Amid the global economic crisis, the security guard industry remains a haven for those Russians not afraid of danger or boredom.
The Russian private security business has seen a number of cuts and layoffs in the last year. However, the workforce still accounts for up to 750,000 guards, making it one of the biggest in the country.
Aleksandr Mikhin, a spokesperson for a Moscow-based Alligator Security Company, which has been in business for 16 years, says companies have started reconsidering their contracts with security firms, trying to optimize their spending.
But security is usually the last thing businesses are ready to sacrifice. And in an economy such as this, increased concern about crime, vandalism and terrorism is forecast to raise the need for security.
Adil Mukashev, an independent expert on terrorism issues based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, said the security firms will likely employ ex-military from Russia’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus region, where an Islamist insurgency is raging.
“This will kill two birds with one stone — give men work in a region with high unemployment and drive them away from radical Islam,” Mukashev told Reuters.
An interesting little side fact is that I get a lot of readers from Russia checking out the blog. With over 750,000 guards in Russia, now I know why! lol But what is really interesting is the idea of exporting this pool of guards to protect Russian assets abroad. This is the territory I like to explore.
The article only mentioned oil and mineral assets abroad, but there are other areas that would be of Russia’s best interest to take part in. Specifically, if they plan on allowing NATO to use their railways to transport weapons and whatnot. This will make railways a bigger target for terrorists, and increased traffic will increase exposure. Especially in Northern Afghanistan, because the Taliban and company will do all they can to attack that railway or to steal from it. For investors to trust these lines, there must be adequate security for them.
Private security firms also allow Russia to participate in Afghanistan, and yet not appear to be involved militarily with it’s own troops. So if they want to help NATO and get some sweet deals in return (dealing with Georgia, etc.), as well as not get sucked in militarily into Afghanistan, they could easily assist via private military firms. Trainers for all types of things, like police or military, or even the pilots of all these Mi-17’s that Afghanistan is buying, could all be drawn from private firms.
Add to that the legions of Afghan war veterans that Russia has who could be called upon for these contracts. That’s if Russian parliament says it’s cool? The money is what will be doing the talking here, as well as the security situation and unemployment realities of that country. All I know is NATO seems to be pretty interested in including Russia into the Afghan game.
There is also the maritime security industry, and I am sure Russia would be eyeing ways to protect their shipping assets privately as well. These companies could also offer their services elsewhere, if legally allowed to do so by Russia.
I am also interested in the other quote up top about using this as a means of employing out of work folks and keeping them away from Jihad? Would sending them to Iraq to defend a company like LUKOIL be a good thing or a bad thing for a muslim from the Northern Caucasus? –Matt
Russia eyes security firms to defend assets abroad
Russia to continue supplying Afghan army and police
Hold it right there
Russia eyes security firms to defend assets abroad
October 28, 2010
* Russia wants private security for assets in conflict zones
* Ex-military personnel could be from volatile N. Caucasus
By Amie Ferris-Rotman
Russia is preparing legislation to set up private security firms using ex-soldiers and police to protect its oil, gas and mineral holdings in conflict zones abroad, a lawmaker and ex-KGB officer said in an interview.
Up to 1,000 security personnel would operate along the lines of U.S. and British private security firms, said Gennady Gudkov, a deputy in Russia’s lower house of parliament, known as the Duma.
“It will be expensive but unfortunately it is very necessary,” said Gudkov, an influential member of the pro-Kremlin Fair Russia party and a former KGB officer who sits on parliament’s safety committee.
“As long as Russian firms are operating abroad, this is in the interest of the state,” he told Reuters, referring to Russia’s need to protect strategically important companies.
So far Russian companies have relied on local contractors from private security companies to guard oil fields and mines in Africa and the Middle East, but in future “this would be Russian citizens protecting Russian assets,” Gudkov said.
He declined to estimate the cost of setting up such firms but said lawmakers intended to submit the proposal shortly to the Duma, and expect it to be passed in a year’s time.
The bill would also need to be approved by the upper house and President Dmitry Medvedev.
