Criminth

"We get the best of both worlds: from Russia - strength and security, from Europe - wealth and comfort." Thus described the situation of immigrants from Russia living in Europe and related to criminal circles, one of them, for obvious reasons, wished to remain unnamed.

This quote is given in his report "Returinater: how the Kremlin uses the Russian criminal world networks in Europe" British specialist in international security, Mark Galeotti . In the newly released study, prepared for the European Council on International Relations , Galeotti claims that Europe has been faced with a qualitatively new phenomenon, which he called the “organized crime based in Russia” (BROP; in the original-Russian-Based Organized Crime, RBOC). These are criminal groups settled in European countries, created by immigrants from Russia, who are increasingly working with representatives of Russian special services and power structures, becoming an additional tool in the hands of the Russian authorities. With the help of this tool, Galeotti claims, Moscow performs “delicate” operations in Europe, up to custom -made murders.

From Russia - strength and security, from Europe - wealth and comfort

Among the facts cited in the study are the results of police operations and special services of a number of EU countries against criminal groups with "Russian" roots. For example, in Portugal, during the Operation Matryoshka, it was possible to destroy the scheme of money laundering organized by immigrants from Russia and the CIS countries through football clubs and a network of illegal bookmakers, which, in addition to Portugal, also acted in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Estonia and Latvia. In Spain, as a result of an investigation that lasted several years, several former and acting high -ranking Russian officials were accused of serious crimes , who, according to the investigation, with the representatives of the Tambov, organized criminal group, who settled in Spain.

In Cyprus, in 2010, criminal authorities with Russian roots that settled there helped to “disappear” (according to Western special services, secretly transferred to Russia) to a certain Chris Mutsos, a Russian agent exposed to the US FBI. Another abduction - an Estonian security officer Eston Kokhver, forcibly taken out in 2014 to Russia, - as Mark Galeotti notes, also had a criminal von: Kokhver investigated the activities of cigarettes associated with representatives of Russian power structures with which they shared profit. (Kokhver was later exchanged for an arrested Russian agent in Estonia).

Tattooed colorful bandits in Europe are already belonging to the past

Some commercial transactions carried out using a network of firms with an opaque property structure aroused suspicions of the security services of European countries: upon closer examination, their owners were related to the Russian criminal world. For example, in 2014 it turned out that 30% of the capital of the Swedish energy company Misen Energy AB belongs to the structures of Semyon Mogilevich - the largest criminal authority, which is included in the list of ten people most wanted by the FBI. An investigation has begun, the sale of shares of the company was suspended.

How to draw a line between the "ordinary" crime and the actions of criminal circles in the interests of the special services? Is the “criminal international”, which arose on the basis of groups with Russian and post -Soviet roots, a serious threat to European safety? Where does crime end and politics begins? Mark Galeotti reflects about this in an interview with Radio Liberty.

Mark Galeotti

- "Russian Mafia" - the topic for Europe is not new. In many ways, it turned into a stereotype: brutal guys with short haircuts, tattoos and gold chains. But you proposed a new term - "organized crime based in Russia" (BROP). What, in your opinion, is the difference between this phenomenon and the "good old" Russian mafia?

- Tattooed colorful bandits, who were loved by cinema and on television, as a socially significant phenomenon, in any case, already belong to the past, at least in Europe. Modern Russian mafiosi here is a kind of businessmen providing drug supplies, smuggling goods, weapons and the like to the market of European countries, coordinating their activities with local criminal circles. But if we talk about my study, it is devoted to one aspect - the interaction of Russian state bodies, in particular special services, with organized crime in Europe. Hence my concept of BROP. If you are an ordinary bandit who has moved from Russia to Europe, the Russian authorities are not able to control you. But if you have preserved ties with Russia-you have a family there, or your business is connected with this country, or for some other reasons you often go there, then the special services have the opportunity to put pressure on you if necessary. You will be strongly asked to provide some services from time to time. And this will be a "offer that cannot be abandoned." My concept is just based on the fact that Russian special services use criminal circles associated with this country in Europe for their own purposes.

-Are there any direct evidence of such connections? Or is it rather assumptions based on indirect evidence?

-There is something, of course. For example, a couple of years ago in Turkey there were murders of several Chechens related to the past with anti -Russian separatists. Some of these crimes, as the Turkish counterintelligence MIT later reported, was carried out by custom -made killers who came from Moscow, people from the criminal world. At the same time, connections were established between criminals and representatives of Russian special services. Of course, such things do not happen regularly. But there are enough grounds to claim that from time to time the special services resort to the services of gangsters to perform some delicate "missions".

You will be strongly asked to provide some services from time to time

- Well, murders, as you yourself say, are infrequent cases. And in a broader way - what are the benefits of both sides from such cooperation?

- For representatives of the criminal world, as I said, these are just security guarantees - in that part of their life and activity that is connected with Russia. For the state, such connections are the expansion (if necessary) of its intelligence capabilities. In general, Russian special services are numerous, powerful, well -prepared and aggressive. But precisely because the scale of their activities in Europe, and not only is very large, sometimes they need to carry out some specific operations with the help of people who are not directly related to them. Here bandits may come in handy. What do I mean? Well, for example, a few years ago, an agent of Russian special services was secretly exported from Cyprus - with the help of members of local criminal groups associated with Russia and having rich experience in smuggling operations. There are things that at first glance not directly related to the government agencies of Russia. For example, this replenishment by Russian criminal circles in Europe "Black Cashier", which can be used later to finance political campaigns in European countries, but it is very difficult to prove the direct involvement of official Moscow in these actions.

- Why, in this case, were the services of gangsters were not used in such sensational cases as, for example, the murder of Alexander Litvinenko ?

