Weapons PMC. How much do private military companies earn? What is PMC Wagner

Private military companies are a profitable business that can provide up to 100% profitability. Such structures not only participate in military conflicts, but also carry out security, intelligence, logistics and consulting activities. There are about 3 thousand large PMCs in the world with a turnover of 350-400 billion dollars per year. The proceeds from one military operation can reach 20 million dollars. In many countries, their activities are legal and require permission from the military department. In the Russian Federation, the law on non-state military organizations has not yet been adopted, but there are about 20 such structures operating on its territory.

Business in private military companies - the main features

When it comes to private military companies in Russia, in most cases the public demonstrates a clear negative attitude towards this kind of activity. However, in reality, employees of such organizations not only participate in military conflicts, but also provide a wide range of services to protect people and valuables.

Private military companies PMCs (Private military companyPMC) are commercial organizations that:

• provide professional services for the protection, protection, defense of people and objects;
• take part in military conflicts and carry out activities in peacetime;
• ready to carry out strategic planning, intelligence, logistics and consulting.

Due to the active development of private armies, many analysts call the 21st century "the era of military entrepreneurship"

Currently, there are about 3 thousand largest military companies in the world. Analysts of The Economist magazine note that the approximate turnover of the global PMC market in 2016 was 350-400 billion dollars. It is impossible to accurately calculate the income of this sector of the economy, since many organizations of this kind operate illegally.

Reference! The first private military company was organized in Great Britain in 1967 by Colonel of the British Armed Forces David Sterling.

It is not possible to unequivocally assess the need for private military companies and their role.

Table 1. Advantages and disadvantages of private armies. Source: Wikipedia

	"Minuses"
Organizations of professional fighters with a high level of motivation	Have no ideological and ideological motivation
Convenient for countries with weak military institutions	Most PMC contracts contain a list of actions by fighters, which reduces their flexibility in specific military situations.
Capable of rapid deployment	Do not have a single operational control center
Their losses are not included in the official reports of the authorities.	Incompleteness of information for operational management
Avoid the forced mobilization of citizens liable for military service	Lack of coordination with the regular army
Due to the absence of bureaucracy, they are distinguished by flexible operational management	Low equipment with expensive military equipment (the latest tanks, aircraft, etc.)

Reference! On September 17, 2008, the Montreux Document was adopted at the international level, which spelled out the rules of conduct, rights and obligations of private military organizations in zones of armed conflict. At present, the declaration has been signed by 17 countries, including the USA, China, France, Germany.

Business model - PMC as a commercial organization

Who benefits from the creation of a PMC?

• For their founders, this is a way of obtaining large proceeds from participation in military conflicts and the provision of security services (if you calculate the profitability, then for large PMCs it reaches 100%).
• For customer states, this is a way to save money on maintaining a regular army and avoid mobilizing their own military-liable population to participate in armed conflicts.
• For hired soldiers, this is an option for a very risky, but fast and high income.

Reference! The salary of soldiers in private organizations depends on the level of risk to which their lives are exposed, and ranges from 100 to 3 thousand dollars per day. Fighters in hot spots and in countries with unfavorable conditions can count on the highest salaries.
Source: Kommersant.Ru

Why the creation of a private army can be considered as a profitable business option?

1. Such structures can enter into contracts with any state, regardless of the country of their residence, for the provision of a wide range of services - from training soldiers to participating in hostilities.
2. The costs of paying salaries to fighters and their maintenance are determined by the owners of PMCs.
3. Non-state companies often take over the functions of standing armies and receive technical and material supplies from the state.
4. Often the customers are international organizations.

Description of the organization's services

Private military structures not only take part in armed conflicts. In fact, they provide a wide range of services, which is also relevant in peacetime:

1. provide support to employees of internal affairs in the framework of operations to capture criminals;
2. provide security for strategic facilities (reserve warehouses, energy facilities, embassies, etc.);
3. organize escort of convoys and movement of vehicles with humanitarian aid;
4. train personnel of government armed forces;
5. guard prisons and places of detention of prisoners of war;
6. provide military translator services;
7. ensure demining of territories and their clearance from unexploded ordnance;
8. organize logistic supply of troops;
9. conduct reconnaissance operations;
10. protect ships from pirate attacks;
11. advise on the preparation of battle strategies, etc.

Customers of services can be individuals, international organizations, governments of individual states, regardless of the jurisdiction of the PMC itself.

What does it take to create a private military company?

1. War Office Permit. In addition to the fact that PMCs are registered as commercial organizations, they are also required to obtain permission from the country's Ministry of Defense.

2. Headquarters. The head office of a private military company is not an office for storing papers, but a mini-base with facilities for training soldiers, warehouses for storing military equipment and equipment.

3. Equipment. Employees of private organizations, even in the framework of military conflicts, use their own uniforms, weapons and equipment. In this regard, it is worth thinking about where to get the start-up capital, which should be at least $ 1-2 million.

An important point! Private companies buy equipment and military equipment in small batches from machine-building plants and specialized companies (as opposed to regular armies) and therefore should expect their cost to be 5-30% higher.
Source: site "Soldier of Fortune"

4. Staff. The entire staff of PMCs can be roughly divided into two parts:

• leadership and instructors;
• hired soldiers.

The first group operates on the basis of fixed-term contracts, and the second - on the basis of agreements concluded for each military operation.

An important point! Payment for the services of mercenaries depends on the price of the contract in the framework of a particular military or security operation.

Non-state military companies must also pay for food and accommodation for the fighters. In the case when mercenary armies work for a specific country, then these costs, just like the delivery of equipment to soldiers, can be borne by the government.

How much do private military companies earn?

Private military companies are not only very expensive, but also highly profitable business. The annual revenue of such organizations can range from $ 100 thousand to several tens of billion dollars. Moreover, the amount of payment for their services depends on the nature of the activity (the most expensive is participation in hostilities in hot spots).

It is known that about 70% of the revenues of non-state military organizations are generated by government orders, the rest comes from private customers. At the same time, about 60% of the PMC's budget goes to payments to the fighters.

Reference! It is known that the soldiers of the mercenary armies always receive a higher salary than the soldiers of the regular army. For example, in the United States, the ratio between daily payments in different military conflicts was:

• in the Vietnam War - $ 280 against $ 80;
• in the Korean War - $ 290 against $ 50;
• in the war in Iraq - $ 1,500 against $ 200.

Source: Military Review Magazine

Table 2. Key financial indicators of private military companies, 2016

	Name	Number of employees, people	Annual turnover, mln USD	Average daily wage of a soldier, USD
	Group 4 SecuricorG4S (UK)
	DynCorp International (USA)
	Academi Holdings (formerly Blackwater and Xe Services; USA)
	Aegis Defense Services (UK)
	Northbridge Services Group (Dominican Republic)
	Unity Resources Group (Australia)
	Asia Security Group (Afghanistan)

Reference! The cost of one contract with a well-known private company can reach $ 20 million.For new PMCs, this figure is $ 1-2 million.

Wagner's private military company is illegal in Russia. They don't talk about it on state channels. But her fighters died in the Donbass and in Syria, and now they are probably working in Africa. DW has collected all the evidence about this PMC.

Three Russian journalists - Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguev and Orkhan Dzhemal - were killed in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday, July 30. The Russians went there to investigate the activities of "Wagner's private military company." Journalists and activists have been collecting a lot of information about her bit by bit over the past years. DW represents all the most important that has been learned so far.

What is PMC Wagner

Wagner's private military company or Wagner's group is an unofficial military organization that is not part of the regular armed forces of Russia and does not have a legal status on its territory. The military units of PMC Wagner numbered at different times and according to various sources, from 1350 to 2000 people. According to sources from the German newspaper Bild in the Bundeswehr, the total number of mercenaries reaches 2,500.

Officials in Russia deny the existence of PMC Wagner. The Kremlin only admits that privately Russians can participate in hostilities abroad. Mercenary activity is prohibited by Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, however, the State Duma and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation are making proposals to legalize private military companies in Russia. Talking about the goals of Russian journalists in the CAR, the state media of the Russian Federation reported that they "filmed documentaries in the republic about the life of this country."

Where did Wagner come from and what are Prigozhin's interests

Dmitry Valerievich Utkin "Wagner", born in 1970, is considered the head of a private military company of the same name. He apparently took up this activity after his dismissal from the post of commander of the 700th separate spetsnaz detachment of the 2nd separate special forces brigade of the GRU, stationed in Pechory, Pskov region. A copy of the report on his dismissal is on the Web. Nothing is known about its authenticity, but there were no denials either. In 2016, Utkin was spotted at a special reception in the Kremlin for the military who distinguished themselves with special heroism. Since June 2017, Utkin has been under US sanctions; the list of the US Treasury Department states: "Associated with Wagner's private military company."

Evgeny Prigozhin

Some of the sources of financing for PMCs in the media are called secret items of expenditure of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as well as businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is also called "Putin's chef". As RBC found out, Yevgeny Prigozhin participated in several tenders to ensure the maintenance of the base of the Wagner group.

Prigozhin himself, who is also under US sanctions, denies any connection with PMC Wagner. There is only indirect evidence of his involvement. Since the winter of 2016-2017, the Russian company Euro Polis LLC has become interested in the development of gas and oil fields in Syria. According to RBC and Fontanka, she is affiliated with Prigozhin.

