Thursday, April 12 2018 11:31

ArmInfo. Restrictions on the activities of saunas, baths, steam rooms and discos will be  introduced in Armenia. Amendments to the Law on Trade and Services and a number of related laws were made at the meeting of the Armenian parliament on April 12 in the first reading.

Tigran Khachatryan, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and  Investments of the Republic of Armenia, who introduced the package of  amendments, said that it is about streamlining activities of night  clubs and other entertainment facilities operating in multi-apartment  buildings and directly next to them, close to educational and medical  institutions, state and local authorities authorities. The package  for the first time gives legislative definitions that have received  wide distribution of commercial services in the republic, in  particular, such as "strip club", "karaoke", "disco". The law  establishes that these objects, as well as saunas, baths and steam  rooms are subject to restrictions, and their placement in residential  and non-residential premises of multi-apartment buildings is  prohibited. At the same time, considering that permits for the  provision of services of this type are issued on the basis of  decisions of local government, the law also establishes that the  general requirements for the placement of similar facilities are  established by local government. In order to implement the provisions  of the law, business entities will be given 1 year to transfer such  institutions to more remote areas. In case of non-compliance with the  law, violators are expected to face serious penalties. In the case of  karaoke, discotheques, baths, saunas and steam rooms, the penalty  will amount to 50 to 100 times the minimum wage in the first case,  and if the violation is repeated within a year of the offense, the  fines will be increased to 300 times the minimum wage. With regard to  strip clubs, the amount of fines will range from 300 to 500 times the  minimum wage, and if the offense is repeated within a year, the fine  will increase from 1 thousand to 1.3 thousand of the minimum wage.