"As for black market? General opinion is yes, if weapons were sold, it was not done through government ok, only black market for money."
Wasn't there an incident involving "rogue" Russian army or KGB officers targeting a wealthy and powerful Russian civilian (who happened to be on the outs with Putin) in Great Britain last fall? Was this fellow a newspaper publisher?
What are the odds the Russian Black market would be used as an operational method by the past or current Russian government to maneuver certain items? It's obvious that it would be used by rogue elements for profit but wouldn't our own CIA dig deep into the gutter if it was deemed necessary?
I'm really bad with Russian names. Is this the guy you were asking about?
Dec. 9, 2002: #6592 #6593
#8 - JRL 6593
BBC Monitoring
TV station profiles Russia's black market for weapons
Source: NTV Mir, Moscow, in Russian 0905 gmt 8 Dec 02
Thousands of firearms and dozens of shoulder-held SAM systems have "gone missing" from various Russian authorities, the Russian external TV service NTV Mir reported in a programme about the black market for weapons. Some of them end up with Chechen rebels as federal soldiers and officers sell not only official issue but also guns confiscated during security sweeps. Groznyy has a thriving weapons scene, and so does Izhevsk, where the famous Kalashnikov rifle is made. Parts can be stolen from the factory for assembly in illicit workshops. Also, gas pistols and rifles that are externally almost identical to the real thing are easily converted. The following are excerpts from the report, broadcast on 8 December, with subheadings inserted editorially:
[Correspondent] ... Caviar, vodka, Kalashnikovs. Russian products known the world over. The Russian black market for weapons is self-sufficient. This is one of those rare occasions when the buyer, for a modest outlay, receives top-notch Russian-made goods The weapons black market is like any other: it has its own laws and channels through which weapons reach it.
The Chechnya scene
[Salambek, identified below] A lot of ordnance comes out of Ingushetia. Shells, underslung grenade launchers, various things. Ammunition. Actual firearms also turn up.
[Correspondent] Salambek used to be a Chechen guerrilla. He was in Movsar Barayev's unit but left it after becoming disillusioned with Barayev and with the war itself. That was before the Nord-Ost incident. His job in the unit was to obtain weapons.
[Correspondent] How do you get weapons? Where and how?
[Salambek] The federals sell them. They get brought in from Ingushetia. There are middlemen.
[Correspondent] What can you buy from a federal?
[Salambek] Rounds of ammunition. If you cut a good deal you can buy guns.
[Correspondent] How much do guns cost from the federals?
[Salambek] 300 dollars, 250, it varies, you can get an assault rifle for that. If you come across the right soldier, that's the kind of price it'll be.
[Correspondent] Is it just soldiers, or officers as well?
[Salambek] You can get them from soldiers, but officers sell them as well. I've seen them do it.
[Correspondent] They're probably selling not their own guns but from another source?
[Salambek] Maybe they're selling guns that they've seized. I don't know. Maybe they found them during a security sweep. The main thing is, they do sell them.
[Correspondent] It transpires that Russia's armed authorities - the army, police and others - have become a steady source of weapons for the black market. They could be lost during fighting, stolen from poorly-guarded arms depots, or simply sold. They number tens of thousands.
[Khurshed Numanov, departmental head at Russian Federation Interior Minister CID, captioned] Over 57,000 small and smooth-bore firearms have gone missing from various Russian federal authorities that had them in their possession.
[Correspondent] What do you mean by gone missing?
[Numanov] Gone missing in the sense of stolen, or lost during combat, or, unfortunately, simply sold on the black market. There have been cases of that...
[Correspondent] After Russian helicopters were shot down one after the other in Chechnya, the country learned about the Strela and Igla portable SAM systems. It turns out that the military keep losing them.
[Numanov] As of today, over 130 portable SAM systems have been identified and taken out of circulation. About 50 or 60 of them have gone missing from various authorities that possess them.
[Correspondent] Weapons are cheaper and more available in Chechnya. There's a war on. From here, black marketeers send them on to Russia, where they are used by criminal gangs.
[Musa Gazimagomadov, CO of Chechen Republic OMON commandos, captioned] You can carry weapons in various ways: in a truck, in a bus, or even give it to a woman to take.