In the summer of 2017, Euro Polis entered into an agreement with the Syrian state concern that it will be engaged in the protection and extraction of energy resources at local fields and receive at its disposal a fourth of the volume produced from those towers that it recaptured from ISIS militants, the AP agency reported with reference for a copy of the agreement. The functions of protection, as it is believed, should be taken over by the soldiers of the Wagner PMC.

Where Wagner's mercenaries fought

PMC Wagner grew, as it is believed, from the military company "Slavic Corps", which carried out combat missions in Syria back in 2013. The future head of the PMC, Dmitry Utkin, call sign "Wagner", also belonged to the "Slavic Corps". The first evidence of the activities of PMC Wagner was recorded by the Ukrainian special services in May 2014 in the Donbass. In October 2017, the head of the SBU of Ukraine, Vasily Gritsak, announced the involvement of the Wagnerites in the destruction of the military transport Il-76 in eastern Ukraine in June 2014, the storming of the Donetsk airport and the hostilities near Debaltseve. There is no independent confirmation of this information.

PMC Wagner, according to various testimonies, twice participated in the liberation of Palmyra

Since the second half of 2015, evidence of the activity of Wagner PMCs has appeared only in Syria. It is believed that its fighters, in particular, actively participated in the first and second assault on Palmyra in 2016 and 2017. Since June 2017, the goals of the mercenaries, as reported by the Russian media RBK and Fontanka, have changed. "Fontanka" wrote that the Russian Ministry of Defense sharply reduced the supply of weapons to PMCs, transferring only outdated samples.

Allegedly, PMCs were offered to receive funding in Syria itself, including through the seizure and protection of oil and gas fields. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the attack in the area of ​​the Syrian village of Khusham, presumably with the participation of the Wagnerites, was carried out in the area of ​​an oil field and, according to some reports, was aimed at capturing it.

Interests of Russian PMCs in Africa

The interest of Russian mercenaries in the region was recorded after negotiations between the top Russian leadership with the leaders of the Sudan and the Central African Republic in the fall of 2017. According to the British BBC, traces of Wagner's PMCs have been seen in Sudan since the end of 2017. Russian journalist Alexander Kots published a video with a Russian instructor teaching soldiers in Sudan, with the caption "the everyday life of a Russian PMC."

According to The Bell, about a hundred mercenaries are training Sudanese military units. In exchange, according to the publication, M Invest and Meroe Gold associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin signed concession agreements for gold mining in this country.

The road to Sibut where Russian journalists were killed

But armed men from Russia were also spotted in the neighboring Central African Republic, and it is possible that this is already a new PMC, not associated with the Wagner group. Officially, it is only known that Russia is exploring the possibilities of "mutually beneficial development of the natural resources of the CAR. In 2018, the implementation of exploration mining concessions began," as the Russian Foreign Ministry said at the end of March.

Also, the foreign ministry said that Moscow "on a gratuitous basis" supplied "a batch of small arms and ammunition for the needs of the Central African army in late January - early February, and also sent 5 military and 170 Russian civilian instructors to train CAR military personnel.

The first that "civilian instructors" may be members of Russian PMCs, reported the French radio station Europe1, AFP agency and Le Monde. According to them, the Russians chose the estate of the former leader of the country, Bokassa, 60 kilometers from the capital, Bangui, as their base. AFP correspondent who visited the site said that he could not take photos or videos.

Private army soldiers: who are they

The recruitment of mercenaries, judging by the information about the dead, went all over Russia. Many of those killed in Syria had previous experience of fighting in eastern Ukraine. This is confirmed by both the relatives and friends of the deceased mercenaries. According to the Ukrainian SBU, there are 277 people who fought in both "hot spots".

The recruitment of private army personnel, apparently, was not limited only to Russia, but was also carried out among residents of the part of eastern Ukraine, which is under the control of the separatists. According to the SBU in October 2017, 40 fighters with Ukrainian passports served in the Wagner PMC. Similar information without specifying exact figures was previously cited by several Russian media outlets.

How they accept and how much are paid to mercenaries

The mercenaries hired by the PMC sign a non-disclosure agreement. Most of the details were reported about the work of Wagner's PMC by the St. Petersburg edition of Fontanka, which claims to have part of the company's internal documentation. Referring to the published copies of documents, Fontanka claims, in particular, that all applicants fill out questionnaires with personal information, photographs, are tested on a polygraph and receive from 160 to 240 thousand rubles a month for their work.

Ruslan Leviev, founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) activist group, which monitors the actions of the Russian military in Syria, clarifies that salaries depend on the skills, goals and location of the operation. During training in Russia, according to CIT, the salary ranges from 50 to 80 thousand, during foreign operations - 100-120 thousand, in case of hostilities - 150-200 thousand, in case of special campaigns or major battles - up to 300 thousand ...

Where do mercenaries train?in Russia

The "Wagner Group", according to numerous testimonies, trains at a military base near the Molkino farm in the Krasnodar Territory, directly adjacent to the 10th separate brigade of the GRU special forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (military unit 51532). There is no information about other training points.

Mercenary losses

The calculation of losses among the "soldiers of fortune" is complicated for a number of reasons: this is the illegal status of the PMC and its fighters, and the formal non-accountability of the company to government agencies, and a non-disclosure agreement. As a result, the relatives of the victims often find out about the incident only after a few weeks. The Russian Defense Ministry refuses to record losses among the mercenaries.

In October 2017, the SBU cited data on 67 victims who had experience of hostilities both in the Donbass and in Syria. As of December 2017, Fontanka journalists estimated the total number of identified casualties since the beginning of the mercenaries' participation in hostilities in Syria at 73, and the CIT team at 101.

See also:

From "spring" to war

In early 2011, the Arab Spring reached Syria, but the first peaceful demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the police. Then, starting on March 15, mass protests began to erupt throughout the country demanding the resignation of Bashar al-Assad. It was hardly possible to imagine that those events would initiate a conflict that would drag on for eight long years and claim the lives of almost half a million Syrians.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Parties to the conflict

After a wave of mass protests swept across the country, Assad began to use the army to suppress them. In turn, opponents of the regime were forced to take up arms. Detachments of national minorities (for example, the Kurds) and Islamist terrorist groups, among which the so-called "Islamic State" stands alone, have also entered the conflict.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

"Caliphate" of terrorists

In April 2013, fighters from the terrorist organization ISIS, formed from the al-Qaeda unit, entered the civil war in Syria. In June 2014, the group announced it was renaming the Islamic State and proclaimed a "caliphate." According to some reports, in 2015, IS controlled about 70 percent of the territory of Syria, and the number of militants was 60,000 people.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Cultural heritage as a target of terrorists

The destruction of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra has become a symbol of the barbaric treatment of cultural heritage by IS terrorists. In total, more than 300 archaeological sites have been destroyed since the start of the civil war in Syria. In February 2015, the UN Security Council equated the destruction of items of historical, cultural and religious value by IS militants with terrorist attacks.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Migration crisis

According to the UN, over the past seven years, 5.3 million Syrians have fled the country. Most of them found refuge in neighboring Turkey (over 3 million people), Lebanon (over 1 million) and Jordan (almost 700 thousand). But the possibilities of these countries to receive refugees were practically exhausted. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Syrians went to seek refuge in Europe, triggering a migration crisis in the EU.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

International coalition against IS

In September 2014, US President Barack Obama announced the creation of an international coalition against IS, which includes more than 60 states. The members of the coalition carried out air strikes on the positions of the militants, trained the local ground forces, and provided humanitarian assistance to the population. In December 2018, US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of American soldiers from Syria, justifying this with a victory over IS.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Islamic Anti-Terrorist Coalition

In December 2015, Saudi Arabia unveiled its anti-terrorist coalition of Islamic countries. It includes 34 states, some of which, like the Saudis themselves, are also members of the international coalition led by the United States.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Russia's participation

Since the fall of 2015, the Russian Aerospace Forces have also been striking in Syria - according to Moscow's assurances, only on the positions of IS. According to NATO, 80% of Russian air raids were aimed at opponents of Assad from the moderate opposition. In November 2017, Putin announced the imminent end of the military mission in Syria. The grouping will be reduced, but the Russian Federation will have 2 military bases and some other structures at its disposal.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Security Zones Arrangement

Since January 2017, in the capital of Kazakhstan, on the initiative of Russia, Turkey and Iran, parallel to the Geneva inter-Syrian negotiations on a settlement in Syria have been held. For the first time, representatives of both Bashar al-Assad's regime and opposition forces met at the same table. In May, a memorandum was signed in Astana on the creation of four de-escalation zones in the northern, central and southern parts of Syria.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

A year of radical change in Syria

2017 brought radical changes to the situation in Syria. Back in December 2016, Assad's troops, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated Aleppo, in the spring of 2017 - Homs. And in June, a US-Russian agreement was reached to establish the Euphrates River as the dividing line between the Forces of Democratic Syria and Assad's troops.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

The defeat of IS, but not yet the final victory

In 2018, Assad's troops occupied the strategically important city of Deir ez-Zor and a number of others. And the opposition "Forces of Democratic Syria" and the Kurdish People's Self-Defense Forces with the support of the United States - Raqqa. On March 3, 2019, a decisive battle took place for the last settlement of Bakhgus, in the hands of IS. Once the village is liberated, only a distant region west of the Euphrates will remain under IS control.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

Troika in Sochi

In 2017, at a meeting in Sochi, the leaders of the Russian Federation, Iran and Turkey, Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came up with a number of initiatives, calling on Damascus and the opposition to participate in the Syrian Congress of National Dialogue, which should open the way to constitutional reform. In 2019, the leaders of the three states announced that control over Syria should return to the government in Damascus.

