INTRODUCTION
The material gives the characteristics to the dynamics of the criminal activity in Russia in the context of the social and economic changes that are taking place. It is possible to note the common tendencies in the fight against crime in Russia and in the leading states of the West. Official data on the crime situation in Russia and the nature of Russian-American co-operation in this field are given.

DYNAMICS OF THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN RUSSIA
The issue of crime is traditionally one of the main priorities among the global problems the mankind is facing, and the crime rate is a concern in Russia also. According to the sociological surveys, the problem of protection from criminal encroachments always occupies second place on the scale of personal priorities of Russian citizens (number one are social and economic problems). It is also worthwhile to mention that the number of crimes in Russia is comparable to the number of crimes in developed countries of the West where the democratic traditions are stable. In the last forty years, the world crime rate tripled or quadrupled. In the United States it rose sevenfold; in the former USSR, eightfold; in Great Britain and Sweden, sixfold; in France, fivefold; and in Germany, threefold.

According to the Fourth Overview of the United Nations, the crime rate increased as an average of 5 per cent a year during the 1990s. Nevertheless, the sharp increase in the crime rate in Russia in the late 1980s and early 1990s is not a unique phenomenon but part of a global tendency in change in the political, economic, and legal spheres.

From 1961 to 1977, there was a steady rise of the crime rate of 2.2 per cent a year in the Russian Federation. In 1978 to 1985, because of an unstable society, the crime rate rose 7.7 per cent a year as an average. The number of registered crimes decreased considerably in 1987, possibly because of a decrease in alcohol consumption.

According to the Main Information Centre of the Ministry of the Interior of Russian Federation (MVD), crime in Russia followed three stages during the latest period of democratic reforms. There was a constant growth in the number of criminal activities from 1988 to 1992. The rate of growth of the registered crimes reached peaks in 1989 and 1992 (32.7 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively). There was a certain stabilization in the rate of growth of registered crimes from 1993 to 1995. The rate of growth then decreased by 1.4 per cent, and the number of crimes decreased by 6 percent in 1994.

The crime rate increased in 1998 to 1992; during that period there was extensive coverage of the criminal acts in the press (until the early 1990s crime statistics were classified and unknown to the public), which provoked substantial psychological shock and serious discontent among the members of the public concerning the work of the law enforcement agencies.

Nevertheless, the actual results of their efforts were comparable to these of the law enforcement agencies of the countries of the world. The All-Russian Research Institute of the MVD of Russia provided the following crime data in Russia, the United States, and Germany in 1994:

There was a reduction in the number of registered crimes in 1996-1997, and the degree of latency did not increase, indicating that the number of the crimes actually committed had been also reduced.

It is enough to point out that the overwhelming majority of registered crimes is linked to heavy drinking, awful conditions of everyday life, and other factors. Organized crime’s share in the total number of registered crimes is only 1 per cent.

The reduction of crime in 1996-1997 was temporary; crime increased by 4 per cent in 1998. Moreover, according to then-Minister of the Interior of Russia S. V. Stepashin, in the near future we shall face a new wave of crime based on the current financial situation.

In this regard, both the Russian public and the police are concerned not so much with the increased crime rate as with the characteristics of crime. First, it is the growth of the degree of sophistication, dimension, and professionalism in the activity of criminals, the fusing of national and foreign criminal structures and their global penetration into the economy of the country. The leaders of the MVD have underlined more than once that serious and extremely serious crimes prevail within the criminal structure; their share is almost 58 per cent, for example, the growth in premeditated murders, a large share of which are contract killings.

How is crime being fought in Russia today? Let us take a look at the data on the crime situation in the Russian Federation for the period of January to June 1998:

During the first 6 months of 1998 the total number of registered crimes rose 4 per cent in comparison with the same period in 1997. The seriousness of the threat the criminal activity poses to the public has grown, and the criminals are better equipped and better armed. Encroachments on property still account for a large number of crimes. More than one-third of the registered crimes are larcenies (the same as in the United States, where 80 per cent of the serious crimes are crimes against property).

