Armenia saw sharp rise in gambling under Pashinyan, MP warns

Armenian opposition MP Taguhi Tovmasyan has warned that the country’s gambling industry has expanded dramatically under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government, calling it “a boom that leads to national ruin”.

In a Facebook live video on Tuesday, the lawmaker said she had obtained official data from the State Revenue Committee showing a sharp increase in betting turnover since 2018.

According to the figures, the total value of bets placed in Armenia rose from 422.5 billion drams in 2018 to 1.2 trillion in 2019, 2 trillion in 2020, 3.9 trillion in 2021, 5.8 trillion in 2022, 6.4 trillion in 2023 and 7.2 trillion drams in 2024. The figure has already reached 4 trillion drams this year.

Tovmasyan argued that the government’s policies and legislative changes have failed to curb the surge in gambling, claiming the authorities are either “unable or unwilling” to act. She accused the Pashinyan administration of targeting political opponents instead of addressing social problems.

“The only sector showing rapid growth in Armenia today is gambling,” she said. “Under Nikol Pashinyan, we have indeed seen a sharp rise, but one that leads to destruction, failure and family breakdowns.”