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The legislation in force allows having audiovisual media means, the names of which cannot be like the names or trademarks of the companies being engaged with the organization of the gambling games and lotteries of identical or confusion degree, which gives an opportunity to have radio or TV channels, and the people can associate its names with gambling business, in fact becoming an indirect advertisement.

The deputy, the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gevorg Papoyan proposes by the amendments to the laws on Audiovisual Media and on Advertisement to set that the names of the audiovisual mass media cannot be like the names or trademarks of the companies being engaged with the organization of the gambling games, internet winning games and lotteries of identical or confusion degree, which were involved with that activity, names or trademarks.

The author proposed to replace the word combination ‘in the last 5 years’ into ‘in the last 10 years.’ The Committee members were not against the change.

Answering the question of the Committee member Narek Babayan on the change of the term, Gevorg Papoyan noted: “Our problem is not against any betting, our problem is against gambling. If it related to any organization, then it would become an indirect advertisement.”

Emphasizing the adoption of the package, the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport Sisak Gabrielyan noted that that their aim is not imposing the companies being engaged with business, but backing by law, as they make investments in different spheres, especially the volume of the IT sphere.

The co-rapporteur, the Committee member Hasmik Hakobyan expressed her satisfaction on the legislative package.

According to Gevorg Papoyan, after the first reading the deputies did not present recommendations. The proposal of the Government of technical character was accepted.

The package of the draft laws on Making Addenda to the law on Audiovisual Media and on Amending the law on Advertisement was debated in the second reading at the extraordinary sitting of the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport on December 19.