Syria: 8 years of war and unclear prospects for resolving the conflict

New use of chemical weapons in the Duma

According to humanitarian organizations, on April 7, 2018, chemical weapons were used again in the city of Duma, the last hotbed of resistance by Islamists and insurgents in the region. According to the WHO, more than 70 people died during the attack, and 500 residents showed symptoms of poisoning. The Syrian authorities denied this information. But on March 1, 2019, OPCW experts concluded that chlorine was most likely used in the Duma.

The practice of using private security (paramilitary) organizations in armed conflicts, attracting military specialists, advisers and instructors on a contract basis for training police and armed forces has a long history.

The first private military company in recent history, Watchguard International, was founded in 1967 in Great Britain, and was founded by British Army Colonel David Sterling (who had previously created SAS).

An increase in the number of contract soldiers was noted already in the mid-1970s. One of the first major contracts in recent history was concluded in 1974, when the private military company Vinnell Corp., owned by the American military-industrial concern Northrop Grumman, entered into contracts with the US government for more than half a billion dollars. Its employees were supposed to be engaged in training the National Guard of Saudi Arabia and protecting the oil fields in this country.

After the outbreak of the war in Angola, centers for the recruitment of mercenaries to participate in the war were opened in several countries around the world. At the international level, the UK-based private security advisory services firm was widely known, recruiting mercenaries from among the citizens of Western Europe, providing them with equipment and sending them to participate in the war. In July 1976, a trial of captured foreign mercenaries was held in Luanda, during which it was established that 96 mercenaries had been sent from Great Britain (36 of whom were killed, 5 were missing and 13 were injured during the fighting, and one more - was shot by the verdict of the military tribunal). The outcome of the trial prompted the British Parliament to consider the issue, during which it was found that the activities of the firm "Security advisory services" constituted a direct violation of the law of 1870, which prohibited the recruitment of mercenaries to participate in the war. However, those responsible for violating the law were not named.

Later, the number of PMCs and their employees tended to increase: “Recently, the number of 'white-collar mercenaries' has been growing. This is the name given to military and technical specialists from the USA, England, France and other leading capitalist countries who are recruited to work in the military bodies of a number of developing countries, for example, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. According to the US Department of State, at the beginning of 1978, about 11,300 American citizens were working abroad on the implementation of military programs - three times more than in 1975. "

In connection with the increased incidence of the use of mercenaries in military conflicts, in 1979 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the need to develop a convention against the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries; a specialized committee was created, which included representatives of 35 states (however, although six sessions of the committee were held until January 20, 1987, no normative legal documents were adopted on the problem).

4 Moran Security Group

Moran Security Group is a private Russian military company that provides a range of services in the field of security, consulting, transportation, as well as medical support and cargo transportation. All activities of Moran Security Group are carried out on the basis of the legislation of the Russian Federation. The main functions performed are armed escort and convoy of ships, protection of various objects, logistics, reconnaissance, etc. Moran Security Group owns a naval training center located in St. Petersburg.

3 Anti-Terror-Eagle

Antiterror-Oryol is a private military company in Russia, which has been operating since 1998. The organization was founded by former military personnel. PMC employees are reserve servicemen, as well as veterans of the GRU, VIMPELA and the Navy. Antiterror-Oryol is engaged in the protection of facilities, training military personnel, and also performs demining work.

2 PMC MAR

PMC MAR is a private military company in St. Petersburg, which operates on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to IDA, it operates in strict accordance with the laws of the country where its services are provided. PMC provides services of the following nature: technical protection and intelligence, military activities, protection of convoys, individuals, gas and oil pipelines, other facilities, cargo escorting, legal / legal support, etc.

1 RSB-Group

RSB-Group ("Russian Systemic Security") is a private military company in Moscow, which has several directions. It has a division of both land and sea operations. The Marine Operations Division renders services of armed protection, escort and protection of civil ships, and conducts security audits for oil and gas offshore platforms. The Ground Operations Division provides armed protection of facilities, conducts reconnaissance, as well as training, etc. The creators of this PMC are GRU and FSB reserve officers, professional military personnel who have rich command and combat experience. The activity of RSB-Group is based on the observance of the legislation of the Russian Federation. Employees of the RSB-Group do not participate in armed conflicts as mercenaries, nor do they provide advice to organizations and groups that are in any way related to terrorist organizations.

Thus, in September 1962, a group of Yemeni army officers led by Colonel Abdullah Sallal (who later appointed himself field marshal) carried out a "pro-socialist" coup d'etat, which was immediately supported by the legendary Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. But Imam Mohammed al-Badr, who had just ascended the throne of Yemen after the death of his father, King Ahmed, launched a guerrilla war with financial and military support from Saudi Arabia and Jordan against the "Arab socialists" who had seized power. Due to the civil war, the geopolitically important colony of Aden (South Yemen) was under attack. Therefore, London could not but intervene in the flared up conflict on the side of Mohammed al-Badr. Meanwhile, it was impossible to do this directly, so the stake was made on a "secret war" with the involvement of SAS veterans, in particular Lieutenant Colonel Stirling.

Subsequently, analyzing the participation of British, French and Belgian mercenaries in the secret British operation in Yemen (1963-1967) and the Congolese crisis (1960-1965), Stirling came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create full-fledged commercial structures capable of providing such services government agencies and companies of their country or its allies is quite formal. Moreover, their activities had to be necessarily controlled and regulated by the mother state, first of all, in order to transfer the work of high-class military specialists, and not only military ones, to the legal plane. Previous experience has clearly shown that this must be done. Suffice it to say that there have been bloody clashes in the Congo between illegal mercenaries and the UN peacekeeping force. In addition, PMCs created in this way, in contrast to one-time projects of mercenaries, could focus on long-term activities and the constant search for new orders.

Therefore, Stirling, together with Colonel John Woodhouse (also one of the former SAS commanders), registered the world's first private military company - Watchguard International. The priority direction of her work was the fulfillment of contracts concluded with the allied states of Great Britain. Moreover, all transactions were registered with the British Foreign Office. The main tasks of Watchguard International included advising government agencies and businesses on the risks that may arise when operating in certain problem areas, as well as conducting operations in places where, for one reason or another, regular armed forces cannot conduct operations. Initially, Watchguard International's key area of ​​interest was the Arabian Peninsula. However, subsequently, Stirling's team, including through the PMCs he created, carried out contracts in Latin American countries, as well as in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Sierra Leone. By the way, in 1970, Stirling, commissioned by MI6, organized an operation to free members of the royal family and those close to the Libyan king, Muhammad Idris al-Sanusi, who was ousted in the fall of 1969. The operation was financed by the Libyan royal court in exile. The contract did not imply the overthrow of the new ruler of Libya - Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

New impulse - Since 1972, Stirling has ceased to take an active part in the private military business, although already in the late 1980s he tried to return to the PMC market again. Meanwhile, since the mid-1970s, the business of private military companies has reached a new level, and the market for related services has begun to develop rapidly, mainly because the Americans have begun to rapidly enter it.

Private military business in the United States was not formed in the same way as in Great Britain. To fulfill their military-political tasks, the CIA and the Pentagon primarily attracted civilian companies that could provide the solution, first of all, of certain complex technical problems.

For example, the construction company Vinnell Corporation, founded in the early 1930s and owned by the American military-industrial corporation Northrop Grumman, worked for the American army during World War II. In the 1950s and 1960s, she built military airfields in South and Southeast Asia. It is obvious that the implementation of such projects was impossible without close cooperation with the American intelligence services. The founder of Vinnell, Albert Winnell, took advantage of this situation and made a deal with the CIA, whose employees began to use the company's offices as a cover in the course of their operations. As a result, Vinnell's business began to grow and develop rapidly in Africa and the Middle East. In particular, the company received construction contracts for oil and gas projects in Libya and Iran. During the Vietnam War of 1957-1975, Vinnell no longer only built military and auxiliary facilities in this country. A significant part of its employees - at the peak of hostilities, their total number reached about 5 thousand people - participated directly in reconnaissance and military operations.

And after the defeat of the Americans in the Vietnam War, Vinnell, with the active assistance of the US government, signed in 1975 an unprecedented contract with Saudi Arabia for the training of national guard fighters in the amount of almost $ 80 million. It was subsequently expanded to include the organization of the Royal Air Force and the protection of the Saudi oil fields, and was extended several times. As a result, the total value of this contract exceeded $ 800 million.

This became a powerful impetus for the development of private military business around the world. British and French PMCs began to work actively in Africa. In the Middle East, there are Americans. Such well-known private military companies as the famous Blackwater Security Consulting of Eric Prince (today - ACADEMI), Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI), DynCorp and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR Inc.) have emerged in the United States.

By the way, KBR was formed as a result of the merger of the construction divisions (Brown & Root and M. W. Kellogg) of the American companies Halliburton and Dresser Industries, respectively. And until 2007, KBR was a wholly owned subsidiary of Halliburton - the company of former US Vice President Dick Cheney. But then this PMC set off on a free voyage, separating from the parent group.

