Cheap security can be expensive
It is not a problem to find advertisements on the internet offering services for personal protection or armed escorts for freight. It’s important not to get it wrong. Don’t fall for an offer at a tempting price, which may conceal incompetent amateurs from private security firms (PSFs) hurriedly knocked together, which only got onto the market by undercutting their competitors, using a cheap workforce hired in a small provincial town.
A civilised market in services in the security field is only just being formed in Russia. There is nothing surprising about this. The law on private detection and security activities was only passed 20 years ago, and before that there simply weren’t any such services. In such a situation, how can mistakes in selecting a security firm be avoided? The best recommendation is a list of what they are already protecting. And if this list does not include the facilities of a single well known reputable company, and they offer to protect your property at a ridiculous price, and without material liability insurance, be aware: no good will come of it.
The Russian Federation has 24,000 private security organisations (PSOs) and 1,650 private detectives. Five thousand two hundred of the PSOs operate using weapons. There are 74 PSO holding companies and associations. The PSOs provide security for 536,800 premises of various kinds, of which 14,500 are industrial, 13,300 are connected with finance and credit, 107,400 with commerce, 19,700 with education, 8,000 with health and 1300 with sport. In the first quarter of 2012, private guards detained 56,800 law-breakers, 3,500 of these on suspicion of having committed crimes. The total also includes 24,700 law-breakers detained by private security guards fulfilling their contractual obligations to provide services for commercial customers.
Trust the professionals
The Vityaz Group of Security Companies does not offer cut-throat prices. It was set up in 1998 by veterans of the “Vityaz” special forces unit of the MVD of Russia. They know very well that there can be no cheap security. Because cheap security costs too much…
“Some customers, who have had their fingers burned by cheap offers, later come back to the professionals” says Aleksandr RESHETNIKOV, Manager of the Vityaz Group. “But that means they have to pay all over again”.
There is an apt Russian saying about this: “A cheapskate pays twice”. After all, a qualified security guard will not provide an imitation of hard work for peanuts, because he knows what he is worth. Potential customers for security service should also know that according to MVD figures, Russian PSF guards were only able to prevent intrusions into protected facilities in 253 cases out of 453. That means that almost half of the intrusions went unpunished…
Vityaz does not figure in this sad statistic. And here’s why. At the core of its personnel are reserve officers of the law enforcement bodies and other such organisations, with professional experience of working in the protection of law and order and of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, and also of the property of property owners. These are people who are accustomed to taking full responsibility for fulfilling the tasks entrusted to them.
“I know a certain German who decided to open a chain of cheap cafés in the area round Moscow”, says Doctor of Economics Dmitri KAPLIN, an expert in the field of private security activities. “He bought a place in a large shopping and entertainment complex which had just opened, brought some equipment into Russia, and wanting to save money, stored it in a nearby shed. He found some kind of PSF, and for a thousand euros, asked its director to “keep an eye on” this shed. And when he came back some months later, there was nothing: no shed, no equipment, no PSF. It turned out that this territory was reserved for a building site, and one fine day, it was totally ‘cleared’, along with the expensive German equipment. And the PSF didn’t take any measures to protect it…”
“In one package”
But the trump card of the Vityaz Group of Security Companies is not just and not even mainly its well qualified personnel, but the comprehensive security services it provides. This means that in buying protection or armed escort services for freight, you can also buy such a service as checking personnel. Not all non-state security services offer this. To do it, you need a strong analytical section on the payroll. In the Vityaz Group, this consists mainly of former law enforcement officials who have specialised in combating economic crimes.
Aleksandr RESHETNIKOV gives this example. “One foreign company with which we had a contract for the comprehensive provision of security services was selecting a candidate for the post of Financial Director. Our security service became involved in the case, and in checking the candidates, it turned out that one of them clearly had a criminal past; he had been connected to a corporate raids gang. This helped save the company from serious trouble.
The advantage of Vityaz is not just its well qualified personnel, but the comprehensive security services it provides.