Analysis of the crime situation leads to the conclusion that the factors that cause crime will continue. Wide availability of arms ( not typical for Russia before) and lack of protection for different types of property will contribute to increased numbers of assaults related to robbery. Crimes against property are increasing in violence. In these circumstances, assurance of personal security and protection of property are among the top priorities for the bodies of the Interior of the Russian Federation.

Crime is becoming a social factor in the Russian Federation, but combining efforts to fight against crime can become a real basis of national accord, a task that bring together all the positive forces of our society.

An analysis of world crime allows us to make the following conclusions. It is noted that considering that all the tendencies mentioned below are characteristics of Russian crime problems as well, except for the last:

• There is a crime rate increase in many countries.

• There is an Increase in serious crimes.

• Criminals are getting younger.

• There is a decrease in the number of crimes detected.

Reforms in Russia face great difficulties and do not always meet the demands of the majority of Russians. Some of the reasons for these failures are due to the Russian legal base. The MVD of Russia and the Ministry of Justice, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and other competent authorities therefore have begun creation of a reliable legislative basis to deal with the fight against crime, especially organized crime. According to practical needs, legislative acts are being prepared for introduction to the government and then submission to the State Duma. Currently, the legislative system needs the adoption of a new Code of Criminal Procedure, federal laws "Fight against Corruption," "Counteraction to legalization of profits gained illegally," and some others. There is a close interaction in this work between both Chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

To realize constitutional authority in local institutions and the President’s Decree "On Gradual Forming of the Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies," issues on carrying out the experiment in some municipal bodies are studied by government organizations. The relevant Decree of the President of Russia has been prepared.

Real success in the fight against crime is impossible without realization of an active state policy aimed to counteract this antisocial phenomenon. This policy is impossible without the legislative basis in terms of criminal, criminal procedure and criminal executive laws. However, the existing legislative base allows the Russian law enforcement agencies to resist the criminal pressure.

The problem of systematic, complex counteraction of organized crime has gone far beyond the limits of criminal law and operative-search activity in criminology. According to the latest documents of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, organized crime has become a form of society organization in some countries. It can be pointed out, in fact, that organized crime is a social phenomenon able to organize society in its own way during a social-economic crisis and while destructive processes are going on. As society is being organized according to criminal laws, the system of resistance to law enforcement agencies comprises both the unofficial structures and a part of corrupt state structures. If we look at the problem from this point of view, we shall see why this problem is becoming an international problem.

Despite the complexity of the existing problems, Russia has managed to avert the danger of mafia dominance, because of hard work by law enforcement agencies. Special units to combat organized crime were reinforced, their functions and the functions of the traditional criminal militia were precisely defined, a system of technical control of the criminal sphere was created, and training of personnel in the units was upgraded.

The numbers and the degree of organization of the criminal groups acting in Russia are not comparable to their more potent analogues in a number of states of the world, including the United States. According to Mr. Stepashin, Minister of the Interior of Russia, the image of "the Russian mafia" is often the main part of the characteristics given to contemporary Russia. Many have reached the point of saying that our country is "a criminal preserve" that should be cordoned off. Such false images aim at a well-known target—to prevent the new Russia from entering into the contemporary world, to place a barrier on investment, and to undermine our international authority and prestige.

False statements about "the Russian mafia" are numerous. What do data actually show? The United States is constantly interacting with Russia in the fight against the international crime through the channels of INTERPOL. The United States made 1040 requests in 1997 to the National Central Bureau of the INTERPOL in Russia; by July 10, 1998, the requests totaled 707. This information provided through INTERPOL between the National Central Bureau of Russia and the United States in 1997 can be divided into the following categories:

Economic crimes                                  57.7 %
Crimes against persons                       10.3
Search for the stolen vehicles                2.2
Trafficking in drugs                                  6.8
Organized crime, terrorism                     5.0
Counterfeiting of money,
      forgery of documents                         1.1
Thefts of works of arts                              3.4
Other crimes                                              6.0
Legal assistance                                       1.9
Organizational issues                               5.9