- Perhaps in this case, one hundred percent "reliability" was needed. Remember again the way Litvinenko killed - with the help of polonium, a rare and very expensive substance. Here, much still depends on what kind of "order" there is and whether there are people in this country who can fulfill it. If we take the same Great Britain, then Russian businessmen with criminal bonds came there mainly then in order to acquire property, real estate for themselves, their families, their mistresses, they sent their children to study there. And until recently, Britain was simply not the place where they were ready to "inherit". In general, however, a clear pattern can be traced: the wider the spread of BROP in Europe, the more attractive “asset” of crime becomes for Russian special services.

The activities of Russian criminal structures in Europe. Map from the report of Mark Galeotti

-Can we say that something has changed significantly in this context after 2014, when the current crisis in the relations of Russia and Western countries began?

- The changes began even earlier, but after 2014 they became more noticeable - for example, no matter how comical it sounds, smuggling supply of sanctions cheese from Europe through Belarus. What is more significant is the activation of money laundering schemes , withdrawing funds from Russia, including bypassing European sanctions. Another consequence of a sharp deterioration in relations between Russia and Europe after 2014 is the strengthening of Russian intelligence in European countries, which is becoming more aggressive. Hence the more common need for the services of criminal circles related to Russia, but already rooted in Europe.

- What countries does this apply to first? Where is the presence of BROP most noticeable?

- In principle, throughout Europe. If we talk about the greatest activity of BROP representatives, then it is characteristic primarily for countries with large Russian -speaking communities. This is Spain, Greece, the Baltic countries, to a certain extent Germany. In addition, these are countries that are convenient as transshipment points for smuggling operations-again Germany, to a lesser extent Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria. BROP has a advantageous position in these countries, because Russian criminal circles there are not street bandits, but, let’s say, solid suppliers for local bandits - weapons, drugs, and all necessary. They have a very extensive system of connections. There is probably not a single European country where BROP would not have its partners. This is a serious reason for concern.

-But, as I understand it, the current BROP is not as noticeable as the first wave of Russian organized crime, which appeared in Europe in the 90s?

Russia is a kind of criminal supermarket

- Yes, that's how. In the 90s, it looked like an invasion-with the intention of subordinating, "stagnate the territory", and master new markets. This bothered the criminal world of Europe. Moreover, it was still an era of those very brutal bandits with tattoos. There were large, often bloody showdowns - for example, in the Baltic countries and in central Europe. But it did not work. Firstly, because many countries had their own criminal structures that could repulse the aliens. Secondly, because the local police and law enforcement agencies focused on the fight against the “Russian mafia” as a separate important threat. By the end of the 90s, this stage ended. The second wave of criminal activity associated with Russia in Europe is no longer “invaders”, but partners and suppliers. Because, unfortunately, Russia is a kind of criminal supermarket that offers a variety of “goods”. Do you need heroin or methamphetamines? Contact the Russian guys. Do you need sensible hackers-residents or hired killers? Through Russians, it is easy to go to these people. Not to mention large -scale money laundering operations. These are not bandits with thick gold chains, these are businessmen who also act in legal markets, people in expensive suits, often seeking to integrate into local society. This is the result of the evolution of the Russian criminal environment as a whole.

- What are these people with the local criminal world? Is this cooperation, competition, hostility - or all the whole?

- For the most part, cooperation. Just because BROP usually comes with offers, as if he asks the local criminal environment: what do you need? We will provide. Yes, in some cases, friction arises - for example, in Italy, where Russian criminal groups tried at first to actively implement, this attempt was unsuccessful: there are enough gangsters in this country. Sometimes Russian (or roots in other countries of the former USSR) groups are the goal of special operations of European security forces - such as Georgian groups in Spain. But basically the brop does not compete directly with the local criminal world, so their relationship is usually good. In the same Italy, BROP finally established cooperation with some local criminal communities.

Gennady Petrov, the alleged "authority" from the Tambov organized crime group, was taken to the Spanish court. Photo of 2008

- If you return to the topic of cooperation between crime and government agencies: is Russia unique in this regard? Other states do not behave in this way?

- No, not unique, there are other examples of this kind. You can recall, say, the involvement of the Iranian Corps of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution in Heroin trade. In North Korea, the state is directly involved in operations in the international market of methamphetamines and even counterfeiting. The Russian case is unique in how successfully the criminal structures from this country were able to globalize. BROP is an international network, and the Russian state can use it if necessary. This becomes a factor in the policy of Moscow, aimed in recent years to the destabilization of Europe, and the factor is potentially very effective. Many states are in contact with organized crime in one way or another, but Russia in the current situation is directly interested in the existence of the BROP network.

- In the European Union, they talk about this as a threat?

This becomes a factor in the policy of Moscow aimed at the destabilization of Europe

- Not particularly. This is, in fact, one of the reasons why I wrote my report for the European Council on International Relations. This is an attempt to bring together what many countries see, so to speak, on a reduced scale, only within their own borders. And these are only individual parts of the common mosaic. The European Union has every reason - and all the possibilities - to be more effective in this matter. But for this, you need to see a pan -European problem in BROP, and related to the field of security, and not just the rule of law and the fight against crime as such.

-What do you think Europeans should do?

- In principle, this problem can be solved at the national level. But the European Union can coordinate and help the efforts of individual countries, primarily small and the most poor, for which this is especially a difficult task. As an example, I will give Latvia, which is trying to actively fight the laundering of money coming from Russia through its financial system. She needs help in this case by the EU. Second: within the framework of the European Union there are structures such as Europol and Intcen (intelligence and situational center of the European Union.-RS) , which could work much more, contributing to the exchange of information in the area that we are talking about, between EU member countries. The problem is that the police work should be done on the national, and the coordination and exchange of intelligence information at the supranational level. This is an area where the EU can play an important role.