Georgia may ban Gambling business

Bidzina Ivanishvili, a candidate for the post of the Georgian Prime-Minister, intends to prohibit gambling in Georgia.

He says that for the last years Batumi has turned into the gambling and prostitution center, and Ivanishvili believes the reason for that is the intention of the previous authorities to attract tourists.

«I don’t think it’s a good idea to turn Batumi into such a place to get 1% income into the economics of our country», - Ivanishvili has declared.

His statement has got an immediate response from the Batumi city hall and financial services. They claim the income from gambling is crucial for the municipal budget, since it gives a half of all non-tax earnings.

Batumi has 30 gambling facilities. The Batumi budget has already received 6 million lari from the gambling business in 2012, and by the year end this amount will rise to 7 millions.

The city has issued licenses for only 4 casinos, 11 slot clubs, and up to 15 pari-mutuel machines.

English translation BSN
Adapted from Business Georgia