At the northern point of the country is the large port city of Arkhangelsk. The territory of the Arkhangelsk region is rich in natural resources and mineral reserves. The region produces diamonds, lead, zinc, ore with silver, sand and gravel, granites, basalts, peat, various types of clay and other significant forest resources. This region is a powerful resource base for the development of oil and gas production and processing. All these natural resources of the region attract not only investors and entrepreneurs, but also become a tidbit for the shadow business and various criminal structures.
Criminalization of one of the cities of the North-West Federal District
The rich forested Arkhangelsk Territory during the crisis of the 80-90s reigned in the country turned into a place of high-profile criminal cases, the echoes of which are still heard. The names of many famous persons appeared in the cases, and the criminal groups of Arkhangelsk created a new history of organized crime groups.
At the end of the 90s, voucher privatization was completed. Former state owners were bought up by new owners, taking advantage of the favorable moments of the crisis and the depressing situation of the poor due to the lack of salary payments. The leaders of woodworking, logging, and mining enterprises for personal safety and protecting their business from other criminal structures enlisted the support of organized crime groups. The vast territory of the region was divided by the criminal authorities of Arkhangelsk.
The founders of organized crime groups of the Arkhangelsk region
While the tops tried to figure out how to manage the state economy, the bottom guys tried to get rich by any means. Two groups appeared in Arkhangelsk, from which then all the major criminal gangs of the region grew. It is known that crime did its best to take its place in the timber industry, to be closer to the supply of fuel and lubricants, to the distribution of finances in these areas.
The Komsomolskie organized crime group (later the Kurgan branch) and the Borisovskaya organized crime group (later the Solntsevskaya branch) initially divided the spheres of influence. The groups controlled retail chains, clothing markets, cafes, restaurants, hotels, and casinos. In addition, the leaders of the organized crime group were the founders or leaders of a number of commercial organizations in the region. But the main divide was in the field of logging, woodworking, supply and trade in woodworking products. During this period, the main criminal authorities of Arkhangelsk: Borisov V., Botigin A., Bykov K., Privalov A., Shonia D., Goryashin A., Peunkov A., etc.
Civil war criminal gangs
The authorities of Arkhangelsk in the late 90s and early 2000s unleash the struggle not only among themselves, but there is also an internal war of extermination, when representatives of one of the groups join the ranks of the other. From the Komsomolskie group, headed by Botygin A., Bykov K., Privalov A., Bykov K. leaves and organizes his organized crime group “Bull-calf”. The Salombal wing of the Komsomol’s, led by Shtanko N. and Goryashin A. (Goryashinsky), adjoins it and a real war begins with bombings and contract killings.
Large federal funds allocated to Arkhangelsk and the SLDK fall into the circle of interests of Borisovskaya and the Shoni criminal group. As a result, Privalov and the authority of Arkhangelsk, "watching" the city of Shonia D. were killed, and Batygin convicted. All criminal affairs of the city, the activities of logging companies are directly supervised by Bykov K., Goryashin A. and Peunkov A. (organized crime group Peni). Bykov created a real mafia structure with its inherent corrupt connections.
In mid-2003, another conflict of interest between close groups led to another war and a series of high-profile orders. Bykov was killed, and the business of the Penny-Goryashin organized criminal group went uphill. Elimination and executions of competitors, raider seizures, appropriation of the business of Arkhangelsk entrepreneurs, extortion, kidnapping, contacts with corrupt officials and policemen reach the highest level of lawlessness.
The pathological thirst for money and power led to a split between Peunkov and Goryashin. As a result, Goryashin goes to prison, and Peunkov goes into politics and becomes a member of the Just Russia party, and in 2009 he was a deputy of the Regional Assembly. By 2013, it has about two dozen firms.
But the criminal authority of Arkhangelsk falls into disfavor on the part of the special services and as a result receives a real term. At the same time, another organized crime group, the Shamaninskie, is in charge of the region. For several years, on the use of violence, extortion, destruction of other people's property, murders, the business of the ringleader Shamanin O. was built, which in 2016 was extradited to his homeland and sent to places of detention.
The criminal business of the city of "Angels" today
At present, former leaders of organized crime groups are conducting a successful, completely legal business, have gone into politics, are engaged in charity work, and such as the crime bosses of Arkhangelsk Borisov have gone into the shadows or “acquired” parliamentary mandates, as evidenced by the ongoing court cases involving representatives of Arkhangelsk Regional Duma.
The criminal activity did not disappear, but transformed into legal, consulting, real estate, trading and auction companies. Criminal Arkhangelsk is called one of the most corrupt cities in Russia, evidence of this is ongoing court cases. Control over the field of road construction, financing of work at capital repair facilities, budget programs for the development of the region in the billions of dollars, bankruptcy of enterprises, organization of tenders, valuation of assets, auctions for the sale of property of bankrupt enterprises to previously designated persons - all this is a circle of modern criminal interests.