The main part of cooperation (57.7 percent) last year were the joint measures taken to detect economic crimes (in 1996 they accounted for 42.1 per cent). The growth tendency remained in 1998; the share of economic crimes was 47.7 per cent during the first 6 months. Nevertheless, the problem of organized crime undoubtedly exists. Organized crime groups and associations that sprung up following the transition period constitute a real force in Russia as well as in many other countries; they have substantial capitals, their own armed squads, and specialists in different fields of knowledge. They are backed by the extensive links with corrupt persons and can protect themselves rather effectively and withstand law enforcement agencies. Organized crime is undoubtedly linked to economic crime, and tendencies and rate of economic crime are linked directly to the economic situation in general, character of reforms, and ways of carrying them out. It is known that economic reforms carried out without an adequate mechanism of control and protection from criminal encroachments create favorable conditions for an increase in economic crime.

There are some negative processes going on in the course of current economic development in Russia, the most important among them being the recession in the level of the gross domestic product and a decrease in production, as well as the aftermath of a serious financial crisis.

Lack of efficiency in the state administration of economy allows many participants of economic relations to solve their problems at the expense of the state budge. Low level of investment demand and a worsening of the financial situation at a majority of enterprises show that the government is not ready to function under the new conditions. State funding of industry, including the building industry and the defense budget, is being reduced.

A large private sector was formed in the course of reforms and as a result of privatization. For the last three years the number of enterprises and organizations listed in the Single State Register of Enterprises and Organizations (SSREO) of Russia has doubled, reaching 2.5 million. It is widespread practice to register Russian companies (there are about 60,000) in off-shore zones abroad, and hence Russian law enforcement agencies know nothing about their activities. The number of small legal enterprises will rise in the near future about 1.5 times, or may double, taking into consideration the Federal Programme to support to small business. But many business undertakings do not become legal entities. Thus these offshore businesses and illegal entities can be organized crime’s economic base. To fight these, arrangements were made according to the Interagency Plan of Priority Measures to increase the revenue of the country budget. As a result of these arrangements, 28,500 crimes committed by organized crime groups were uncovered in 1997. Serious and extremely serious crimes constitute 62 per cent of this total, including 374 bandit assaults. More than 16,000 members of criminal groups were apprehended.

In the course of Operation "Cyclone," the activities of seven organized crime groups were intercepted, including those of a car making joint stock company, "Avtovaz." According to preliminary estimates, illegal proceeds totaled more than 500 billion rubles each year. During a "turf" war, members murdered 65 members of rival groups and two heads of subdivisions Avtovaz. In total, more than 300 people were arrested on over 1,000 charges.

Because of preventive measures taken, the spread of money counterfeiting was stopped—7,900 charges were registered. Over 1,000 criminal cases came to trial (the number was 815 in 1996), and 800 people received prison sentences. This is a positive result of work on blocking the channels used in the sale and import of counterfeit money from abroad and in interception of illegal printing activities.

Law enforcement agencies are constantly focusing their attention on the criminal activity in consumer goods. Illegal entrepreneurship, trade in falsified goods, breaking the rules of trade, and fraud are becoming of more and more sophisticated. In the course of operations aimed at the protection of consumer, 18,000 crimes were curtailed and criminals were charge with 610,500 violations.

Illegal production and sale of alcohol products is one of the spheres where it is possible to gain the highest profit after investing illegally gained capital, thus subdivisions of law enforcement agencies focused their attention on this field. As a result, the activity of more than 2,000 illegal enterprises producing illegal alcohol was intercepted, and 1.3 million decalitres of alcohol were seized.

In the agro-industrial complex, the main attention in the fight against economic crimes was focused on the suppression of criminal activity in the financial resources allocated by the government for the support of the agricultural workers. A Federal Foodstuffs Corporation (FFC) check of spending revealed that 490 billion rubles had been stolen. The result was 15 criminal proceedings and seven heads of the FFC regional subdivisions and commercial enterprises were arrested.