In Great Britain, after the tremendous success of the American Vinnell, the legendary Olive Group, Erinys International and Aegis Defense Services appeared, in France - Gallice Security and Groupe-EHC, in South Africa - Executive Outcomes, in Israel - Defensive Shield Holdings.

At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the global containment system, the collapse of the USSR and a number of other states, including Yugoslavia, as well as the end of the existence of a number of regimes (for example, apartheid in South Africa) ... In the context of the widespread increase in the number of local conflicts in connection with this, the demand for PMCs has noticeably increased. At the same time, the military spending of the great powers began to be reduced and a huge number of professional military personnel in Europe, America and Africa were demobilized. A proposal was formed: there appeared a lot of unemployed professional military personnel with experience and a desire to capitalize it.

How did the United States react to such a sharp increase in private military business? Indeed, even now, in the United States, claims are often made against PMCs.

Until 2002-2003, Americans treated different types of PMCs differently.

In the late 1970s, when the United States legislation on private military companies was being formed, it was aimed at regulating the activities of the "classic" mercenaries, landsknechts of our day, but not the companies responsible for the provision and training of new types of companies. PMCs were banned from having heavy offensive weapons: artillery, mortars, combat aircraft, rocket launchers, and so on. This prohibition continues to this day.

Although, of course, in some situations (including in Iraq and Afghanistan) companies such as Blackwater, some of these restrictions were still allowed to be violated. During the civil war in Sierra Leone, Executive Outcomes was hired on behalf of the UN-recognized government of the country with money from the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS to destroy the armed formations of the opposition Revolutionary Front, which by that time had turned into a conglomerate of gangster groups. Not without the support of the United States, a contract was signed that made it possible to restore order in the country as soon as possible, but for this PMC had to use heavy weapons, as well as aviation.

Nevertheless, for the most part, PMCs in the world were treated very carefully and they were not allowed too much. But this does not apply to PMCs that are not engaged in security or special operations, but in support - provision and training. For them, the 1990s have become a real expanse. At this time, the United States was forced to rapidly reduce its armed forces due to the end of the global confrontation with the socialist bloc and the demands of the Democratic electorate to optimize budget spending and demilitarize federal state structures. A significant part of the functions of the regular army during the presidency of Bill Clinton was outsourced to external contractors, which was fully demonstrated in the campaigns in Iraq and Yugoslavia. At this time, PMCs, which united veterans of the US military and the business community, became an integral part of the US military machine.

Further activation - But since 2003 - with the Second Iraqi US campaign - the private military business began to develop even faster than before. This happened for two reasons. First, PMCs can afford to be much more flexible than any regular troops. The fact is that private business, unlike the same US army that conducts military operations, for example, in Afghanistan, is not bound by any political restrictions. Roughly speaking, for the American military personnel, the world is black and white. There are tasks, orders, enemies, enemies and allies. The regular army cannot enter into negotiations with the enemy - this duty is assigned to politicians. And the enemy, most likely, simply will not want to negotiate with the American troops. Accordingly, all issues in this case will have to be resolved exclusively with the help of military operations. At the same time, there is nothing black and white for PMCs. They can enter into negotiations to solve the problems assigned to them, with whom, when and wherever. Therefore, when, for example, there is a building of logistics chains for transshipment of certain goods in hot spots or the transportation of customers, PMCs can easily negotiate their passage and transportation of their "baggage" with almost any warring parties, tribes, gangs and so on. In most cases, this is much more effective than opening a new front and fighting through to the destination point, while the cargo or "passengers" must also be delivered safe and sound. And quite often, rather tight deadlines are determined, which, starting, say, full-fledged hostilities, can be seriously violated. This flexibility of PMCs is one of the attractive aspects that allow them to be used to fulfill many government contracts.

Secondly, private military companies are capable of carrying out special operations in the interests of the State Department, the Pentagon or the CIA, from which these state structures can, if necessary, distance themselves. This, of course, is already a political or even an internal political story. Because PMCs are a business. The state makes sure that they comply with the laws and pay taxes, but that's the end of it. There is no need to monitor their work in the same way as the activities of the regular army. And this is extremely important for politicians and the public. Because when the coffins of the fighters of the American National Guard come to their homeland from the same Iraq, it becomes the subject of hearings in the US Congress. In a similar situation with the British army, this is considered by the House of Commons. In both cases, this is a very bad story for the American and British administrations. Indeed, in this case, they send their citizens, especially when it comes to youth, to certain death. Meanwhile, when PMC employees die, this is regarded as "problems of private business."

For these two reasons, private military companies operating on the world market work not only and not so much for business as for government institutions, which conclude agreements with them to hold events.

For example, now PMCs are engaged in state contracts to protect American embassies in hot spots. But they only guard the outer perimeter, and inside the buildings are the marines. This is done quite deliberately, because PMCs have much more opportunities to conduct reconnaissance, predict risks and exacerbation of the situation. And again - to negotiate with armed groups controlled or not controlled by local governments. The Marines have neither such ability nor authority.

Scale - At the same time, it should be clearly understood that at least 90% of the activities of modern PMCs are not at all related to the implementation of certain specific military operations. As a rule, they do not launch attacks, do not attack, and do not take cities. Although, of course, in Iraq it happened a couple of times. In reality, they provide security - for industries, companies, infrastructure, individual facilities, personnel and management. And this is mainly a comprehensive risk assessment, logistics security, cyber security. Such large corporations as the American Constellis, within which PMCs are only a small part of the entire business, are also engaged in providing financial analytics, that is, financial security. In general, now these are not some "torn off and uncontrollable mercenaries", but a comprehensive customer service with the provision of a wide range of services. Including, of course, here can be involved and, as everyone is used to thinking, "mordovorots" in bulletproof vests with machine guns and black glasses, providing someone's personal safety or guarding some strategic objects. - How large is the scale of private military business in the world now?

According to existing estimates, this is $ 100-150 billion annually, which, of course, can serve as a kind of indicator that determines the conditional scale of the business. But personally, I do not believe such assessments. Because, judging by the volume of real transactions (and adding two and two is not so difficult), these indicators are extremely underestimated. In fact, they are rather kept in the range of 250-300 billion dollars. After all, modern PMCs are actively working not only in the so-called third world countries, but also on the territory of the former metropolises. This is the provision of personal security services, and cyber and financial security. In general, prevention of the entire spectrum of possible risks. By the way, in order to assess the real scale of this business, it is enough to say that over 30 thousand specialists from foreign PMCs are involved in Iraq alone.

That is, PMCs today are no longer just a big business, but a part of huge diversified concerns and corporations?

Yes, that's exactly it. The world's largest private military service provider is the American Constellis. It is a giant, global business empire that works for the US government and large multinational businesses. This holding includes a number of enterprises, including the most famous PMCs in the world, which perform the corresponding tasks to secure the contracts of the parent company. Constellis business units are ACADEMI, Olive Group, Triple Canopy, Centerra, OMNIPLEX, TDI, AMK9, Edinburgh International and Strategic Social, as well as all their subsidiaries. ACADEMI (formerly Blackwater) probably doesn't need to be introduced to anyone. After the incident in Iraq, when its fighters shot down a wedding procession, mistaking it for terrorists, it changed its name and moved its headquarters to Dubai.

Triple Canopy is also quite famous: she took part in the Afghan and Iraqi campaigns and, among other things, is engaged, under contracts with the State Department, in the protection of US embassies in troubled countries, as well as high-ranking officials of these states "friendly" to Americans. The Olive Group is the largest PMC in the UK. It operated in many hot spots around the world - in particular, in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan. And not so long ago she joined the friendly team of the American holding Constellis. We can say that in the end “a monster was born”, because up to that moment it was the British who were, by and large, the leaders in the PMC market.

As a result, today Constellis controls the lion's share of the global private military business, which, meanwhile, makes up no more than 20-25% of the total volume of operations carried out by this holding.

What is the backbone of the Constellis business?

In general, this is one of the largest logistics companies in the world. She is engaged in the logistics of almost any cargo in the global market. Moreover, we are talking, as a rule, not about one-time contracts, but about long-term ones. Let's say Constellis can easily ensure uninterrupted oil supplies from Iraq and Libya to any sales markets. A significant part of the business of this holding is also made up of financial analytics - risk prevention, forecasting and resolution of difficult financial situations.

Expansion of geography - In which countries and regions are PMCs mainly operating now?

So far, Iraq remains the key location for the use of force for them. Today everything is controlled by PMCs. American - work mainly in the main part of the country, British - in Kurdistan.

But in the near future, the field of activity of PMCs will be actively expanding. For example, in Syria, the Americans did not just sit on the left bank of the Euphrates along with the Syrian Kurds. Because there are major oil fields. And I must say that it was with the support of the United States that the Kurds entered even the primordially Arab territories here. In the long term, this will cause a host of problems, which in any case still have to be solved. Although it will be very difficult to do this.

The situation is extremely tense in Southeast Asia, the Philippines. Problems arise periodically in the Gulf of Aden. There are many unresolved issues in the Sahel, Nigeria and Somalia. This is a Libyan story that should eventually grab the attention of serious players.

And what could be of interest to external players in Libya?

Libya has a lot of things: oil, gas, rare earth metals, gold. Libya is the richest country in terms of natural resources. But so far none of the interested parties have decided on it. However, these decisions will be made soon. This is especially true of black gold, because Libyan oil is super light. The so-called sweet oil. Compared to other varieties, it is sold at a high premium on the market. There will be enough people who want to get it.