CONTROVERSY
Private security contractors have raised controversy in conflict-ridden Iraq and Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai has placed a ban on the firms due to come into effect in December, much to the chagrin of the United States.
Some private security contractors have caused friction due to involvement in high-profile shootings, sometimes affecting civilians, and other incidents. The contractors are often seen by local people as operating with impunity.
A spokesman for Russia’s No. 2 oil firm LUKOIL, which has a 56.25 percent stake in the second phase of Iraq’s giant West Qurna oilfield, said the idea of replacing local contractors with Russians was “an interesting proposal”.
Russian aluminium giant RUSAL is the largest employer in Guinea where it refines bauxite used to make aluminium. It could not be reached for comment on whether it would use the proposed Russian security firms.
Guinea is the world’s top exporter of aluminium ore bauxite and mining firms have had a rocky time since a 2008 military coup made violence commonplace in the west African nation.
Gudkov added that gas giant Gazprom, interested in Iran’s South Pars field and whose oil arm Gazprom Neft also drills in Iraq, and Russian top oil firm Rosneft, which plans to drill in the Middle East, would most likely use local contractors, and not Russian, for the time being.
Adil Mukashev, an independent expert on terrorism issues based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, said the security firms will likely employ ex-military from Russia’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus region, where an Islamist insurgency is raging.
“This will kill two birds with one stone — give men work in a region with high unemployment and drive them away from radical Islam,” Mukashev told Reuters.
Story here.
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Russia to continue supplying Afghan army and police
July 7, 2010
Russia is ready to continue equipping the Afghan army and police force, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told an International Conference on Afghanistan on Tuesday.
“We are working with our partners on additional measures for supplying the Afghan army and police and expanding cooperation in training personnel for the Afghan armed forces,” Lavrov said.
Tuesday’s International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul is playing host to a range of participants from over 70 countries. Topics on the agenda for the talks include the restoration of the impoverished country’s economy, the improvement of living standards and state regulations, human rights and security issues, and the country’s cooperation with the international community and regional states.
Participants are also discussing the timeframe for troop withdrawal by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Lavrov said in 2010 that Russia has written off a $891 million debt, owed to it by Afghanistan, bringing the total of Russia’s cancelled debts to $12 billion.
He said Russia will continue its cooperation with Afghanistan in several spheres, including the fight against drug trafficking and global terrorism, and training servicemen for the Afghan armed forces.
“We will henceforth assist in forming the Afghan armed forces, including by increasing the number of Afghan police officers, trained in Russia, who contribute to the restoration of the country’s economy,” the minister said.
Story here.
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Hold it right there
04 January, 2010
Amid the global economic crisis, the security guard industry remains a haven for those Russians not afraid of danger or boredom.
The Russian private security business has seen a number of cuts and layoffs in the last year. However, the workforce still accounts for up to 750,000 guards, making it one of the biggest in the country.
Aleksandr Mikhin, a spokesperson for a Moscow-based Alligator Security Company, which has been in business for 16 years, says companies have started reconsidering their contracts with security firms, trying to optimize their spending.
But security is usually the last thing businesses are ready to sacrifice. And in an economy such as this, increased concern about crime, vandalism and terrorism is forecast to raise the need for security.
That is exactly why you should consider joining “the force”…
Myths and reality
Being a security guard is a great job: lots of extra free time, relaxed hours, methodical, sometimes boring, involving little excitement, safe, fairly well-paid, a temporary step on the ladder to a better job. But how much of this is true?
It really depends upon your lifestyle and your aspirations. Before you come to any conclusions about whether this job is for you, you should first be well informed about what it is all about.
Who do you have to “kill” to get hired?
Nobody. As a matter of fact, you would probably be repelling possible intruders’ attacks with your bare hands. In Russia, only a Category 6 security guard has the right to carry a gun. Getting a category rating, though, requires time and effort. To get a job, you don’t need to know Kung Fu or have a Mr. Olympia’s biceps – you can actually be hired off the street.
Of course you would have to go through numerous medical and background checks, as well as three months of training, before you can get your security guard ID.