It is worthwhile to mention that it is a matter of serious concern that various ill-intended foreign investors who are often former USSR or Russian citizens having prior criminal record penetrate into the Russian economy. They try to establish control over certain branches without introducing new technologies, investing minimally in production and using cheap, raw material resources with the help of corrupt state officials.

On the other hand, Russian capital is being extensively invested in foreign economies. According to the data of the foreign law enforcement agencies, citizens of the Russian Federation transfer huge sums of money (as an average, about U.S. $1 billion every month). For instance, they invested more than 2 billion marks to purchase 200 pieces of immovable property in Finland only, and more than 1.5 thousand firms are headed by Russians.

Corruption, abuses of office, and bribery are the main reasons for the criminalization of society and the economy. Efforts to fight these phenomena are agreed to be top priorities of the interior departments. According to the data of the MVD of Russia, the number of abuses of office, including bribery cases, has risen. In 1995, 4,889 cases of bribery were revealed; in 1996, the number was 5,453, including 522 cases of bribery in large amounts; during the first six months of 1997, the number was 3,928. The number of criminal cases sent to court has risen 1.5 times.

At the same time it is necessary to admit that the state of affairs in the country is extremely complex. As it was before, the factors determining relentless crime are the processes connected with the drawbacks in the reforming process in the Russian society. The traditional criminal factors still contribute to the process (the high level of alcohol and narcotics consumption, unfavorable domestic conditions, etc).

It should be mentioned that practically all the countries in social and economic transition have lived through analogous situations. In Russia, these common tendencies are made more acute because of the economic crisis, the complexity of the social and political situation, and the long crisis in the Northern Caucasus region, where, in 1997 288,000 crimes were registered, more than a half of which were serious and extremely serious. The population of the Northern Caucasus region constitutes 12 per cent of the total population of the country; in that region two-thirds of all the terrorist acts and one-fifth of all the bandit assaults, kidnapings, and hostage-takings were committed.

The situation in all the Chechen Republic plays a seriously destabilizing role in the region. The Chechen leaders are backed by international extremist organizations, foreign special services, and criminal associations trying to break away from Russia using any means and creating a center in the Caucasus hostile toward Russia. The territory of Chechnya is used to train terrorists, and extremely dangerous recidivists hide there away from criminal prosecution. The situation is not under control of the leaders of Chechnya. The numerous bandit formations are free and go unpunished and make raids to the territory of adjacent regions. Dagestan suffers from the most serious criminal pressure, and Chechen separatists consider its western part their own territory.

The growing legal nihilism of a certain part of the population has a negative influence on the criminal situation. Some forms of the criminal behavior are considered by the public to be socially permissible and even routine. Mass media plays a certain role here, propagandizing violence, cruelty, and criminal traditions.

Representatives of the traditionally law-abiding strata of the population keep joining the criminal world. Quite a few people who have not found a social niche for themselves in the new economic reality take the criminal path. From the total number of criminals (1,372,000), 975,000, or 71.7 per cent, have committed a crime for the first time.

The "transparency" of the Russian borders contributes to the crime increase: Foreign citizens and stateless persons—86.6 per cent of them are Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) citizens—have committed about 28 thousands of crimes.

The picture would be incomplete if we do not consider the existence of organized drug business, a national disaster. Russia, which had been a country with a low level of consumption of relatively weak drugs and which had been used mainly as a transhipment base, is becoming a growing market for drug consumption, where narcotics are the most profitable. As a result, the number of drug-related crimes has increased six times in the last five years. According to our specialists, these processes are linked to the Russian ruble becoming hard currency.

The fight against drug trafficking includes cutting off the routes of drug transportation to Russia and interception of drug dealers. The joint operative activities at road junctions were made by the MVD, State Customs Committee, Federal Security Service, Federal Border Service of Russia. Some new forms of customs control have been elaborated and introduced aimed at enhancing control quality. The activity of 1,400 organized crime groups dealing with drugs has been suppressed, and 848 illegal laboratories have been shut down.