Of course, it wasn’t that this candidate would have tried to take business from the foreigners, but he could easily have got on their nerves in other ways The important thing here is not to recruit any of these swindlers in the first place. This can be done under the law “On private detection and security activities in the Russian Federation”, in accordance with which the Vityaz Group can provide consultation services and prepare recommendations for clients on questions of legal protection against illegal intrusions. The fact that the Vityaz Group has a legal department enables any legal problems that the customers for security service may have to be solved in good time. This department can quickly send out a lawyer with a rapid reaction group to a client, give consultations on protection against illegal entry, and so on”.
A “guide dog” for the investor
For foreign investors who lack sufficient knowledge of the realities of the Russian market, it is particularly important to have a “guide dog” to protect them against unforeseen circumstances.
It has to be said that the very fact that the Russian branch of a foreign company has its own security service is a warning to those who want to live at others’ expense.
However, it is a long and complex matter to set up such a service. A long-term contract with a company of good reputation in the comprehensive service provision market can help here, at least at the stage of setting up the business. This is primarily a matter of the physical protection of closed and open facilities and production enterprises, stores, vehicle terminals, banks, offices, entertainment and shopping centres, private houses, freight escorting and personal protection, armed and unarmed, and of rapid reaction groups. It is also quite important that the security company should undertake the fitting and starting up of modern security systems on the protected buildings and transport vehicles.
For foreign investors, it is important to have a “guide dog” to protect them against unforeseen circumstances.
“At one of the sites of a foreign holding company producing domestic chemicals, the owner’s property was constantly going missing”, says Aleksandr RESHETNIKOV. “After a contract had been concluded with a professional security company and the site had been put under protection, using up-to-date protection systems, the thefts stopped. And after that, almost 20% of the company’s staff were sacked. After a little research, our security service discovered that they were not just the usual pilferers, but an organised gang of rogues who got themselves taken on at such facilities to set up their own regular ‘disposal’ chain. Documents about them were sent to the law enforcement authorities.
This is a striking example of how reliable professional protection not only enabled elementary law and order to be brought to a production facility, but also helped to catch criminals. Another plus for the Vityaz Group of Security Companies is that it has quite a widespread network of ten private security firms operating in Moscow, Moscow oblast, Stavropol and the North Caucasus republics. And these firms recruit only licensed guards who have been through special training courses. Their training is based on the many years of professional experience and broad practical skills of the professional instructors at the training centre.
It is no less important to bar the road to various kinds of extortionists, who under the pretext of checking fire safety or something of the sort, may in fact put a spoke in the wheel of firms, including foreign ones. The Vityaz Group of Security Companies is irreplaceable here too. Under the same law “On private detection and security activities in the Russian Federation”, it can engage in the planning, fitting and maintenance of fire alarm systems. In other words, with one payment, you protect your property against fire and your budget against the additional expense involved in numerous checks.
And finally we come to what is most important. It is no secret that certain prominent foreign businessmen still will not come to Russia and do business here because they fear for their lives and health. This is particularly true of the regions, against which there remains a stubborn prejudice. We shall not just deny this out of hand. We shall only say that where the official law enforcement authorities do not do their job properly, private firms like Vityaz can again save the situation. According to Aleksandr RESHETNIKOV, they have on their payroll groups of professional bodyguards with great experience in creating “safety corridors”. If necessary, they can organise such services for the journeys of a customer. And they can do this in such a way that nobody will notice their “invisible” escort. And the role of such a “guide dog” in business can sometimes be no less than that of an efficient top manager…
Hotline
By the way, the Vityaz Group of Companies is launching its “Hotline” service at the end of October, with the help of its business partners. You could describe it as “first aid” for the foreign investor. Or a “concierge” service with security aspects. What is this about?
With one payment, you protect your property against fire and your budget against the additional expenses involved in numerous checks.
A foreigner working in Russia may get into various unpleasant situations. He may be stopped by the police, his car may lose a wheel, he may suddenly need his appendix removed, and so on. And suppose that when something like this happens, he cannot speak Russian? A round-the-clock multilingual call centre will come to his assistance, and if necessary, the duty team from Vityaz will do so. In other words, this is round-the-clock support for foreigners in all the problematic situations which continue to be numerous in Russia today. In parallel, services will be provided for meeting at airports, escorting around the territory of the RF, and providing an interpreter. That is, Vityaz and its partners, in guaranteeing security, are also capable of solving those “concomitant” problems which can make business difficult for foreigners in Russia.