Can private military companies be interested in this?

Undoubtedly. For example, if we talk about Iraq, PMCs such as ACADEMI and the Olive Group would hardly go there if their orders were limited to the protection of some vice president for ten days. They go to Iraq because there are large oil and gas projects there. And all PMCs there are successfully working under contracts in this area. Moreover, for example, such Russian companies as LUKOIL use the services of Western PMCs.

Do some oil and gas companies in the world have their own PMCs?

Any energy company, multinational or Russian, has its own security services and may have its own private security companies (PSCs). But this is far from being a PMC. The American Halliburton, which provides services to oil and gas corporations, had its own private military company, but it also refused to do so. And about my own PMCs as part of oil and gas companies, I have not heard anything. As a rule, big business attracts private military companies in the free market. Because PMCs have extensive experience, connections, forces and means for a quick and effective analysis of the situation. And they are able to promptly neutralize any risks associated with entering difficult regions.

To get contracts with oil and gas corporations, PMCs go to tenders. And only those who are able to show that they control the situation in the territory in question win them. Because a specific PMC can work fine in Afghanistan, but know nothing about Libya. And the security services of oil and gas companies by themselves cannot know everything about everything. It takes time and a lot of money to get into the topic. And if money can always be found if necessary, then business, as a rule, is always short of time. Therefore, PMCs are needed.

Expediency - In your opinion, how necessary is the development of private military companies in Russia?

This is definitely necessary to do. True, I'm afraid that we are already very late with this. It was necessary to actively engage in this back in 2003-2004, when the Americans landed in Iraq. Now we must bear in mind that the international market for PMCs is almost completely controlled by the Americans and the British. Therefore, it will be not only difficult to enter it, but daunting. But nothing is impossible. You need to negotiate, get certain market shares, occupy your own niche and, starting from this, move on.

Why is this generally advisable for Russia? Firstly, without having our own PMCs, we are losing a market that is colossal in terms of its profitability. Secondly, it is a tool to protect the interests of the country, state and business, using new means in new conditions.

So far, there are no really serious PMCs in Russia solely due to the lack of appropriate legislation allowing them to develop. As a result, large Russian companies operating abroad in difficult regions are forced to resort to the services of American and British PMCs. The relationship between a business security company and the business itself is an extremely deep and intimate relationship. This means that American and British PMCs, which are involved in ensuring security, know absolutely everything that happens inside the Russian companies that they serve. In general, everything. But American and British PMCs are closely connected with the intelligence services of their countries. By definition. And where is the security for Russian business? Where is the trade secret? She's gone.

But Russia now has its own PMCs ...

And what are they really able to do? Can they, for example, obtain a license to conduct security activities and carry weapons in Iraq? Can not. Because the status of Russian PMCs has not yet been determined, and the markets remain practically under the monopoly control of the private military business of the United States and Great Britain. Russian companies act exclusively as consulting companies, do not have the formal right to carry weapons and carry out active operations to protect the client or cargo. Because the legislation of the Russian Federation prohibits this, calling everyone and everything exclusively with one offensive and completely incorrect in this case, the word "mercenaries". And when you enter a market, you must obtain a license there. You can't just disembark and say, waving your machine gun, “I'm cool! Now I’ll build everyone here. ” You need to get a license, permits for everything. But the first thing they ask you is show the license that you were given in your home region. And Russian contractors simply do not have such documents.

Do you have to register outside of Russia?

I have to. This is also, in general, not so simple, but at least possible. And then enter the market with that. But this is not normal, since it imposes additional costs, entails inappropriate spending and expenses, as well as additional risks of a reputation and legal nature.

That is, you need some kind of state support, as in the United States and Great Britain?

Of course, it would not be superfluous at all. The same British Erinys, which has not only a license, but also government contracts, comes to a certain region and, if there are any problems, turns to the British ambassador. And he solves the issues. And Russian operators do not even have anything like that. Russian PMCs are trying by hook or by crook to do something, but exclusively on their own. Therefore, state support is necessary, since it will increase the efficiency of PMCs by an order of magnitude. Otherwise, this business will not break through.

The trouble is that today in the overwhelming majority of the so-called problem areas - in Africa, for example, or in the Middle East - Russian positions “on the ground” are much stronger than those of the Americans and the British. Therefore, Russian companies can operate there much more efficiently. But - they don't work yet.

PMCs of Russia - And how many PMCs are there in Russia now? Do you have a dozen?

Yes you! Three to four maximum. Most of them are lame ducks. The only major one, apart from Global Security Solutions (GSS), is the so-called Wagner PMC. And then there are many questions to them, as to a large organization. The rest are interrupted by some small contracts - they will grab something here, then here. Survive, in a word. And they look at the state - what if the legislators come to an agreement with the Ministry of Defense and adopt the necessary laws on PMCs?

What are the incomes of our PMCs in comparison with the British and American ones?

The difference in the income of Russian PMCs and foreign ones is striking. American and British specialists receive $ 5 thousand per day, Russian - at best, the same amount per month. Accordingly, the revenues of Russian PMCs now correlate with the same world 150 billion (officially) or 250 billion (real) dollars with the same difference. This is an unpleasant reality. Although Russian specialists are no worse, and often can work much better than Western ones.

What should be done to change the situation for the better?

The most important thing is the adoption in Russia of the law on PMCs. Whether this industry will develop in Russia or not, there must be a law regulating its activities. At the very least, so that the people who are doing this hard work, but extremely necessary for the country, do not feel in limbo. So that there is no danger that he will return home, and he will be judged here as a mercenary. Because the current situation is a form of disgrace, which is any lawlessness.

Second, it is very important that domestic businesses operating abroad pay attention to Russian PMCs. So far, some of our companies are able to do a lot, even of what neither the Americans nor the British are able to do. Not to mention the real security of the national business. At least with your own people, you can be sure that no secrets will flow where they should not.

I am sure that the rest of the Russian PMCs are able to decide for themselves. Well, if there are state support and state orders, as in the USA and Great Britain, they cannot want more.

Who and why in Russia is so much afraid of the development of domestic PMCs? After all, private military companies are focused on work outside their own country. And mainly in hot spots. On the other hand, private security companies are already operating in Russia, as well as private business security services, which, if we’re afraid of everything, should probably also be banned.

This is the key question. Because at the beginning of 2018, a draft law on PMCs was submitted to the State Duma. Expectations reigned in the market that this document would be adopted. But at some stage there was an agreement, apparently, between the Russian Guard and the Ministry of Defense, which, apparently, fought for the status of the PMC controller. Because someone on the part of the state must control them. As far as is known, the draft law provided for the Ministry of Defense as a controlling and licensing body. But something, apparently, did not work out.

Why is there opposition? There can be an infinite number of answers to this question. For example, it is likely that there are fears that, given the situation in the country, with the adoption of the law on PMCs, the number of these companies and their size will increase dramatically. And it will be such a serious military force, which is still unknown, what it can do in the medium term. But, on the other hand, the problem is that after the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, this force already exists and it will pose a threat to its country until it is legislatively consolidated. After all, the legal nature of the activity is both a social package and guarantees for everyone involved in this activity, as well as the rules of the game that make the industry predictable and balanced.

On the other side of the spectrum of responses - the desire of some characters who are somehow connected with the activities of PMCs, to keep them in the gray zone. Because through them, very decent money by Russian standards is circulated, from which taxes are not paid. All this is not transparent - it is not clear where this money goes, how it is spent. An almost uncontrolled business, which is very difficult to control and take into account.

In the middle of the spectrum there is a competitive moment between various state organizations (Ministry of Defense, Rosgvardia, Ministry of Justice, etc.), which compete with each other for the right to become the main controller and licensor of PMCs by entering them into the relevant registers.

That is why such an absurd situation is developing in Russia. That is, there is a kind of PMC, but there is no such word. But there are objective laws of market development. Therefore, PMCs exist, even if they are called differently. One way or another, they work. And, of course, the moment will come, I am 100% convinced of this, when such a law will have to be adopted. Moreover, in general, the situation is not very clear now. The fact is that, as far as is known, this draft law, which was submitted to the State Duma in November-December 2017 and was to be discussed in February 2018, was previously approved by Vladimir Putin.

Therefore, you can be sure that the law will be adopted, just later. But, unfortunately, any "later" in the current situation makes it much more difficult to enter the market.

State control - It is believed that in reality, mother countries should not be afraid of their PMCs, since they are very closely related and rather tightly controlled by the state. Is it planned to create a similar system in Russia?

There are two points here. First, I understand such a quiet horror that the concept of PMCs instills in the hearts of the deputies, in contrast to the private security companies that have been working in Russia for a long time. Most of the private security companies are not armed, and it is extremely difficult for them to obtain weapons. And when PSCs individually seek weapons licenses, it's all short barrels. It is clear that no one gets anywhere further than six meters. And PMCs, trained personnel - officers, sergeants (because only professionals are accepted there) - are armed with automatic weapons. But many people forget that not a single PMC can arm itself on the territory of the Russian Federation. Here they are not allowed to carry weapons. Therefore, even with the adoption of the law on PMCs, they will not receive the right to carry automatic weapons in Russia. They will have the right to arm themselves only abroad - in the zone of performing those tasks that they received under contracts. This is the first thing.

