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Economist Mesrop Arakelyan, a former social welfare minister, says that betting amounted to 115 billion drams in Armenia in the first half of 2021.

"Bookmaking continues to be one of the biggest evil practices in our society,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

“The government has drafted amendments to the law on advertising, which increases the restrictions on gambling adverts. However, the main type of advertising remains out of home advertising, the alleged ban on which has flooded the entire city with new, small billboards,” he said.

The economist calls for a total ban on outdoor advertising by removing the provision allowing the placement of advertisements of up to 5 square meters in area from Article 15 (Part 10) of the advertisement law.

“In the first half of 2021, 115 billion drams in bets were placed. In other words, more than 1 million dollars are bet daily. There is no alternative to banning the industry,” Arakelyan said.