The Armenian parliament ratified Tuesday the agreement on formation of CSTO rapid reaction force.

The parliament also adopted the RA Law On Income Tax (second reading) and approved the amendments in the RA law on Gambling and Casinos (first reading).

ARF Dashnaktsutyun parliamentary group disputed against the amendments in the RA Law On Gambling and Casinos. MP Ara Nranyan believes that the Armenian government should withdraw the draft law for further developments. ''Like it's done in Las Vegas, US, separate areas should be allocated for the construction of casinos in Armenia,'' he said.

As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reported from the parliament, Armen Martirosyan from Heritage parliamentary group mentioned, “It will be unjustified and improper, should the government take the step for further development of tourism in Armenia. Casinos should be built outside tourist areas. If the government aims to develop the regions, then the casinos should be built in the border areas,” he said.

According to Victor Dallakyan, non-partisan member of RA National Assembly, the casinos should be banned in Armenia, as “it’s an evil for Armenians”.

“Increasing casinos’ taxes to AMD 1 billion per annum is reasonable from the viewpoint of tourism development and approximate calculations of the tourism income, which, in its turn, will cover casinos’ losses,” said Vardan Aramyan, RA Deputy Minister of Finance.

The draft law envisages AMD 1 billion annual fixed payments for casino activities in Armenia. Besides, all the casinos should be located in 3 resort centers: Jermuk, Tsaghkadzor, Sevan as well as Zvartnots airport area, known as a free trade zone. Should the first amendment come into force right after its approval, the last one will be in effect in 2013.