[Correspondent] The bus to Moscow leaves Groznyy every Saturday, heading to the capital's trading markets... Driver Shamsudin Sugaipov has seen two wars from behind the wheel of his bus. He doesn't trade in weapons, but he knows how to get to Moscow without many problems or delays.
[Sugaipov, uncaptioned] The inspector says straight away: you know the going rate? You do? Good. Pay up and go. You don't? Then you're held up for a three-hour search. Three hours at just one checkpoint. And there's about 50 of them. It'd take you a whole week to get there.
[Salambek] If you hand over the cash, they don't search you. Checkpoints are no problem. If you're in a vehicle, you hand over some currency and continue on your way.
[Correspondent] After the first Chechen war, you could buy weapons at the central market in Groznyy. There were even special gun exchanges. Traders paid for their pitches, as if they were commodities. Guns were sold at stalls just like meat or fruit. You could order anything you wanted, even a tank or an armoured car. You can still buy weapons here, although not as openly and only by special recommendation.
[Gazimagomadov] It's all done through acquaintances. You find a man who trades in guns, if someone can vouch for you and act on your behalf. Someone who's in with the traders. He places the order for what you want, and the trader delivers at the appointed time and place. You pay your money and away you go...
The Izhevsk scene
[Correspondent] The Kalashnikov is the world's most popular gun. For over half a century it's been in production at the Izhevsk Weapons Factory... Vladimir Gorodetskiy, managing director of the Izhevsk Weapons Factory, has been an arms trader for many years. But his business is legitimate, for the state. Black-market weapons traders are no competition, just a headache.
[Gorodetskiy, captioned as managing director of Izhevsk Mechanical Engineering Factory] There have been cases at our factory and at the mechanical engineering works where criminal gangs have stolen parts and set up underground workshops.
[Correspondent] Things get stolen at any Russian factory. People take out what they produce to sell it. Be it sausage or guns. Thieving of parts at the Izhevsk Weapons Factory was greatest when wages were held up. The factory's products, such as the Makarov pistol and Kalashnikov assault rifle, were on sale at the town's central market... In Izhevsk even the schoolchildren know about the Kalashnikov's simplicity of design. Some of the parts can only be made at the factory. Assembly is easy, and amateur armourers work at home or in their garages to assemble guns from parts stolen at the factory.
[Vitaliy Kozlov, chief technician at Izhevsk Weapons Factory, captioned] The design is so well-known that it can be assembled, and made into a reliable product, even by amateurs...
[Correspondent] Lt-Gen Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, twice hero of socialist labour, still works at the weapons factory. In the galleries and museums named after him in the town, his portrait graces embroidered carpets and oil paintings. He is also shown in his youth, standing next to his drawing board, inventing the famous gun. Tour guides willingly describe Kalashnikov's favourite foods and jokes. All around are examples of older and newer versions of his gun. These include air rifles of identical external appearance to a real rifle. These air rifles are sold freely in the shops and can, if wanted, easily be converted into a real rifle. The same applies to gas pistols based on the Makarov.
[Andrey Chernykh, head of illegal weapons department at Udmurtia Republic organized crime squad, captioned] We get a lot of people from Dagestan. They buy 30 or more guns at a time. One man comes along and tries them out. Back in the republic, and we've checked this, the guns are converted by local specialists.
[Correspondent] Once every three months, confiscated guns stored by the Interior Ministry are destroyed. Each gun has its own route to the smelting furnace. These confiscated weapons will be used to make manhole covers or iron bars. Meanwhile, back at the factory, they're smelting the metal for new guns. Some of these will end up on the black market.
Or this one?
16:16 2003-02-26
Black market of medicines estimated at $250-300m
The black market of medicines in Russia is estimated at about $250m to $300m, acting head of a department of the State Trade Inspection of the Russian Economy Ministry Nadezhda Nazina stated today. According to her, about 10 percent of the total amount of sales of medicines are counterfeit medicines; 67 percent of them are made in Russia.
Last year, the Trade Inspection executed 800 checks of various enterprises and private individuals, and found numerous violations. The most frequent violations in sale of pharmaceuticals are in storing and sale, as well as sale of out-of-date medicines.
Or Alexander Lebed? The one that was interviewed by the Senate and died in that helicopter crash?
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