Russia - The Russian Mafia (Organizatsiya or Mafyia)

In 1996 there were 8,000 criminal gangs in Russia. In 1993 there were 5,700, over 300 of them operating internationally. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) has estimated that 40 percent of private business, 60 percent of state-owned enterprises, and more than half of the country's banks are controlled by organized crime. One wonders how the other half survives. Banks are considered to be insolvent since the crash of August 1988. The rest are suspected of being money-laundering fronts for the government and businesses. Most private enterprises pay protection of up to 30 percent of their profits to organized crime.

In a land of extremes, it's still surprising that there are 1,500 contract killings a year, 8,000 missing and 30,000 violent crimes in Moscow alone. Big shots, or Shkafy, own more new Beemers and Mercs than Orange County. The Mafyia is not only here to stay, but it keeps the country working. Who else is going to give you good deals on everything from cheap fuel to nuclear warheads. Imagine what things would cost if the government got their hands on it.

There are 150 major criminal societies controlling 35,000 enterprises. Most crime in Russia is controlled by eight "families," such as the Chechens, the most powerful group and descendants of a centuries-old tribe who still control the Caucasus Mountains. The Chechens specialize in bank fraud and extortion. Some $12 billion gets flushed out of Russia each year into accounts in Switzerland and Cyprus equal to the total of outside investment flowing into the country. The Russian Mafyia is reputed to have about $10 billion in Swiss bank accounts. Half of Russia's banks and 80 percent of the joint ventures involving foreign capital have connections with organized crime.

http://www.mafia.spb.ru

http://www.alternatives.com/crime/menu.html

http://personal.inet.fi/tiede/johan.backman

http://www.yorku.ca/nathanson/default.htm

Show Me the Rubles!

The average Russian makes $1,700 a year. An army lieutenant makes $1,000 a year and a senior civil servant makes a $2,000 a year salary. The Russian prime minister makes righteous bucks: $8,000 per year. Even Boris isn't in the 28-percent tax bracket. The Russian president makes a mere $21,000 a year, about the same as an experienced sandwich-maker at Subway.