In Russia, these are commercial organizations that enter the market with specialized services. They are primarily associated with the protection and security of a specific person or object. In world practice, such organizations, among other things, participate in military conflicts and collect intelligence information. Provide consulting services to regular troops.

Background

Private military companies in Russia appeared relatively recently - in the 90s, while they have been operating in the world for several decades.

This concept first appeared in Great Britain in 1967. The private military company was founded by the famous English Colonel David Sterling.

By the mid-70s, there were a large number of contract soldiers in the world who wanted to earn money in paramilitary structures. One of the first major agreements in this area was signed in 1974. It was concluded between a private military company and the US government. Mission - preparation national guard Saudi Arabia and physical protection of oil fields in this state.

Due to the increasing number of mercenaries in the world, in 1979 it adopted a resolution on the development of a corresponding convention. It was necessary to prohibit the recruitment, training and financing of mercenaries.

If during the Cold War such companies were created in many states to participate in hostilities in third countries, then in the 2000s a new trend emerged. Large interests whose interests are located in countries with an unstable political situation have begun to resort to the services of private military companies.

Market volumes

Today the market size of these companies is about 20 billion dollars. Private military companies in Russia are also making their contribution.

According to experts, in the 21st century this narrow and specialized market has turned into a global sector of the economy with a multi-billion dollar turnover. Economists around the world share this opinion.

Most often, Western governments turn to the services of such organizations to represent their interests in third countries. Some of the largest representative offices are in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Company services

Private military companies in Russia provide a wide range of different services. A similar list is provided by other international companies around the world. This is the protection of objects of strategic importance. Most often, mercenaries are used to protect oil fields and oil bases, and energy systems.

Also, these organizations offer their services as private ones in foreign countries. For example, they can protect embassies, escort humanitarian convoys and United Nations representatives.

In third world countries where military operations are taking place, specialists from these companies often train local officers and soldiers of government armed forces, police officers, and other representatives of the security services.

Private military companies sometimes guard prisons; there were such precedents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Participate in mine clearance operations and serve as military translators. They conduct aerial reconnaissance and carry out armed escort of ships to protect them from pirates. This type of service has become extremely popular after the intensification of sea robbers in Somalia.

Advantages

Almost every private sector offers financial stability military company in Russia. How to get a job there? Many of those who have experience in the army are interested in this question today. First, let's look at its advantages.

Firstly, the use of mercenaries instead of a regular army does not cause discontent among the population. Moreover, in states with weak political institutions, they represent a real opposing force to local law enforcement agencies, and sometimes to regular troops. They are mobile, the management of these units is very flexible, and there is no bureaucracy at all. Compared to the regular troops, in which there are many conscripts who have only recently learned about the hardships of military service, these companies employ only professionals. People who have devoted more than one year to military affairs.

Flaws

Despite the large number of positive aspects, there are also disadvantages.

The most serious of them is that the employees of such companies work solely to earn money. They have no other motivation - ideological or ideological. And this is very important in critical and extreme situations.

In addition, the contracts do not provide for all the conditions that may arise during hostilities. Therefore, it is not always possible to predict how contract mercenaries will behave. After all, they do not report directly to the military authorities. These factors significantly reduce their flexibility and efficiency.

Also, there is no clear relationship between troops and military companies; there is no single control center and overall coordination of all available forces.

Legal status

The legal and legal status of contract workers is most often unclear. Even though their activities are regulated by a large number of international and national laws.

It is worth noting that all employees of these companies cannot be called mercenaries. Most often, they do not directly participate in hostilities. Moreover, they are not included in official statistics armed forces of the state involved in the conflict.

At the same time, mercenarism is officially prohibited in Russia. The Criminal Code has a corresponding article that provides for punishment for this from three to seven years.

The law on private military companies in Russia was actively discussed in the federal parliament in 2015. It was supposed to pass a special bill that would allow the Russian Federation to protect its economic interests in the Middle East and the Arctic. However, it was never accepted.

"Russian security systems"

Private military companies in Russia, the list of which is headed by the most famous - RSB-Group, today offer a wide range of services.

"RSB-Group" is a serious organization that is an official partner of the UN in Russia. Works within the framework of Security Council resolutions, the UN Charter, and the Red Cross Code.

The company provides support on land and at sea, technical protection, training and consulting. Engaged in demining territories and protecting facilities within the Russian Federation.

