"We got an important regulation very promptly", - Giorgi Papava, the leading economist of the ISET Research Institute, talked about the gambling business to TV-Program BMG DRIVE. The new regualtion provides banning advertising of gambling games, as well as restricting the right to play for persons under the age of 25 years and public officials.
According to Giorgi Papava, as a result of this regulation, it is likely that fewer people will become impoverished due to gambling, however, it will take time to measure this effect.
"We can evaluate the social effect of the regulation after some time, when we have more detailed data. The representatives of this gambling industry should also be more receptive to conducting analysis in their sector and then we can already measure this result and think about alternative regulations.
Very quickly we passed a very important regulation for the industry, which had a negative impact not only on this industry but also on the investment environment in general. If you look from the outside, some businesses in the country were very profitable, local firms sold companies to foreigners, and then suddenly the government introduced regulations, which caused significant damage to businesses," said Giorgi Papava.
Online gambling businesses - including online casinos, slot machines and betting - will be subject to mandatory permits for specific types of operation. According to the bill, online casino permits will be issued only to casino holders, with online slot machine permits likewise granted only to slot machine holders and betting permits issued only for holders of betting businesses.
The amendments seek to replace the current regulations that allow online gambling businesses to add different types of operations without acquiring additional permits. The annual permit fee for each of the business types will be GEL 100,000, with the fine for violating permit conditions set at GEL 50,000 and the penalty for violating fee deadlines at GEL 20,000.
