Georgian Dream-led parliament has adopted a package introducing “international gambling tournaments” into the Georgian legislation, drawing criticism and questions from Georgia’s Public Defender, opposition MPs, and the representatives Georgian Orthodox Church.
Under the new amendments, fast-tracked in the October 27 and 28 plenary sessions, an “international gambling tournament” is an event run by a casino permit holder in which at least 80% of participants must be foreign citizens. Organizers are released from having to pay the fee per club table if they use a table exclusively for the tournament, and the prize pool exceeds GEL 3 million (USD 1,2 million).
The ruling party, which had earlier adopted laws restricting gambling, has now claimed that such tournaments have taken place before, but that the need to introduce them into legislation was prompted by legal uncertainties surrounding the business. It also hopes that such tournaments will help boost tourism.
The authors of the legislation said in the explanatory note that the changes fill a gap in the previous legislation, which did not define an “international tournament” or regulate how one is held, leaving businesses and regulators uncertain. The party also argues that the tournaments will draw foreign players, boosting tourism, helping attract international events, and generating extra economic activity.
“It is currently possible to host an international tournament in Georgia; the legislation allows for it. In fact, we are tightening regulations and implementing monitoring specifically for such tournaments,” explained Shota Berekashvili, GD MP and businessman, during the plenary session on October 28.
Georgia’s Public Defender’s Office criticised the amendments, urging parliament not to adopt them.
“Particularly damaging is the fast-tracked consideration of this socially sensitive issue, without relevant experts and without a full assessment of the risks to human rights,” the Office said in its October 27 statement. “Gambling has a serious negative impact on fundamental human rights,” it added, citing the World Health Organization, which treats gambling as a public health problem and links it to worse mental health, harm to minors, financial difficulties and family conflict.
The office also faulted the bill’s explanatory note, saying it lacks a separate public health assessment, does not analyse possible social harm or the cost of preventing it, and does not review other countries’ experience.
The Head of the Public Relations Service of the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarchate, Archpriest Andria Jaghmaidze, said he shared the Public Defender’s arguments. “The Patriarchate cannot stay on the sidelines of such a process,” he told Interpressnews.
The amendments drew sharp criticism from opposition MPs at the plenary session. “Tbilisi is full of ads offering jobs in the drug trade. Now we will have ads for international gambling too. Are you thinking about young people?” said MP Sophio Khorguani from the Gakharia For Georgia party, the only opposition force represented in the disputed parliament.
“I understand that the economy has to develop, but there are other ways that would bring the country a more sustainable and self-sufficient economy,” she added.
The fast-tracked amendments appear to come against the ruling party’s earlier declared efforts against gambling addiction.
In December 2021, the GD-led parliament adopted a series of restrictions on gambling rules, extending the list of people barred from gambling to civil servants and socially vulnerable citizens, raising the legal gambling age, banning advertising, and increasing taxes on the industry, following long campaigning by activists who pointed to addiction, indebtedness, and suicides linked to problem gambling.
The vote is the latest in a long run of laws passed at speed by the ruling party over the past years. According to the Social Justice Center, a Georgian rights group, the parliament adopted nearly 300 legislative initiatives between November 2024 and June 2026, most through expedited procedures without substantive consideration.