RSB-Group can also offer very exotic services. For example, conducting reconnaissance and analytics. In the interests of the customer, information about customers, competitors or suppliers is obtained. The only exceptions are industrial espionage and information that is a state secret.

All these services can be offered by many private military companies in Russia. How to get into them? For example, RSB-Group currently has vacancies for a manager for active sales of security and maritime security services, and a project development manager.

IDA

Another serious organization engaged in such activities is IDA. It is based in St. Petersburg.

Specializes in legal investigations and security. Provides security individuals, automobile convoys, oil and gas pipelines, escort of cargo of particular importance.

And this is not all the services that private military companies in Russia can provide. Employee training, maritime security, military and business consulting, security of public events, as well as the preparation and exchange of information on such events - all this is within their competence.

Let's list some other private military companies operating in the Russian Federation:

• Cossacks.
• "Ferax."
• "Redoubt-Antiterror"
• "Antiterror-Eagle" and others.

Creation of a military company

In Russia, this type of business has been developing for a relatively short time. Undoubtedly, a private military company in Russia brings good profits. How to create such a structure, and most importantly, what will be its advantages? Today many people are thinking about these questions.

When creating such an organization, it is important to comply with all legal requirements, and also not to provide services in future activities that could cause problems with law enforcement agencies.

A factor in favor of the creation of such companies is the reduction. Now the army cannot perform the functions assigned to it previously, in Soviet time. As a result, there is a reduction large number officers, which had a negative impact on general level army training.

All this makes the creation of private military companies in Russia a successful and profitable business.

We have already entered a new phase in the global military history. Political interests today are defended by private rather than national armies. Relying on the strength of military departments and corporate capital, they are ready to serve wherever they are ordered.

Blackwater

Blackwater is currently one of the main partners of the US Department of Defense in the supply of equipment and training of army personnel. According to 2007 data, there are about 2.3 thousand professional mercenaries in active service and about 25 thousand soldiers in reserve. It produces armored cars and owns its own aircraft. The organization took part in military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. It gained worldwide fame due to the high-profile scandals that accompanied the actions of Blackwater employees in hot spots. In 2007, they shot 17 Iraqi civilians who allegedly obstructed the movement of a motorcade with American diplomats. Around the same time, one of the Blackwater soldiers killed the security guard of the Vice President of Iraq. During the investigation, it was possible to establish that employees of Prince’s company had taken part in almost two hundred shootings since 2005 and, without hesitation, opened fire to kill, despite the right to use weapons only for the purpose of self-defense.

MPRI

There is demand - there is supply. The laws of the market also apply when it comes to international militarism. It is much more convenient to spend money (colossal amounts of money) through your own hands, rather than through the sieve of the state apparatus. This must have been the logic of the US Army officers who founded a private military company (MPRI) in 1987. MPRI today includes about 340 former American generals. Its employees took part in the preparation of the Croatian Army and the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina before Operation Storm, which ended in the destruction of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and the Republic of Western Bosnia.
The company's "workers" took part in wars around the world. Typically, before working with the US Department of Defense, MPRI accepted orders from the military departments of other countries. This is a typical feature of all “private armies”. According to rough estimates, MPRI's profits today are estimated at $150 billion, up from $100 billion in 2001. The increase in the number and value of contracts is primarily due to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, in which MPRI is directly involved. This private agency has approximately 3,000 employees.

"Group" R (Company FDG)

The American private military company FDG was founded in 1996 by Lt. Col. Marine Corps Andre Rodriguez. A few years later, former Russian officer Dmitry Smirnov joined him. Their activities concentrated in the hottest regions of the world - the Gulf of Aden, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq and Afghanistan. They provide various military services: ship security, military consulting, special forces training. A special role in the organization is played by the FDG SEAL unit, consisting of security swimmers capable of countering terrorism at a high level, both on and under water.
The company is known for its operations protecting checkpoints in the Iraqi province of Anbar (2006-2007), supporting US missions in the Gaza Strip (2007), and providing security for a delegation of Afghan war veterans during the installation of a memorial to the 9th Company in 2011.

Aegis Defense Services

Aegis is a British PMC that makes its living by providing armed personnel services to private clients, particularly UN and US government missions. Its geographical interests lie in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bahrain, Kenya and Nepal, where they focus on rapid response, risk assessment and protection of oil interests. The company's workforce is estimated to reach five thousand people. Aegis for a long time managed to avoid such destructive media attention until 2005, when a video appeared on the British Channel 4 in which Aegis employees shot at Iraqi civilians, more precisely, at their cars as they were overtaking. The company did not admit guilt, but they failed to get away with it like Blackwater - the Pentagon refused further cooperation.

