Anti-Corruption National Initiative
ANTI-CORRUPTIONNATIONALINITIATIVE

Reform of the Gambling Sector: Legislative Changes and Market Redistribution

Alen Simonyan’s relations with the Badalyan brothers, the owners of the “Vivaro” bookmaker company, were known even before he assumed one of the key positions in the system of government. However, in 2019, those ties acquired not merely a private, but also a political-regulatory dimension.

At that time, Alen Simonyan, serving as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, initiated amendments to the RA Law “On Games of Chance.” The adopted amendments significantly restricted the activities of bookmaker offices in the offline segment. In practice, they were allowed only in tourist cities—Tsaghkadzor, Jermuk, Sevan, and Meghri—as well as in a very limited number of locations in regional centers and the administrative districts of Yerevan.

As a result, the offline market for bookmaker services shrank significantly. Experts noted that such restrictions would inevitably lead to a redistribution of the market in favor of the online segment.

At that time, it was precisely in the online sector that the Badalyan brothers’ company, Vivaro (Soft Construct, vBet), held a leading position. Commenting on the situation, Alen Simonyan stated that the state “cannot blame a company for having properly structured its operations and placed an emphasis on online platforms.” In October 2019, the relevant amendments were adopted by parliament.

Following the adoption of the law, Soft Construct’s financial indicators began to grow sharply. According to the results of 2023, the company’s revenue amounted to around 61 billion drams. During January–September 2024, the company paid 13.9 billion drams in taxes to the state budget—60% more than during the same period of the previous year—ranking 11th on the list of Armenia’s largest taxpayers.

Against the backdrop of public discussions regarding possible lobbying of business interests, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed that Alen Simonyan’s acquaintance with Vigen Badalyan dated back to 2011, but denied allegations of patronage, emphasizing that personal relationships cannot be considered evidence of corruption.

Earlier, a number of publications had claimed that a Range Rover vehicle had been gifted to Alen Simonyan by Vigen Badalyan, the owner of the “Vivaro” company, in connection with promoting the legislative initiative concerning bookmaker offices. The vehicle was subsequently declared by Simonyan. He himself stated that he had acquired it with his own funds.

Additional attention to this sector was drawn by an investigation by the OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) team concerning the activities of Turkish businessman Halil Falyalı. Falyalı’s former financial director, Cemil Önal, told journalists that Falyalı’s partner in Armenia was Vigen Badalyan, one of the shareholders of Soft Construct, a company operating in the field of online gaming and betting.

According to Önal’s claim, structures connected to Badalyan developed software for websites that accepted bets in Turkey, while Falyalı facilitated the development of this business. Vigen Badalyan’s legal team denied these claims.

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