STOPCRIME.RU - Criminal community is like a snake – it can change its skin, but still remains poisonous

I dreamt of meeting Dmitry Medvedev, a legend among policemen, whether from Soviet era or present time. His colleagues from organized crime department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs located in Sukharevka street in Moscow spoke about him with admiration. He even gained respect of those he was tracing all over the country – criminal bosses. Medvedev led the investigative efforts aimed against criminal bosses and organized gang leaders in 1990s, the years of criminal revolution in Russia. I heard a lot about him back then – about his dedication to the cause, about his fidelity to principles which sometimes seemed cruelty, about his bravery. Finally, I have got a chance to meet him. Since our first meeting we have stayed in touch – for over fourteen years already.Now Dmitry is a security officer for a major company. Being a top professional, he is as strict, well-groomed and particular as ever. It took him a week to read D Day book. There was something he liked about the book, although he pointed out to some reservations. So, his feedback was as helpful as usually.

- Dmitry, we have often discussed with you that in early 1990s the emerging Russian business and criminal activities were closely interconnected, often overlapped. New businessmen and bandits were seizing strategically important segments of the national economy – such an effort was made in metallurgy, just to name one. Has anything changed?

- Methods used by criminals are the only thing that changed. In early 1990s, gangs and their bosses used extortion, racketeering, and direct threats. That is how small bandits earned their initial fortunes. They used force to earn money. Now so called raiders set the trend – these guys use legal tricks to capture enterprises, for example, in the Russian defense sector – which is also a national priority, similar to metallurgy. This trend is widely publicized today; however, little has been done so far. So, these “businessmen” have just learned new tricks, but remained the same in essence. In the past many “gang boys” find it easier to use force to make business run – think about Tolya Bykov, for instance. The gangs consolidated, than fell apart and fought among themselves. What we saw was the process of market sharing.

- So, were the gangs paid by the businesses for the protection? Or were they just cannon fodder controlled by some low profile business genius, who remained in shadow, like Mikhail Chernoy in aluminum business?

- Of course, criminal groups granted their protection for businessmen for a fee. Businesses needed their services to oppose bandits who terrorized the country back then. The supply met the demand, that is what happened. Few sought help from the police, it was not in the nature of emerging Russian business. There were definitely certain protectors on a political level. But I do believe that to discuss this phenomena one should understand the essence of the Russian corruption. Corruption as I see it is deep interconnection between the political power and criminal world. Oleg Soskovetz, who was the senior vice prime minister, was connected to criminal clans. Thus, criminals got political source to influence the whole aluminum industry in Russia. Corruption thrives when criminals are backed by the authorities – be it be it by local police or top Kremlin officials. Organized crime roots in such support.

- In my book I describe Mikhail Chernoy as a spider who embraced in his web everyone he needed to rise to the top positions in the industry.

- He is not known in the Russian economic history as a crisis manager. He earned his fortune from criminal activities, and then promoted himself, using connections both in criminal world and in politics. This is the key to his success, and it is a very good illustration of corruption. Chernoy was backed by Ismaylovo gang, on the one hand, and by the Kremlin, on the other hand. There were no problems among his supporters – he united them.

- Speaking about this period of our history, many businessmen now stress that ties with criminals were a forced measure. That was the only way to survive back then, they say. Do they use difficult times as an excuse?

- Sure they do. There was no political will to fight crime. The government watched silently country’s wealth being ransacked. Gangs captured plants, which were further put under control of an organized criminal group and exploited by it. Gangs were just brutal force, used by nuveau riches. Now raiders use private security agencies (CHOPs) instead of armed gang boys. Competitors were killed – there was a saying “No person – no problem.” That is what was going on. I recall Akop Uzbashev’s group. He was a shadow king of Puskin district, Moscow region. A betrayal of a top internal affairs official let him flee to Israel – he was warned that our force group was on its way to Sheremetievo to arrest him. Uzbashev just asked a top official in the ministry to withdraw the group, and that was done! It was unbelievable. The official who withdrew our troop – a general – said there was no ground to arrest this person. No grounds to arrest a person who was wanted by federal authorities, can you imagine that? Uzbashev was a pure criminal – he earned his money on counterfeit vodka and left for Israel. I know a lot of such “emigrants”. Uzbashev was a friend of Alexander Rutzkoy, and that relationship guaranteed his protection on the top level. That is what I call corruption. You describe similar story with Chernoy in your book. By the way, at Akop’s country house we found 14 guns, including 8 machine-guns and telescope-sighted rifle…

- Israel does not extradite criminals. Anton Malevsky left there, and is still safe…

- There are exclusions to the rules. I do not want to go into detail, but there was General Aron Tal. We worked in close cooperation, and he helped us to put to prison six people. So there are different cases.

-Was Anton Malevsky a major figure in the Russian criminal landscape?

- He was demonized by mass media. He had certain authority. After that there was a rumor that he died in a car accident. However, some of our investigators believe it was not an accident. Anyway, now there is sky-jumping completion named after him. He was influential. It is trendy now to call people like him “influential businessman.”

- The exterior has changed?

- It is like a snake. It has changed its skin, but remained poisonous. The criminals are adapting. They engage lawyers, they fight for the market. If something goes wrong, there will be shooting, anyway. The shooting has never stopped, by the way, it is still going on, but is less discussed. Whose way was Andrey Kozlov in? Who ordered the murder? It is still a mystery.

Interviewer: Andrei Kalitin.