Giorgi Sharashidze: Georgian Dream is trying to turn Georgia into a gambling hub; we ask the Patriarchate to get involved and help us prevent Georgian Dream from passing this harmful law by making its position known

"Georgian Dream is attempting to turn Georgia into a gambling country. We ask the Patriarchate to get involved in the discussion of this issue and, by making its position known, help us at least prevent Georgian Dream from passing this harmful law,” Giorgi Sharashidze, a member of the For Georgia party, told journalists.

According to him, the expedited adoption of a legislative package that would allow international gambling tournaments to be held has raised suspicions.

“Georgian Dream is attempting to turn Georgia into a gambling country. The party justifies this by claiming it will promote tourism. With all due respect, what kind of tourism development are we talking about?! If we want tourism, fine - Georgian Dream could legalise prostitution, too, and tourism would flourish. It could also legalise drug use, and tourism would flourish even further.

“The question is this: Is this the kind of tourism we want? Is this the kind of economy we want? Do we want to grow wealthy at the expense of ruining the lives of our children, young people and families? This is precisely Georgian Dream’s objective.

“When Georgian Dream decided to ban political parties, its primary goal was to pass laws that could be devastating for the country without any opposition or resistance. I would like to take this opportunity to call on the Patriarchate of Georgia to help us and get involved in this matter. This is an extremely important issue. Georgian Dream is once again abusing its power, and there is absolutely no justification for allowing gambling to expand to this extent in Georgia.

“The bill was introduced on Monday, discussed by Parliament on Tuesday, and is already scheduled for its second reading today. What kind of urgent necessity is there to legalise gambling that makes Georgian Dream so eager to pass this law through such an expedited procedure? Of course, this raises serious questions, to say the least,” Sharashidze stated.

For context, Parliament considered the legislative package under an expedited procedure and approved it at the first reading. Once enacted, the amendments would allow casinos to organise international gambling tournaments.

The changes affect the Law on the Organisation of Lotteries, Gambling and Games of Chance, as well as four related laws. The initiative, prepared by Georgian Dream MPs, is scheduled for approval at the second and third readings during the October 28 plenary session.

Under the bill, an international gambling tournament is defined as a competition organised by a casino permit holder in which at least 70% of all participants must be foreign nationals.

The bill also stipulates that if an organiser uses a gaming table exclusively to hold an international tournament and the tournament’s prize pool exceeds GEL 3 million, the organiser will be exempt from the gambling business levy.

The amendments establish penalties for violations of permit conditions, setting the fine at GEL 50,000. A fine of GEL 150,000 would apply if an unauthorised person violates the rules governing the organisation of international gambling tournaments.

Shota Berekashvili, one of the bill’s sponsors and Chair of Parliament’s Economic Policy Committee, explained that an international gambling tournament is not, strictly speaking, a gambling game and that such competitions are held in numerous European cities.

According to him, the initiative aims to support the tourism sector during periods of the year when tourist activity is low.