The head of the Bayard security guard school, Andrey Nozdrachev, noted: “In 2010, the fee for a course of study will amount to $140. That’s to become a Category 4 or 5 guard. But getting Category 6 will cost students twice as much.”
Previous military experience may come as a plus, but it is not a must.
Andrey Peleshok has been in the business since 2003. A former junior military officer, he has been through intensive training. He is quite happy working for a private security firm with a wide range of customers, some of them from state-owned industries. And that means a more stable job and timely pay.
“I work a one-day shift, followed by three days off,” he said. “And I get to spend time with my family.”
As of 2009, security guard is officially recognized as a profession by Russian Ministry for Health and Social Development. And that is something that makes the trade look even more attractive.
US SECURITY GUARDS:Current workforce: over 1,000,000. Average pay: $8.95 per hour
UK SECURITY GUARDS:Current licensable workforce: 150,000. Average pay: £9.70 ($15.70) per hour
RUSSIAN SECURITY GUARDS:Current workforce: around 750,000. Average pay: $3.50 per hour
Easy money?
…Hardly so. For example, being a security guard at a Russian jewelry store might be both a challenging and a dangerous choice. Attacks have been on the rise. And the robbers have been very inventive.
In August 2009, a security guard oversaw a group of men dressed in scrubs who entered a jewelry store in the east of Moscow. The “MDs” pulled out guns and started snatching luxury display items. Who could have seen that coming? The robbers got away without a shot and the security guard was probably fired.
However, gem dealerships are not the only spots out there requiring protection.
In May 2009, in the city of Samara, nearly 1,000 kilometers south-east of Moscow, a local taxi service headquarters was attacked at four in the morning. One guard was killed and another one was wounded in a shootout. The robbers fled empty-handed.
Guards often put their lives on the line to protect companies’ property. But sometimes a threat comes from where it is least expected.
In November 2009, police detained suspects in a robbery case in which nearly 20 million rubles (almost $700,000) was stolen from the safe of a Moscow tobacco company. A guard at the company was among those detained.
Aleksandr Mikhin says his security company has its own internal security department. And they constantly run checks on every employee to avert any possible inside jobs.
Men vs. women power
…This might be a man’s world, but women comprise 30 percent of the profession. They mostly operate surveillance cameras and work as part of fire safety teams, but you might also see them at schools or at the mall. Women add a different dimension to the profession.
“Women are more scrupulous, dedicated and it’s very often that they outsmart men,” said Sergey Saminsky, the head of Stark Group security firm.
In November 2009, three unknown men wearing masks broke into a jewelry store in the southern city of Ufa, 1,357 kilometers from Moscow. The female guard had neither a gun nor baton, but she managed to hit the alarm button and lock the robbers in the showroom. Had the police arrived two minutes earlier, they would have seized the thugs. But the security guard had to open the door and let them go, as they were threatening shoppers and staff with knives.
Hold it right there
“Detect, deter, observe and report” – that is the motto of every private security agency. The primary duties of a guard include prevention of crime, performing access control and site patrol.
As macho a job as it may sound, you have to keep reminding yourself that you are not a cop. And this means no cool police car sirens, no binding oath and no Hollywood-style drama.
Bad example: The hero of a recent flick “Observe and Report” takes the case of a mall flasher far beyond his responsibilities as a security guard.
TV, or not TV
There’s a common belief that security guards are about the only people who have seen every movie, sitcom and newscast on Earth. Long hours on duty in front of a monitor may lead you to believe it is true. But as Anatoly Morozov, the Deputy Security Head at one of Moscow’s security firms says, the monitors are only there to broadcast pictures from the surveillance cameras installed in the elevators, corridors and offices. And it takes special training and patience to be the viewer of that monotonous show.
A guard or a button
In the era of iPhones and nano-technology, it is hard to believe you need people to protect your property. And there is an alternative: you can always get an alarm system installed at your office, bank or house.
But here is the bad news for the backers of artificial intelligence – there is no way the robbers are going to catch themselves.
An alarm system inevitably sends a message to a manned operating center, which in turn dispatches a security group comprised of human officers. Meaning that in the end it all comes down to people.
And that man or woman could well be you.
Story here.