Three operations conducted on cutting off the drug routes through the Russian-Ukrainian border is an example of interacting of Russian and foreign law enforcement agencies. The result was 477 charges for drug trafficking—204 kg of drugs, 79 firearms, U.S. $516, and smuggled goods worth over 1 billion rubles were seized.

At the end of 1997, a successful operation on dissolving an international crime group that had smuggled drugs from Kazakhstan to Russia was conducted; 14 members of the group were arrested, and 200 kg of drugs, firearms and U.S. $75,000 were seized.

In order to enhance the efficiency of fight against drug trafficking, the establishment of a common interagency automated system of gathering and analysis of information about persons conducting this illegal business was established. However, success in fighting international crime is impossible without close cooperation of the law enforcement agencies of different countries, especially those of Russia and the United States.

The bodies of the interior of Russia and the law enforcement agencies of the United States have been cooperating more actively than before since 1993, on the basis of three agreements: A Memorandum of Understanding, issued on January 8, 1989, between the Russian and the U.S. governments on cooperation in the fight against drugs abuse; the Agreement between both of the Governments on cooperation in criminal and legal matters of June 30, 1995; and the Protocol of the working Meeting of the Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation and Director of the FBI July 5, 1994.

The work on the establishment of the corresponding international legal basis is going on. Discussion of the bilateral agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters is unfortunately coming to an end. The U.S. State Department so far refuses to negotiate the conclusion of a treaty about extradition, which is very important for both of the countries. According to Russian and American legislation, the extradition of persons is possible only if a relevant international treaty is concluded. We are satisfied that the American side is interested in the further cooperation with the MVD of Russia, judging by intensive and high-level contacts.

Beside the exchange of delegations at the working level, the following U.S. representatives visited the MVD of Russia in 1994-1998:

a. L. Freeh, Director of the FBI (1994). During the visit an agreement was reached on the exchange of information and opening an FBI office at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

b. R. Gelbard, Assistant to the Secretary of State on law enforcement issues and drug trafficking (1995). Some issues concerning the joining of efforts of the two countries in the fight against organized crime, economic crime, and drug trafficking and questions concerning U.S. assistance in the provision of training to the officers of the MVD of Russia.

c. T. Gaty, U.S. Under Secretary of State for analysis and research (1996), to assess the political, economic, and criminal situation in Russia.

d. T. Bjorkman, Special Adviser to the U.S. Ambassador on special matters concerning the former USSR countries (1996). Functions include the assistance to the Ambassador in the formation and implementation of political doctrines and programs of the U.S. administration in the field of the struggle against the organized crime and assurance of their effective implementation.

e. L. Freeh, FBI Director (1997). He confirmed that the U.S. President was ready to have further cooperation with Russia in the field of law enforcement.

f. D. Whiner, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of State on the issues of law enforcement and drug trafficking control (1995, 1998). He is in charge of the issues of cooperation with foreign countries. Issues concerning the necessity of practical assistance of the United States to the Russian law enforcement agencies in the fight against the most dangerous types of crime were discussed.

On invitation of the American side, M. K. Yegorov, First Deputy Minister of the Interior (in 1994), and I. N. Kozhevnikov, Deputy Minister of the Interior (in 1996) participated in the meetings of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on investigation on the issues concerning the fight against crime in the Central and Eastern Europe. V. A. Vasyliev, the First Deputy Minister of the Interior participated in the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference held in the United States in 1997.

The main forms of cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of Russia and the United States are:

a. Direct exchange of operative information between the relevant operative services and through the channels of the INTERPOL rendering assistance according to the letters of request of assistance in investigation of crimes. The interaction between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries is made through the representatives of the FBI and the Drug Enforcement administration of the U.S. Department of Justice at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Contacts have been established with the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. A representative of the MVD of Russia has come to the United States and begun to perform his duties.

