Today, Karen Tamazyan, who heads the Department of Development of the Financial Markets at the RoA Ministry of Finance, and Karineh Hakobyan, Director of the "Reform" NGO, debated the recent decision of the government to outlaw casinos and gaming parlors in Yerevan as of 2013. Mr. Tamazyan argues that the government decision to only allow such establishments in Sevan, Tzaghkdzor and Jermuk, was so that ordinary citizens not get hooked on gambling in major residential centers. "Three tourist regions have been set aside for gambling establishments. According to the government's decision, it has the option of allowing gambling facilities to be included in projects worth more than 37 billion drams. The issue of casinos on the road to Erebuni Airport will be decided according to another law passed in 2002," Mr. Tamazyan said. Karineh Hakobyan noted that the wrong decision was passed years ago to remove casinos from Yerevan and that today an even larger mistake is being made. Health spas and casinos are two different types of recreational establishments and that the placement of casinos alongside such resorts would be wrong in her opinion. She argued that such a decision only goes to prove that Armenia has no long-term development agenda that will not the country in years to come. "Oftentimes casinos have irreversible negative consequences, both socially and on the environment. They are generally harmful when placed in small or larger communities. Casinos are usually constructed in non-populated areas where they cause less harm on the local environment. In this case we will be harming some spectacular natural landscape. Is this the future of our country? God forbid, If this decision becomes law it will signify the beginning of the end," Mrs. Hakobyan declared. In response, Mr. Tamazyan argued that the decision was a step in the right direction and a socially important one. He argued that by removing casinos from populated areas to the countryside, people would have to make an extra effort to gamble and that it would become a random occurrence more than an everyday passion. He also pointed out that the casino industry would also spur regional development and the tourist trade.