “Internet Society of Armenia” NGO Grigori Saghyan told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

The thing is that the foreign online casinos, where Armenian users also place their bets, don’t pay anything to the Armenian budget in contrast to the physical casinos operating in Armenia. The latter register with Armenia’s Ministry of Finance, receive a license and pay regular duties.

Theoretically, the foreign online casinos should also act like this. But given the small market of Armenia, they’re unlikely to agree to that, Saghyan said.

According to him, filters on the Internet traffic from Armenia to those casinos could be one way out, but this decision may be technically difficult.

There are also other banning mechanisms, Saghyan said. In the U.S., where gambling games are seriously restricted, struggle is carried out differently: online casinos merely don’t accept money from plastic cards issued by the U.S. banks to avoid problems with the U.S. law enforcement system, the expert noted.

Currently the possibilities of restricting the access to the online casinos in Armenia are discussed by Armenia’s Internet Governance Council, which includes representatives of state authorities, governmental organizations, business and Armenia’s Academy of Sciences. The Council is chaired by the Transport and Communication Deputy Minister of Armenia Gagik Tadevosyan.