The second is state control. International experience shows that PMCs work exclusively in cooperation and under strict control by the parent states. For Americans, this is the State Department. All American PMCs abroad carry out tasks under the programs of the US State Department. And, by the way, the contracts that the American private military receive from the state are signed by the State Department. And, of course, the CIA. But CIA control is a very dubious story. Therefore, PMCs are not very fond of making this aspect of their activities public. But there is such interaction, if only in order not to collide with the CIA on the same field of action. In addition, the Pentagon. That is, the Ministry of Defense, the special services and the army.

A similar control system is in place for British private military companies. Moreover, there is also close interaction between British and American PMCs, which have divided this market among themselves. Because the same American PMCs behave very politely with MI6 and the British Department of Defense. Conversely, the British are respectful of the CIA, the Pentagon and the State Department.

Accordingly, here you need to understand that PMCs are not only engaged in business and earn money, although, of course, this is their main task. But they also perform an extremely serious state function from the point of view of the authorities of the United States, Great Britain, France, and so on.

Human factor - PMCs are periodically attacked in the United States. What is the reason for this? With the scandals these companies get into?

Attacks on PMCs come from individual media outlets and some parliamentarians who carry out their political tasks. It was, is and will be. Because the activities of PMCs allow everyone - from democrats to liberals and from conservatives to anarchists - to find a topic for themselves that can be developed in search of ways to fulfill their political tasks. Someone uses the activities of PMCs in order to show "how tough we are and these guys protect the interests of our country." Which it really is, and it’s just stupid not to admit it. And someone cites arguments that these are "dogs of war" and "wild geese", which are uncontrollable, who are firing in all directions and in general it is not known what they are doing. Although, as I said, more than 90% of PMCs' activities are not firing, but analytics and risk prevention for the client. And the client in most cases through its ministries and departments is the mother state.

Therefore, it has always been, is and will be. Moreover, in the history of PMCs there have been various, including very unpleasant, cases. Which, however, can hardly be completely avoided. For various reasons: lack of coordination of actions and lack of coordination, or just a human factor. Or maybe someone got to the wrong place at the wrong time. Then there are incidents like Blackwater in Iraq.

During the wedding, the Arabs shoot into the air, which is traditional for them. And the Blackwater fighters considered that this gathering of armed people posed a danger to them. And they shot the wedding procession, which naturally led to a wild scandal. But there weren't many such cases. And here you need to understand that the personnel of PMCs, when they land in hot spots, are not aimed at completing the task at any cost. Still, he strives to stay alive himself. Therefore, it reacts very harshly to any threat or signs of a threat. And when analyzing such incidents, it is important to take into account that they do not work in the center of Paris or Rome as tourist guides, but operate in extremely extreme conditions in the very epicenter of fierce confrontation, where they are shot at, where they are blown up. Of course, the mistakes made by the Blackwater fighters are absolutely nothing good. But, unfortunately, no one has yet come up with a cure for such incidents.

As you know, even when military exercises with live firing are conducted in peacetime, 1.5-2% of the total personnel are allocated for losses ...

Military service, be it a regular army or a private military company, unfortunately, cannot completely rule out this. And in PMCs - especially, since their fighters are sent to hot spots. This is a very dangerous job - what else can I say?

GSS - Can you tell us, for example, about the activities of the Russian Global Security Solutions that you mentioned?

GSS was created on the basis of the reformed RSB-Group ("Russian security systems"). The company employs and cooperates with it on an ongoing basis specialists of a narrow and wide profile. In particular, in the African and Middle East regions. Specialists in South-East Asia are involved.

The company is engaged in performing all those tasks that, for example, the American Triple Canopy or the British Olive Group. The main focus is the organization of supply chains, analysis of the client's risks: political, geopolitical, military and financial. Plus an assessment of the prospects for projects in hot spots. The company predicts the development of events in a particular region in order to optimize the fulfillment of tasks to protect the interests of the client and eliminate negative manifestations in the territory of its activity. Starting from neutralizing Boko Haram (a radical Nigerian Islamist organization) and Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen (a group of Somali Islamists called the Mujahideen Youth Movement) and ending with the prevention of attempts of political negative influence aimed at defeating Russia's interests. And also, in the case of relevant contracts, this is the protection of the interests of the allied national governments of the so-called fragile states. The company operates exclusively within the framework of contracts concluded with foreign governments. And only with those governments and organizations that are recognized by the UN.

It is important to understand that people with assault rifles in black glasses, who frighten others with their appearance, for the GSS, roughly speaking, take the last place. It is clear that they have their own rather important niche. Because you always have to protect someone. But this is 10-15% of the total activity.

Now GSS has offices in Austria (Vienna), USA (Los Angeles), Germany (Munich), United Arab Emirates, as well as Sudan and South Sudan.

Why does the company have offices in these countries?

It is imperative to be present in the States. This is an opportunity to communicate with American PMCs, which control most of the market. From the point of view of subcontracts, some kind of joint activity. Because they also have questions that they ask. This applies to territories where Americans are uncomfortable, unlike Russians. For example, the Middle East, North Africa, Sahara-Sahel and so on. Because, despite the victorious reports of Donald Trump and his Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the Americans are not doing well with their activities in the Middle East. People who work “on the ground” understand this very well.

The same is true with representations in other countries. The political leadership of the Emirates is now trying to influence all processes taking place in the Horn of Africa, in the Gulf of Aden and so on. On the part of the GSS, this is an attempt to be in the center of events, to understand what is happening, and to use any opportunities in order to work normally, in compliance with international standards, to earn money, to perform certain tasks. Among other things, there is the conviction that the group is doing a lot for the interests of Russia.

Libyan experience - Did GSS work in Libya?

In Libya, the group has very serious positions - both in the east and in the west. In Misrata, Tripoli, El Marjah, Tobruk, Benghazi. It's a little heavier in the south. Nevertheless, the company still maintains contact with the tribes there - Tuareg and Tebu. Through the Council of Libyan Tribes.

To date, in Libya, the largest activity the group has undertaken is the clearance of a cement plant in Benghazi. This is probably the largest such Libyan enterprise and one of the largest in Africa. The group was contracted by the owners of this plant. The situation was such that at some point the militants of the "Islamic State" (IS, banned in Russia) took over this plant. And when they were knocked out of there, not without the "remote" participation of the group, retreating, the Islamists left "surprises" on the territory of the enterprise. And when the workers started to run the equipment, several people were blown up. GSS was contracted, and in 2017 the group carried out a cleanup of the plant. Now the enterprise is working in full force.

From time to time, in order to maintain a working relationship, the GSS communicates in Tripoli with the Libyan Defense Ministry, various government security organizations. With Misurata - the military council. With the soldiers of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. And from time to time, it ensures the personal safety of visitors on Libyan territory.

GSS has a very serious principle that the company tries to adhere to. The company is committed to ensuring the safety of people or objects. And if, for example, an object was attacked and this attack was successfully repulsed, the company considers it to be a puncture. Because there was an attack at all. The main task, as the GSS sees it, is to stop any attack possibilities even at distant approaches.

GSS is well known in the professional market. Until the company got on its feet in terms of Russian legislation, contracts and subcontracts come from the same Americans and British, as well as from a number of local players in various troubled regions.

See the world, visit unusual countries, meet wonderful people and shoot them, making a lot of money along the way - the work of a mercenary in a private military company (PMC) is very attractive at first glance. But in reality, everything is much more complicated: some volunteers chasing a long ruble can return home in coffins, while others do not smell gunpowder at all. Special correspondent Alexandra Wigrayzer spoke with an employee of one of the world's largest private military companies on condition of anonymity and found out why the semi-legendary PMC Wagner cannot be called a private military company, how the “soldiers of fortune” live and what they fear.

Lenta.ru: What do you know about PMC Wagner? How and for whom does it work? Why is their existence allowed in Russia?

All information is on the surface. Everyone knows where their Moscow office is located. Yes, this is the structure of Yevgeny Prigozhin. Why is this private military company (PMC) allowed to work? It's hard for me to understand. I can assume that the whole point is in the relationship of a specific person with a specific president. This practice has no world analogues.

If people are fighting for the country, then they should not be "green", "yellow" or "blue" men, but military personnel. If people are engaged in private security, training or risk analysis, then it could be a private military company. But PMCs cannot fully participate in hostilities. Because the employers of PMCs and the state may have completely different goals. The state, for example, sets some global tasks, and a particular businessman is interested in the seizure of an oil plant. And from whom? The Kurds!

What's wrong with the Kurds? Aren't they the same adversary as anyone else in Syria and Iraq?

Kurds are the enemy ?! Trust me: anyone who has worked in Iraq prays for the Kurds. Iraqi Kurdistan, for example, looks like an oasis in the middle of the desert. This place is amazing! The sweetest, kindest people without any signs of Islamic fundamentalism. Girls on the streets wear T-shirts and Capri pants, alcohol is sold everywhere, whiskey is openly advertised on the street! These are the most normal, most adequate, most rational allies of any adequate forces in the Middle East.

To offend the Kurds, to fight the Kurds, is the worst thing that can be imagined. Moreover, the Kurds have a great attitude towards Russia, they love it. And the activity of some chefs leads to the fact that the whole of Kurdistan (its Syrian, Turkish, Iraqi and Iranian parts) simply turn away from its partner. Come to Kurdistan and see: he works there, there are Russian guys from PMCs. They do normal jobs and get decent money. Cooperation with local security companies is underway. They do a good job there without any "PMC law", without presidential chefs.