Erinys International

Erinys International was founded in 2002 by former British military officer Jonathan Garratt and is registered in the British Virgin Islands, with many subsidiaries in Britain. South Africa and the Republic of the Congo.

Their activities include all types and methods of “secret security,” especially in areas with difficult natural conditions, such as Central Africa. They proved themselves successful during the conflicts in Iraq, when 6.5 thousand soldiers were sent to guard important resource facilities. The company came under scrutiny for mistreating a prisoner in 2004.

According to the British newspaper The Observer, the company's employees violated the human rights convention - during a military investigation, a 16-year-old native of Iraq was subjected to severe torture, which was aggravated by daily deprivation of food and water to the captive.

Northbridge Services Group

Northbridge is an American-British PMC with a base in the Dominican Republic and branches in Britain and Ukraine. For political reasons, the company works only for Democrats. The organization became famous for rescuing 25 oil workers who were held hostage on an oil rig for two weeks in 2003. Northbridge also played a significant role in resolving the 2003 Liberian civil conflict by siding with the rebels (LURD). The result was the overthrow of the country's official government and the introduction of UN peacekeepers into Liberia. Northbridge even offered to kidnap disgraced President Charles Taylor from his hideout and hand him over to the rebels for “an additional fee” of $4 million. But the initiative was rejected as “ridiculous and provocative.”

"White Legion"

The White Legion acquired its name during its African operations. That's what the locals called them. The number of the “White Legion” at the time of its participation in the conflict in Zaire was about three hundred people. They arrived at the war suddenly, on January 3, 1997, in order to support the regime of dictator Mobutu, the “black Bonaparte,” “The Greatest, and therefore always invincible.” The legion was multinational, including two corps and a division (Colonel Tavernier's Corps, Slavic Corps, Captain Dragan's Division). As you can understand, it consisted of French and Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Serbs). Communication between legionnaires mainly took place on French. What is typical is that not every soldier clearly understood commands spoken in a different language. For this reason, the legionnaires did not always “work” harmoniously. Mikhail Polikarpov: “ Right hand Dragan had a Russian named Vasily, who later in the same 1994, while conducting reconnaissance in the rear of the Croats, was blown up by a tripwire mine and terribly cut by shrapnel...” The Belarusians and Ukrainians were pilots, former officers of the Soviet Air Force. Of the Legion’s ten helicopters, four were Soviet, Mi-24. Of course weapon The Legion was also almost entirely of Soviet production: “M53 light machine guns; RPG-7, M57 grenade launchers; 60 mm mortars; MANPADS "Igla". In the legion, Russian legionnaires distinguished themselves with special acumen. When everyone had already begun to retreat, only Lieutenant Misha’s corps remained to fight the advancing forces. They stopped the enemy and launched a counter-offensive on February 17, launching air strikes using the IL-76 as a bomber. The enemy-occupied cities of Vukavu and Shabunda were hit. Several Slav units in the town of Valikale became famous for their daring breakthrough and special operation. The Slavs fought for Kisangani until May, waging fierce defensive battles mixed with furious counterattacks.
Just as the legionnaires quickly appeared, they flew away just as quickly. They flew away smoothly, on airplanes, in in full uniform and with special equipment. Most likely, to Serbia, where the legion was supervised by Soviet committee members. There is no other explanation for their free flight on a plane full of armed people.

Private military companies in Russia (PMCs) are companies that carry out their statutory tasks in high-risk areas, in particular in combat zones, where the actions of the company itself (its employees) are not offensive in nature, but deterrent, and allow for options for preventive measures .

In the territory Russian Federation There are about ten private military companies operating. Some of them have already suspended their activities, but other PMCs were created on their basis.

E.N.O.T. CORP- a private military company that carries out military-patriotic and humanitarian activities. It was created on the basis of the association of military-patriotic clubs “RESERVE”. The military carries out preventive measures against illegal migration, and also takes measures to suppress organized crime and drug trafficking. “Raccoon men” regularly accompany humanitarian supplies to the hottest spots on the planet.

A private military company in Russia, consisting of Cossack units. The activities of PMCs take place under the strict control of the Russian leadership through the Council for Cossack Affairs under the President of the Russian Federation. Support for the Cossacks is based on the principles of Cossack culture, military life and history. The basis of the activities of the Cossack units includes civil and territorial defense, maintaining public order, protecting borders, fighting terrorism, etc. Employees of the Cossacks PMC took part in combat operations in such hot spots of the globe as Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, etc.