The contacts during the work on criminal cases have practical value. The examples of such work are the joint operations made by the specialists of the MVD of Russia and the FBI concerning the illegal activity of the heads of the Golden ADA and the Russian Committee of Precious Metals, and the arrest of Ivankov and the extradition of Yakhind, Desyatov, and Egmenov who committed serious crimes in Russia.

Today the FBI Moscow office and their Russian colleagues are exchanging information about 300 cases, the U.S. specialists are working on about 160 requests sent from Russia, and the Russian specialists have about 150 requests (the MVD of Russia deals with 80 percent of them).

As for the much-talked-of report of the special group of the Center for the Strategic and International Studies, Russian Organized Crime, which claims that the "Russian mafia" posed a serious threat to the national security of the United States, the practicing professionals are more reticent in their assessments. The United States admits that the Russian criminal groups do not only root in the U.S. (according to the FBI, there are 39 of them), but they are well equipped technically and use sophisticated illegal schemes. However, the threat posed by organized crime to the United States is not associated only with Russia; criminals from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa are also active in the United States.

It is evident for law enforcement agencies of Russia and the United States that the combating of the transnational crime is a common cause for the United States and Russia, and success of the work depends on the extent of interaction between the two countries. It is stressed that the partner cooperation with Russia in the field of law enforcement is one of the priorities.

b. Conducting training seminars for the officers from the interior departments. A joint program has been implemented since December 1994 in the field of advanced professional training of personnel in the educational institutions of the MVD of Russia and in the training centers of the federal law enforcement agencies of the United States. More than 50 seminars were held in different Russian regions where U.S. specialists and about 1,500 officers from the Russian interior departments participated in discussions concerning the main targets of combat of crime (drug trafficking, organized crime, financial crimes, investigation of contract killings, crimes with the use of explosives, release of hostages, etc.).

During the same period, about 400 Russian specialists participated in workshops and conferences in the United States on the search for illegal proceeds, fighting computer crimes, and others topics. In addition to that, 73 officers of the bodies of the interior were trained in the FBI Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest.

It is worthwhile to mention cooperation in combating crime within the framework of the Group of 8. For instance, in December 1997, I. N. Kozhevnicov, Deputy Minister of Interior of Russia took part in the Washington meeting of the Ministers of the Interior and Justice on the issue of fighting transnational crime. The Russian delegation was headed by U. I. Skuratov, Prosecutor General of Russia. A communique was issued in the course of the meeting and the guidelines were approved of on the fight against the organized crime in the field of high technologies.

The next meeting will be held in Moscow in 1999. The MVD of Russia confirms it is ready to participate actively in the meeting and thinks that this forum should be one of the major events in the process of implementation of decisions made in the course of the Birmingham G-8 Summit and in the process of preparation for the Cologne Summit to be held on June 18-20, 1999.

As the Cologne Summit is the last one to be held in the 20th century, it is logical that, in the course of the meeting of the Ministers of the Interior, the major issues of cooperation and the perspectives of the development of the interaction between the law enforcement agencies in the fight against the transnational crime in the 21st century be discussed. It is also important that the main attention during the preparation of the meeting of the Ministers of the Interior be focused on the issues concerning economic crimes, including the laundering of the illegal proceeds and financial fraud.

In the course of drawing up the draft agenda of the meeting it makes sense to act in compliance with the decisions made during the Birmingham Summit, when the Ministers were assigned to submit at the Cologne Meeting "the report on the implementation of the plan of the fight against crime in the sphere of high technologies, measures taken against money laundering as well as the joint actions in the fight against the trafficking in persons" (paragraph 22 of the Birmingham Summit Communique.) In the course of the meeting it would be advisable to consider the issue of implementation of the projects within the framework of the G-8 aimed at counteracting transnational crime and to elaborate new targets for cooperation. If such problems are solved, millions of people will have a chance to enter the 21st century with calmness and confidence.