YEREVAN. – Numerous employees of Armenia’s bookmakers, and who are staging a protest outside the National Assembly (NA) building since Wednesday morning, are not reopening Marshal Baghramyan Avenue in capital city Yerevan. The police are trying to calm them down and convince them to reopen the avenue, but in vain.

The demonstrators state that since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not in the country at present, they will meet solely with NA Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan.

They noted that the closing down of bookmakers’ offices in Armenia will lead to the establishment of monopolies for online bookmakers. 

Many workers of Armenia’s bookmakers are picketing outside the parliament building, and against the bill on limiting the activities of the country’s bookmaker offices—and which the NA will debate on.

This proposed law aims to toughen the terms for conducting betting in Armenia, and it has been developed along the lines of fight against gambling in the country.

The bill proposes to remove all bookmaking offices from Yerevan.

If the draft law is passed, it will come into force in November 2020.