One of the most secret private military companies that operates in Novorossiya. The organization prefers not to advertise its activities. Its employees are retirees from various departments and veterans of local wars. PMC Wagner is a large professional structure that works for the Russian government. The Wagner detachment takes part in hostilities in many hot spots of the planet. "Wagnerians" pass probation training, after which the military is certified or eliminated.

A private military company in Russia, providing a full range of security and armed protection services, both on the territory of the Russian Federation and abroad. Personnel reserve The PMC consists of reserve officers who served in special forces of various military branches and have combat experience in hot spots of the world. Ferax employees participated in combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Kurdistan, etc.

A private military company in Russia that was founded to conduct operations in Iraq. It began its operation in 2005, but literally a year later it curtailed its activities. Its former employees, professional military men, created other independent PMCs. The short-lived organization managed to perform such tasks as escorting convoys, guarding military facilities, and protecting personnel oil companies and Russian diplomats, missions in Lebanon and Israel, Palestine and Afghanistan. The organization was engaged in sniper (counter-sniper) training of specialists, shooters, sappers, radio engineers, rapid response fighters in urban conditions, etc. After the collapse of Tiger Top-Rent Security, Moran Security Group, Ferax, Redut-Antiterror and Antiterror-Eagle were formed.

A private military company in Russia, which is a military-professional union of organizations, which consists of professional military personnel, special forces, airborne forces, etc. All employees of a private organization must have experience in combat operations and are participants in special operations and peacekeeping operations. The PMC was founded in 2008, its creators were intelligence officers and veteran paratroopers. The organization has experience working in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia and other hot spots. The range of main services provided by the company includes security activities, training of personal security teams, certification of specialists for the provision of private security services, protection of environmental protection according to UN requirements, etc.

Moran Security Group is a private military company in Russia 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, security of various objects, logistics, reconnaissance, etc. Moran Security Group is the owner of the naval training center, which is located on the territory of St. Petersburg.

A private military company in Russia, which has been operating since 1998. The organization was created by former military personnel. PMC employees are reserve military personnel, as well as veterans of the GRU, VYMPEL and the Navy. Anti-Terror-Eagle is engaged in the protection of facilities, training military personnel, and also carries out sapper work.

A private military company in St. Petersburg, which operates on the territory of the Russian Federation. IDA states that it operates in strict accordance with the laws of the country where its services are provided. The PMC provides services of the following nature: technical protection and reconnaissance, military activities, protection of convoys, individuals, gas and oil pipelines, other facilities, cargo convoy, legal/legal support, etc.

(“Russian System 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 provides armed protection, escort and security services civil courts, conducting safety audits of oil and gas offshore platforms. The Ground Operations Division provides armed security for facilities, conducts reconnaissance, as well as training, etc. The creators of this PMC are reserve officers of the GRU and FSB, professional military men who have rich command and combat experience. The activities of RSB-Group are based on compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. RSB-Group employees do not participate in armed conflicts as mercenaries, and also do not consult organizations and groups that have any connection with terrorist organizations.

As reported Ilya Rozhdestvensky, Anton Baev And Polina Rusyaeva in an article on the website RBC "Ghosts of War: How the Russian Private Army Appeared in Syria", the so-called “Wagner Group” is actively involved in the Syrian conflict. Its use cost up to 10.3 billion rubles. Our blog provides the text of the investigation.

(c) warfiles.ru

PMCs all over the world are a huge business: “private owners” often replace the armed forces. They are illegal in Russia. But a prototype was tested in Syria Russian PMCs- “Wagner group”, and the authorities are again thinking about legalization

The military unit in the village of Molkino, Krasnodar Territory, is a sensitive facility. The 10th separate special forces brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Ministry of Defense is stationed here, Gazeta.ru wrote. A few tens of meters from the Don federal highway is the first checkpoint on the way to the base. Then the road branches: to the left is a town belonging to the unit, to the right is a training ground, the guard at the checkpoint explains to the RBC journalist. Behind the training ground is another checkpoint with guards armed with AK-74s. Behind this checkpoint there is a camp of a private military company (PMC), says one of the employees of the military unit.

