Full legalization of gambling around the world is the policy of developed countries. Legalization of the field has several important functions. One of the main ones is economic, because the gambling industry stimulates the development of related sectors of the economy. In this regard, Georgia is no exception, where the growth of the gambling market was accompanied by the growth of business activity in many industries.

From March 2022, the new draft law on gambling business has been fully implemented and entered into force. Legislative initiatives have resonated not only in the gambling industry, but also in sports, mass media and other sectors of the economy. Many sectors will be affected by the changes provided by the new draft law. The hasty and unconstructive decision created a number of problems for the country.

1. The regulations will have a negative impact on the country's budget. The government has increased the tax obligations for the gaming sector - even in the conditions where the current tax burden is 40%. With the legislative change (increasing the tax to 70%), further business activities will become impossible. This is especially significant if we take into account that the entities participating in the sector have a significant influence on the formation of the state and local budgets;

2. It is important that the changes will have a negative impact on many sectors of the Georgian economy. For example, we can cite sports, media, telecommunications, financial and IT sectors (for example, with the deterioration of the economic indicators of the media, the number of unemployed will increase both in the field of gaming business and in related industries, which is critical in the conditions that the unemployment rate in the country is 22%. We are talking about thousands of for employees and tens of thousands of people dependent on them;

3. The draft law does not take into account the interests of those international companies that have made the largest investment in Georgia over the years - therefore, this will be a warning message to those companies that plan to invest in Georgia and, accordingly, to give a new boost to the local economy. The changes made in the tax legislation also contradict the guarantees defined by the Constitution of Georgia and violate the conditions established by the "investment protection" agreements signed with Great Britain and Sweden;

4. Some of the changes developed by the government are unconstitutional. For example, we can cite the increase of the age limit to 25 years. In the conditions when the age of capacity in the country is 18 years, increasing the minimum age of players to 25 years is completely unjustified. Establishing an age limit for an adult citizen restricts his right to freely dispose of the funds in his possession, which is a direct violation of the right to property guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia.

5. The new regulations will cause a flow of users to foreign, unlicensed websites where the age limit is 18 years and, unlike local online gaming websites, high registration/verification standards do not apply. The mentioned actually excludes the control of the protection of the rights of the citizens of Georgia by the state. In addition, it is impossible to eliminate the mentioned risks even in the conditions of restricting access to foreign websites: in the 21st century, in the conditions of technological capabilities and the availability of foreign wallets, it is practically impossible to eliminate playing on unlicensed websites outside the country and, accordingly, the outflow of money. Today, there is no such technology in the world through which the so-called VPN blocking, which is a clear example of the US and China, which, despite unlimited resources, still failed to restrict access to virtual private networks for users.

6. According to the world experience, the prohibition of gambling business is not a way to limit the game or eliminate gambling addiction, since even under the conditions of the ban, the game continues on illegal websites or illegal so-called in the form of a "hand game". Moreover, prohibition is accompanied by a number of negative consequences, including an increase in crime. Under the conditions of the ban, the country's economy suffers due to unacceptable taxes and other negative effects caused by the ban, without solving the problems voiced by the Georgian government.