Kurds have a great attitude towards Russia. In Syria, a political crisis is taking place at the suggestion of some kind of not far-off manager, and hundreds of Russian people are dying. This is madness that must be stopped. I have worked in this area all my life and I can say what is happening behind the Wagner PMC signboard - this is abnormal, this should not exist.

In this case, is it possible to call PMC Wagner, so to speak, the Russian army in other “clothes”?

This is not the Russian army. There is, after all, the well-known word "mercenaries". Any army officer is limited by certain laws and hierarchies of command. And "Wagner" ... They simply do not have the brakes that a huge inertial military machine has. Any order in the official structure would go through a huge number of instances - yes, stupid, but instances. And the Russian army is not going to fight the Kurds. Then no.

Another sad side: Wagner's personnel, to put it mildly, are of a completely different quality. And further, point by point: equipment and weapons are disgusting, the level of training is low, the effectiveness of the command also leaves much to be desired - there people are constantly dying there. This is well known in our circles. And therefore, the attitude of regular Russian soldiers and officers to them is appropriate.

But there is still a moment about which it is impossible to remain silent. When a Russian pilot dies, he is buried with honors, broadcasted on television, you write eulogies and obituaries in your newspapers about what a good guy he was, they say. And it is right. But here - out of stupidity, out of monstrous stupidity, more than a hundred people die. And what do they write about them? Have you seen this "troll factory"? “Oh, mercenaries, why pity them” - this is some kind of fantastic level of hypocrisy, when ordinary guys from the hinterland are sent to die for god knows where for money, and then they are buried in unmarked graves.

Would it be better if they were contract soldiers in the army?

Certainly. First, this is a completely different attitude. Secondly, the army provides a number of bonuses. This includes citizenship, pension, and much more. And most importantly - the status of a legitimate participant in hostilities, as well as some kind of immunity from local laws. A soldier of the Russian army will not be handed over to a Syrian court, a soldier of the French Foreign Legion will not be handed over to a court in Mali.

And the PMC employee is a civilian. If Wagner's employees had full military status, I personally would not mind. For example, a man dies, and the mother can tell his child: "Son, your dad was a soldier, and he died as a hero, fought against terrorists." Now what? Son, your dad didn’t know who was doing there - they never told us, he died when the stupid oligarch wanted to squeeze out the oil field.

There was a precedent in history when the UAE hired about two thousand Colombians for the war in Yemen. And they even hid - like the Russian authorities - but they took them into the army, paid a very decent salary. And these were the official soldiers in service. So no, "PMC Wagner", this is what in Russian is called "illegal armed formation", which is not clear to whom obey and is capable, thanks to the stupidity of its commanders, to provoke a huge international conflict. As a person who has worked almost all his life in this area, I strongly support its development, but such formations are harmful not only for the industry, but also for the image of Russia.

Why do you say that Wagner has a lower contingent than the army?

Look: any person in our sphere personally knows someone who serves there, or someone who refused their offer. But no one does not know a volunteer who would be refused admission by PMC Wagner. They take everyone: people with convictions, alcohol addiction - everyone.

It is enough to talk to their employees to understand that they are not only at the level of the Special Operations Forces, they do not always reach the usual construction battalions. Neither by the level of education, nor by the level of military training, nor by motivation. Again: I have great respect for those who work there. But let's be honest: professionals don't go there. Such a “wonderful” job, such an “amazing” opportunity to die, even without a guarantee that your corpse will at least be returned home, they do not need it. None of the Russians I know — those who worked in Iraq at the beginning of the 2000s, who are now working with Gazprom in Kurdistan — did not go there, because everyone understands that this, as they say, is a hit.

Does it happen that a private company wages full-fledged hostilities, and even with such losses? According to various sources, among the mercenaries of the Wagner group there could be up to two hundred dead.

Absolutely not. It is impossible even to imagine that now some kind of Western PMC, an official company, is conducting hostilities. This is absolutely absurd. There was precedent with Executive Outcomes that fought several civil wars in Africa, but this was in the early 90s. Since then, the world has changed.

The South African people fought in Nigeria several years ago. But no large international companies were involved in this. This is a specific situation when specific people are recruited for a specific job, whose activities are initially completely outside the legal field. Therefore, Wagner is, of course, not a PMC. You can call it whatever you like, but in the Russian criminal code it is called an "illegal armed formation." I have nothing against the people who work there - I understand their motivation, I respect them as professionals, but you need to understand that this situation is not normal. Nothing like this can happen in any Western PMC.

Isn't PMC Wagner working in the Russian legal field?

Of course no. On what basis are weapons handed over to people, on what basis do they conduct hostilities? I am not a Syrian lawyer, I don’t know what laws there are. But, in my opinion, the "Wagnerites" do not work either within the framework of the Russian law, or within the framework of the Syrian one. This is, as you like to say, "education that has no analogues in the world."

But why do people go there? Work with a very high risk, with the possibility of corny getting a bullet in the forehead or a term for mercenary?

I have not lived in Russia for a long time, but it is obvious that the answer is the same - despair. Your economic situation, especially in the regions, is difficult. Many people have served in the army and believe that they can do nothing else. They really don't know how to serve. But at least they identify themselves as great warriors. Plus, you need to understand that a certain militaristic pumping and propaganda has been going on in society for many, many years.

So despair, lack of money and qualifications, extremely high housing prices, lack of affordable loans are all factors. Even with such losses, I'm afraid there will be a lot of people willing to get a job with Wagner. Especially from small towns. Look at the well-known lists of casualties: there is almost no one there from Moscow or St. Petersburg. These are all small towns where people have lost hope long ago. And the sum of 200 thousand rubles, which a dishwasher receives in Britain, makes people forget about everything and go to no one knows where, spitting on the instinct of self-preservation.

Well, with the Wagnerians, it's understandable. And what about normal PMCs? In the Russian media, mercenaries are presented as heroes rushing into battle on the most dangerous sectors of the front. How true is this image? What do private military companies do in general?

Completely untrue. For a long time, there have been no bearded guys with tattoos, cutting across the desert in jeeps and scorching at anything from a machine gun. 80-90 percent of the business is absolutely standard things. We need to hang cameras, look at monitors, stretch barbed wire, provide drivers, technical intelligence, and engage in analytics. The "bearded thugs" who are used to represent PMC employees are a minority, and a vanishing minority in this business. In fact, the work of PMCs is the work of watchmen, absolutely devoid of romanticism.

In general, there is a stereotype that the main job of a private military company is armed guards. But this should not be so: such a situation developed only because at one time Iraq and Afghanistan simply did not have a capable government and crowds of adventurers with weapons were drawn there.

We have a lot of people say that a law on PMCs is needed, which would normalize their activities ... These conversations make me laugh. In America, to which everyone is nodding, there is no separate law on private military companies, and they are doing pretty well. I don’t follow what is happening in Russia at all, but I often see what Russian journalists write about PMCs, and I laugh at it. The recent situation in Syria pissed me off.

Firstly, people died there, and secondly, everyone immediately began to tell: they say, everything is fine, these are mercenaries and why should you feel sorry for them. So that's it. All this is said by clowns who have no idea what a PMC is and how it all works. Because nothing similar to what happened to the employees of PMC Wagner in Syria simply physically could not have happened either in an American, or in a British, or even in an Afghan company.

Let's just open our eyes and see what a PMC is. I will decipher the abbreviation for those who do not know. PMCs are primarily company- a private military company. An indispensable condition for its existence is the legality of its activities. Now the most important and most needed person for a PMC is not a thug with a cleaver at the ready, but an approval manager - a specialist who monitors that all the company's activities comply with local laws.

And PMCs, by definition, cannot operate outside the legal field, outside the law, because then it is no longer a company. This is a criminal organization, a gang - anything, but not a PMC. And when we work now in unstable regions and read the stories of various Russian propagandists, at first it becomes funny, and then scary.

And the hard mode is usually set?

In general, everything is described as exhaustively as possible by the contract, which is signed in each individual case. But the main thing: any employee fully obeys the laws of the country where he works. In fact, this is a four-component system: first, local laws, then the laws of the customer country, then the laws of the country in which the PMC is registered, then the contract. Each layer is additional constraints.

And now imagine how rigidly it regulates any activity, how great is the role of lawyers who must understand all conflicts, what bureaucratic colossus needs to be turned in order to start fulfilling contractual obligations.

After all, even a contract is not a contract for a page where it is written that company "A" guards the employees of plant "B" and two signatures are there. This is a huge, eight-hundred-page Talmud, which puts the performer in an extremely rigid framework. It even talks about standards of behavior, about sexual harassment!

But in Russia everything is still the same. One beacon just said: "During the second assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah, Blackwater played a key role, in fact acting first as a barrage detachment and then as the main force of the breakthrough." Usually I laugh when I read this, but then I wanted to find this person, take him by the collar and ask: "Clown, what are you talking about ?!"

However, for some reason, this "four-component system" could not save the peaceful Iraqis from the tragedy, when employees of the American company Blackwater shot civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad in 2007.

Right. I will not touch on what was there - this is a topic for a separate conversation. But contrary to the tales in the press, the participants in these events were tried, and in 2014 four were imprisoned. One for life, three others were sentenced to 30 years. This is not an isolated case: there are British people in India who simply accidentally swam into Indian territorial waters.

