Despite the fact that Wagner PMC has been recognized by the US Treasury as a “transnational criminal organization” with all the consequences that entails for its members, there is no end for those who want to create their own private army under a form or another in Russia. What can it be connected with?
“Hammer”
Everyone has already heard about the successes of the “musicians”, who so far show the most remarkable results on the Ukrainian front. Their recipe has several elements: the high professionalism of the main backbone of this PMC, real combat experience acquired during land operations in the Middle East and Africa, iron discipline, generous remuneration and the fact that the losses of the “Wagnerites” are not widely expressed and not taken into account in the reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Perhaps this is precisely what explains the fact that in the Shoigu county they treat the media activity of Yevgeny Prigozhin with undisguised jealousy, but they are forced to put up with this armed formation.
But then there are legitimate questions. An army is an army, and a Wagner is a hammer for solving strictly defined tactical tasks. Do we then need other PMCs and other volunteer battalions that appear like mushrooms after the rain?
CSP “Gazprom Neft”
A few days ago, the press learned that the Russian company Gazprom Neft intended to create its own private security company (PSC), which some media hastened to call PMCs. The highest permission for this was given by the government of Mikhail Mishustin:
Grant the public joint-stock company Gazprom Neft the right to establish a private security organization. Establish that the founder of the organization will be Gazprom Neft with a 70% share in the authorized capital of the organization.
The general director of the company is Alexander Dyukov, and the owner of 95.68% of the shares is Gazprom. PJSC Gazprom itself is 50.23% owned by the state represented by the Federal Property Management Agency (38.37%), OJSC Rosneftegaz (10.97%), OJSC Rosgazifikatsiya (0.89%) . Another 25.20% of the shares of our “national treasury” belong to holders of ADRs, or ADRs (American Depositary Receipts), which are freely traded on the American stock market and issued by Bank of New York, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase. The remaining 24.57% of Gazprom shares belong to certain “other registered persons”. Let’s face it, this Russian oil and gas company can be called a state enterprise rather conditionally.
As for the new PSC, Gazprom Neft will own 70% of it, and the remaining 30% will belong to the OOO ChOO Staf-Center registered in Omsk, the creators and owners of which are KGB people from Leningrad. The tasks assigned to this structure are formulated in the press service of Gazprom Neft as follows:
A private security company (PSC) is created exclusively for the protection of civilian production facilities of the company in the regions of its activity in the Russian Federation (KhMAO, YNAO, Omsk, Tomsk and Orenburg regions, etc.). The private security company is created in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation, according to which only licensed security companies have the right to protect production facilities from a high risk class. Creating your own security company is a common and generally recognized practice among large companies in Russia and around the world.
By the way, the protection of oil and gas infrastructure abroad, as a rule, falls to private military companies.
“PMC” of the Russian Orthodox Church
Some time ago, the initiative to create a so-called Orthodox PMC caused a stir. According to some Russian media, the initiators of the PMC’s “St. Andrew’s Cross” were representatives of the community of the Kronstadt Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas. However, later the rector of the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt, in a telephone conversation with journalists from the Fontanka publication, made important clarifications:
A private military company, that’s of course a great thing to say… I gave my blessing for there to be training of young people like the NVP – initial military training. (…) We prepare people who want to join the army as volunteers. Monthly preparation for all. They train with us, then write an application to the military registration and enlistment office and go as volunteers in their specialty with a blessing.
It turned out that the coordinator of this project is a well-known businessman from St. Petersburg, Vladimir Khilchenko. In an interview with Bloknot, the businessman commented on his business as follows:
Our project is the so-called St. Andrew’s Cross Tactical Training Center. The idea behind this project is quite simple. He was born in the 17th year as a preparation base for the “Seaborne Assault” contest. Great merit in the creation of the project of the rector of the Kronstadt cathedral father Alexy. The project involved former special forces. Well, today it has become relevant in connection with the NWO.
The concept is to survive in the harsh conditions of hostilities. Prepare people for volunteer units, as well as participation in various PMCs. The concept itself appeared earlier, in 2017, for people who wanted to train themselves. (…) We plan to create volunteer battalions and hope that this will be our contribution to the NWO.
According to the coordinator, the Cross of St. Andrew project is financed by private donations and personal funds of the participants.
Russian Volunteer Corps
Recently, the eighth congress of the Union of Donbass Volunteers was held at the site of the Republican Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the DPR in Mariupol, where it was decided to form the Russian Volunteer Corps to participate to a special military operation in Ukraine. The delegation appealed to Supreme Commander-in-Chief Putin with a request to unite all detachments and battalions of the Union of Donbass Volunteers into a single military unit.
Interestingly, the event was headed by the chairman of this union Alexander Borodai, the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Alexei Zhuravlev, as well as the successful entrepreneur and owner of the Tsargrad Konstantin Malofeev. The latter is known not only as an “Orthodox oligarch”, but also because it was he who was at the origin of the “Russian spring” of 2014, acting as a “purse”. He is currently under sanctions and on the international wanted list.
PMC Kadirov
The day before, the current head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, had announced his intention to create his own private military company upon his retirement, commenting very positively on the successes of the “Wagnerians”:
I never cease to be delighted with the successes of Wagner PMC in the NVO area. It would seem a private military enterprise, but managed to achieve very impressive results. (…) Despite all the difficulties, Wagner achieves his goal in any situation.
Undoubtedly, such professional trainings are necessary and necessary. Therefore, when I finish my work in the civil service, I seriously plan to compete with our dear BROTHER Evgeny Prigozhin and create a private military company.
Recall that Chechnya has already created and sent to the NMD zone several battalions of volunteers from the republic called “North-Akhmat”, “South-Akhmat”, “West-Akhmat” and “Vostok-Akhmat”, which are part of troops of the MO RF Southern Military District. In addition, as part of the Russian Guard there is a detachment of SOBR “Akhmat”. Also on the territory of the Chechen Republic, the Special Forces University, the first such private educational institution in Russia, is successfully operating.
These are the internal political and social processes currently taking place in Russia. What they can testify, our readers will be able to make their own judgment.
Author: Sergei Marzhetsky