On archival satellite images Google service Earth it is clear that in August 2014 there was no camp yet. It began functioning around mid-2015, say two RBC interlocutors who worked in this camp and are familiar with its structure. These are two dozen tents under the flag of the USSR, surrounded by a small fence with barbed wire, one of them describes the base. On the territory there are several residential barracks, a guard tower, a dog handler station, a training complex and a parking lot for vehicles, an employee of a private military company who has been there describes the base.

This structure does not have an official name, the name of its leader and revenue are not disclosed, and the very existence of the company, perhaps the largest on the market, is not advertised - formally, the activities of PMCs in our country are illegal. RBC magazine figured out what the so-called Wagner PMC is, from what sources and how it is financed, and why the business of private military companies may appear in Russia.

Mercenaries and private traders

Military man by Russian laws can only work for the state. Mercenary is prohibited: for participation in armed conflicts on the territory of another country, the Criminal Code provides for up to seven years of imprisonment (Article 359), for recruitment, training, financing of a mercenary, “as well as his use in an armed conflict or hostilities” - up to 15 years . There are no other laws regulating the PMC sector in Russia.

The situation in the world is different: the operating principles of private military and security companies are set out in the “Montreux Document” adopted in the fall of 2008. It was signed by 17 countries, including the USA, Great Britain, China, France and Germany (Russia is not one of them). The document allows people who are not in public service to provide services for armed security of facilities, maintenance of combat complexes, training of military personnel, etc.

In a UN report published in 2011, the organization’s analysts estimated the annual volume of the market for private military services at $20 billion to $100 billion; the non-profit organization War on Want in 2016 - at $100–400 billion. The figures are very approximate: for example, the US Commission on military contracts, to which the UN refers in its report on the growing number of human rights violations by mercenaries, noted in 2011 that at the end of the financial year, costs under contracts with private military companies in Iraq and Afghanistan alone will exceed $206 billion. Revenue of the largest PMC in the world - G4S Plc - amounted to $10.5 billion in 2015: in Russia this is comparable only to the same figure for Bashneft and a third more than for Norilsk Nickel.

The use of “private traders” is typical for Western countries, where the aversion to large losses is largely high, explains CEO Center for Strategic Assessments and Forecasts Sergey Grinyaev. Great sacrifices among armed forces personnel can influence the decision to end the operation and withdraw troops, as was the case with special forces participating in the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia, the expert says. In 1993, during an urban battle in Mogadishu, the Americans lost 18 people, about 80 soldiers were wounded, and one was captured. This accelerated the withdrawal of US troops from the country. Such situations can be avoided if we're talking about not about the regular army, but about private military companies, Grinyaev is sure.

Reducing losses through the use of PMC fighters is a common practice, used, for example, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2008, the number of employees of private companies in these countries exceeds the number of US military personnel, and since at least 2010, “private workers” have accounted for the bulk of the killed and wounded, according to the Private Security Monitor project of the University of Denver (USA).

Difficulties of legalization

The latest attempt to legalize PMCs in Russia was made in March 2016, when deputies from A Just Russia Gennady Nosovko and Oleg Mikheev introduced a draft law on private military security organizations to the State Duma. The document called the goals of such activities “participation in ensuring national security by performing and providing military security work and services,” protecting Russia’s interests outside the country, promoting Russian PMCs to world markets, etc. At the same time, according to the bill, such companies were supposed to be prohibited from “directly participating in armed conflicts... on the territory of any state.”

The licensing of PMCs was to be carried out by the Ministry of Defense, and the FSB and the Prosecutor General's Office were to monitor the implementation of the law.

The government opposed the adoption of the law, noting in its response that the bill contradicts Part 5 of Article 13 of the Constitution: “The creation and activities of public associations whose goals or actions are aimed at... undermining the security of the state or the creation of armed formations is prohibited.” The deputies were not supported by their colleagues on the relevant committee, who pointed out that the responsibilities of such companies are not differentiated from the functions of private security companies (PSCs), departmental security and national guard troops.

A final decision on the document was not made - its consideration was postponed until the fall, but the authors of the bill themselves decided to withdraw it. The spring document is Nosovko’s third attempt to legalize PMCs in Russia, while the biography of the deputy himself has nothing to do with the Armed Forces: except that in 2014 he was awarded the Ministry of Defense medal “For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth.” The deputy hopes that he will be able to finalize the document and re-introduce it in the fall. In a conversation with RBC magazine, Nosovko said that when discussing the bill at round tables with the participation of relevant departments, the security forces generally supported the initiative, but asked to correct various shortcomings. “There is no sharp denial, but, for example, representatives of the GRU and the FSB say that now there is no need to escalate the situation and open Pandora’s box,” Nosovko noted.