In these conditions, it is ridiculous to say that PMC employees are "above the law." On the contrary, they are not only forced to comply with all laws, they regularly come up with new restrictions. Now even the language is being revised. For example, the term “rules for opening fire” is rejected because it sounds too belligerent, and it is replaced with a neutral “rules for the use of force”.

As I said before, the space for activity is constantly narrowing. In 2004, there was a complete freeman in Iraq, but now Baghdad is doing everything to ensure that only local mercenaries remain in the country. Now you can freely act in completely non-existent countries such as Syria.

The conversations of our deputies and other experts that Russian PMCs will work somewhere are frankly amusing - there is a complete lack of understanding of the situation and its context. In a few years, foreigners will remain only on large projects: the protection of embassies, key infrastructure, and then everything, without exception, will be transferred to the locals.

Is hiring locals a whim or a necessity?

Let me give you a simple example. That in Iraq, that in Afghanistan the drivers of PMCs are always local. Why? It's simple: if a citizen of another country gets into an accident or, God forbid, crushes someone, he will simply be sued, or even put in prison for tens of years. Therefore, they take a local, so that if something happens, you can disown.

I can remember only two exceptions. The period from 2003 to 2006 in Iraq, and from 2001 to 2004 in Afghanistan. Then it was possible to be above local laws, simply because in fact they did not exist. You flew in, there were no visas and passport control, right on the runway, you got a machine gun and went to the villa with full "immunity". But then in Iraq, for example, there was no state. There was the American ambassador Paul Bremer, the head of the occupying government and, in fact, the supreme ruler of Iraq. In that particular historical period, PMC employees could indeed enjoy a certain immunity.

Now the situation is fundamentally different. Without permits, licenses, you can’t make a step. We were forbidden to use the PKM (Kalashnikov machine gun), then the PKK (Kalashnikov light machine gun) was taken away, and even two SVD rifles (Dragunov sniper rifle) were seized from us. They left the usual Kalashnikovs and pistols. Only local contractors help out - they have access to government offices, they can avoid prosecution for minor violations, they know the language, local realities. And hiring them is cheaper - a banal business logic. You can pay them a penny.

The only exception is US government contracts, which are only recruited by US citizens, because only they can issue the necessary form of security clearance. All of their employees are Americans, even those who are at the gate. Only due to this there is some kind of work, because it is simply impossible to hire a foreigner there. If there is no requirement for security clearance, locals will be hired. True, their qualifications, as a rule, are almost at zero.

We see the results, recall the recent attack on a hotel in Kabul (then, as a result of an attack on a hotel inhabited mainly by Western officials, 43 people died - note "Lenta.ru"). Obviously, this hotel is the number one target for all villains, but even it was guarded by local clowns who fled at the first sounds of gunfire.

But a local employee needs to understand: you live there, you have a family. Today you defend some foreigner for money, and tomorrow the Taliban will slaughter your family for this. So even if you are a professional, there is not much to expect from you. The only exception is the Kurds. Here they are really handsome. Firstly, the society there has a positive attitude towards foreigners. Foreigners bring money, not war. No one will offend your family if you are guarding foreigners. Secondly, many of them are really literate guys, they know the materiel, speak English well. It's a pleasure to work with them.

What is the current ratio of "militants" and organizers, managers, analysts in companies?

It all depends on the specific contract. But in reality, in many countries where there is a dire need for security, it is simply impossible to work with weapons. Nigeria is a monstrous, scary place, but whoever you are, you cannot work with weapons there. Mexico, where 50 people are kidnapped by cartels every day, is not allowed. The only way out is if an armed group of Mexicans will work with you, and at a critical moment you will be able to snatch the rifle from their hands and begin to administer justice.

But in fact, under any contract, the number of armed foreigners is less than half, and perhaps none at all. Now it is much easier to hire a local to run around with a machine gun. And the authorities will be grateful. As a result, we have a huge number of people willing to work and a very, very small and constantly decreasing number of vacancies.

How big is the market for private military companies in general?

The total volume of the industry worldwide is $ 171 billion. But it has already been divided among very large corporations. All significant companies in this area have been bought over the past four years by multinational security players who do not know how to deal with high-risk situations.

Now in the West there are practically no small and medium-sized players in this activity. The market consists of multinational corporations and local regional contractors. The reality is that the market for armed guards, the one you journalists love to talk about, is by no means growing.

On the contrary, it is shrinking every year. And the reason is very simple: no normal state will allow the presence of foreigners with weapons on their land. How often do you see armed citizens of other states in Russia? Foreign guards with machine guns, pistols, who are protecting someone? Not! Any state, even such failed countries as Iraq or Afghanistan, are now putting foreign PMCs in such a narrow framework that work becomes almost impossible.

Who do PMCs usually work for? To the state?

It's a delusion. Private companies mainly carry out orders from private businesses. It is impossible even to imagine that a Western or even an Afghan or Iraqi large company would work only with the state, only for the state, and even in this form, openly participating in hostilities. Although state contracts are always very profitable - they are either the protection of representatives of a particular state, or the protection of embassies, which is very monetary.

What do states usually assign to private military companies?

Intelligence analysis, risk analysis, guarding embassies and diplomatic representatives, ensuring the security of various objects when it comes to American contracts. Once there was a case when he instructed a PMC to guard the corps of military engineers of the American army - in that region, their forces were not enough. The stories that the contractors are charged with some kind of political assassinations are fairy tales, of course.

Cannon fodder, assault squads - this is not about PMCs. It was all in the 60s and 90s and ended with Sandline and their attempt to stage a coup in Papua New Guinea. This was probably one of the last cases when someone tried to hire a PMC for some semblance of hostilities.

Photo: Jean-Christophe Kahn / Reuters

But he was somewhat lucky: Denard did not die in prison just because he had Alzheimer's disease. By the 90s, all government games with mercenaries were over. The old man was dragged to court until he died, and no old merit helped. So in Russia, as often happens, they decided to pick up on the forgotten trend.

But can't we say that Syria is the same failed state as Iraq was during the period of American occupation?

In fact, no. This is a funny collision. If you look from the perspective of Russia, then this is a fully established country with a government and laws. A wonderful state, where happy people idolize the president, are devoted to him with all their hearts, are very glad that the war with the "Islamic State" (banned in the Russian Federation - note "Lenta.ru") is over.

That is, there is no such thing that we came, overthrew Assad from the throne, installed our supreme ruler. No, we ostensibly respect Syrian laws and their authority. But if power and law are when “Assad allowed” another state to form illegal armed formations on its territory and use them in war, then this is just an example of a failed state.

It is unlikely that Syrian law permits the creation of illegal military formations on its territory and the conduct of independent hostilities by them. However, I am not a lawyer and I am not going to meddle in Syria.

For many Wagnerians, war is just a way to make money. There is information that employees receive three thousand dollars per month of active hostilities and half of this amount during their stay at the base. How close are these numbers to reality, and how do they compare with typical salaries in this industry?

Let's just say: they are close to reality. People from there talk about such amounts. But in general, you need to understand that even in hot spots not every day evil terrorists with knives break into your base. The lower the risk level, the more idiots you can hire for this job. Therefore, often, when it is possible to hire a person, shall we say, with low salary expectations, they will hire him.

It started back in the 2000s, when Chileans were hired for a penny, then it came to Ugandans. I worked with them in one African country - these comrades cannot even fire normally from a machine gun. If there is an opportunity, and the risks are small, they always hire the cheapest.

Therefore, in the maritime industry, where it all started with salaries of six hundred dollars or six hundred pounds a day, salaries fell to ridiculous numbers. Recently I saw an ad where they offered work to Ukrainians on the terms: 30 days at sea for $ 800. I discussed this in Iraq with a colleague from India and, to tell the truth, he almost died of laughter. Because it's funny money. But the Ukrainians are willing to do this. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about any average market wages. It very often falls, because locals or representatives of poor countries, including Romanians, Gurkhas, Indians, Ukrainians, Ugandans, are hired for a pittance.

There are more prestigious contracts, where very high requirements for personnel are put forward. In this case, certain standards of payment are implied: for serious, high-quality work, you can get about 10 thousand dollars a month. Few people rise above this level.

Is it really necessary to compete at a high level?

Recently there was a tender for the protection of the Australian embassy in one fairly "good country". So: just to show up, you need huge investments at the very beginning. Yes, they pay very decently for such a contract, but the problem of Russian companies is that there is no business in this area that would be ready to go all the way and invest real money. There was a great example of the LUKOM-A company, which recruited people and was going to go to work in Iraq. They were simply not given a license to operate.

No one, neither in Iraq nor in Afghanistan, needs new players. It is ruled by local companies and the largest international corporations that can afford it. So the development of the Russian segment of PMCs will depend only on the development of domestic business. Once there is a critical number of projects to be secured, a security business will emerge. You need to understand that there is already a need for it, but it is not fully realized.

Look at the most egregious case - the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara. Where were his guards? She just wasn't there. She was in Moscow. The division that deals with the security of the diplomatic corps is simply not able to provide protection to everyone who needs it. All countries employ private security specialists for these tasks.

But our state, instead of supporting the development of a normal healthy industry, is creating pocket illegal formations like "Wagner". At the same time, Russian diplomatic representatives in countries with a huge level of danger are simply not protected by anyone. If this crazy practice continues, it will continue to cost the lives of Russian diplomats.