The Center of Deviantology (Sociology of Deviance) of the Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been involved in a criminological study into the black market, economy and organized crime since 1993. Business in St. Petersburg and other regions of Russia was divided among the criminal communities. Highly organized informational services enable them to track and monitor all the commercial structures, and the moment when a new commercial structure begins making a profit, it arouses the interest of criminal groups. As one businessman interviewed asserted: «100 % of commercial structures are embraced by racket… Racketeering penetrates all the enterprises except those of military-industrial complexes and some foreign firms». One officer of FSB (Federal Service Security) told me: «Criminal associations control about 90 % business».
There were two levels of racketeering: tribute money extracted from small kiosks and shops («black racket») and that obtained from commercial enterprises. In the latter case one can distinguish various indirect, disguised types of racket: payments for «guarding», for «service in the field of marketing» in compliance with the contract for «cooperation», or for «services» (for example, recovering debts). The «taking care» by the criminal organizations of commercial structures includes having their representatives on the administrative and managerial bodies.
Based on the information from our respondents, we are in a position to identify the typical situations where businessmen are forced to commit crimes.
One has to bribe in the following situations: when registering business; when renting premises from state bodies; when acquiring licenses for their utilization from state bodies; for obtaining low-interest bank credit; when reporting to tax inspectors; when completing customs formalities; etc.
One has to conceal revenues, since with the current taxation rate amounting to 80-85 %, one cannot survive the competition with other firms if one honestly reveals all revenues.
Most of the state-owned business enterprises operating under current conditions find themselves «under the protection» of bandits: they are «guarded» by some gang (band) against other gangs and have to pay «tribute» for that and render (obligatory) services. In particular, criminal organization includes their «representatives» on boards of directors, boards of business enterprises, organizations and banks. Thus legal and illegal business merges.
The rigid normative regulations in some kinds of economic activity and the absence of such regulations in other fields result in businessmen ignoring the law in some cases, and making their own «laws» in others. The synthesis of legal and illegal elements in the country's economy engenders such absurdities as fake goods and services.
Hi-tech crimes are connected with computer engineering, such as bank frauds, but new technologies are also used in such prosaic areas as the counterfeiting of alcoholic beverages, the manufacture of drugs, the theft of automobiles, or the development of new weapons. To some extent it is possible to show that new developments in the field of computer engineering initially pass through criminal structures. Growing attention is being given to attracting scientific staff (chemists, programmers, economists, and lawyers), who today are engaged in criminal business.
The narcotics business is one of the least visible, well-established forms of organized crime in Russia. The struggle against the narcotics mafia is complicated by widespread corruption within the law enforcement and power organizations and the political games Russia plays with the countries which export drugs (Azerbaijan, Chechnya, and the nations of Middle Asia).
Here are some fragments from the interviews of Dr. Yakov Kostjukovsky (the Center of Deviantology) with representatives of the criminal organizations about them activity.
Theft and resale of cars is one of the kinds of criminal activity.
Here are some specifics in the organization of