The authorities do not intend to abandon the idea of ​​legalizing PMCs, says an FSB officer familiar with the situation, and confirms an interlocutor at the Ministry of Defense: the issue is being studied, they say. Despite the absence of a law, there are private military companies in Russia. They do the same work as their foreign colleagues: from escorting ships passing through the Gulf of Aden near the coast of Somalia, where pirates operate, to protecting facilities in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The Russian PMC market is extremely small in size, explains Boris Chikin, co-owner of the private military company Moran Security Group (MSG). There are no real military companies in Russia, insists Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of another large PMC, RSB-Group. Domestic firms conduct their main activities abroad. For example, employees of another large PMC - Anti-Terror Center - carried out orders in Iraq, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and other countries in the 2000s.

To facilitate work abroad, Russian PMCs register subsidiaries offshore. In particular, the main founder of MSG with a 50% share is Neova Holdings Ltd (British Virgin Islands). Financial side The owners of Russian PMCs do not disclose their business; there are no company reports in the SPARK-Interfax database or foreign registers.

"Special tasks"

Russian troops did not participate in a full-scale ground operation in Syria, but in March 2016, the commander of the Russian group in the country, General Alexander Dvornikov, said that certain tasks were being carried out by soldiers on the ground. “I won’t hide the fact that units of our special operations forces [highly mobile troops of the Ministry of Defense] are also operating on Syrian territory,” Dvornikov said in an interview. Rossiyskaya newspaper" According to him, the military carried out additional reconnaissance of targets for air strikes, guided aircraft to targets in remote areas and solved “other special tasks.”

“Special tasks” in Syria were carried out by Sergei Chupov, who died in this country in February 2016, his acquaintance told RBC. According to him, Chupov served in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but resigned in the early 2000s. This information was confirmed to RBC by another acquaintance of Chupov. A representative of the Ministry of Defense did not comment on the information about the deceased. The military prosecutor's office of the Southern District, in response to a request from RBC, reported that Chupov was not on the lists of the Russian group in Syria. RBC's interlocutor, who knew the soldier closely, claims that the veteran of the internal troops, who went through both Chechen campaigns, was in Syria as an employee of a private military company known as the “Wagner Group.”

“Wagner” is the call sign of the detachment leader, in fact his name is Dmitry Utkin, and he previously served in the Pskov GRU brigade, say four RBC interlocutors who are personally familiar with “Wagner”. In 2013, Utkin, who had left the Armed Forces by that time, left for the Middle East as part of a group of fighters recruited by the Slavic Corps company. This is a subsidiary of Slavonic Corps Limited registered in Hong Kong, Kommersant wrote. The company was entered into the register legal entities in 2012, its director was Russian citizen Anton Andreev.

The leaders of the “Slavic Corps” Evgeny Sidorov and Vadim Gusev, former managers of the Moran Security Group, when hiring, promised employees that they would guard an oil pipeline and a warehouse in Deir ez-Zor, a city in eastern Syria, Kommersant noted and the source said RBC at MSG. Instead of ensuring the security of energy facilities, 267 soldiers of the “corps” were ordered to support the rebels near the village of Al-Sukhna in Homs province, RBC’s interlocutor notes. Without the necessary equipment and with outdated weapons, they were ambushed by militants " Islamic State"(organization banned in Russia). In October 2013, fighters of the “Slavic Corps” left Syria.

In January 2015, Sidorov and Gusev were convicted in Russia under the same article 359 of the Criminal Code and received three years in prison. The remaining participants in the events were not held accountable.

"Wagner Group"

For the first time, Fontanka wrote about the “Wagner Group” and its participation in the Syrian war in October 2015: citing anonymous sources, the publication claimed that former employees The “Slavic Corps” was later seen among “polite people” in Crimea during the events of February-March 2014, and a little over a year later - in the south-east of Ukraine, already as an independent detachment. The Wall Street Journal wrote at the end of 2015 about the participation of the “Wagner Group” in battles on the side of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, also citing anonymous sources. In the same article, WSJ journalists talked about the death of nine people from the “Wagner Group” in the Middle East. The Russian Ministry of Defense called this information “stuffing.”

The base in Molkino was established shortly after the end of the active phase of the “Lugansk” operation - in mid-2015, recalls one of the officers who worked in the “Wagner group”. In this camp, fighters undergo training before heading to Syria, an FSB officer and one of the fighters who served under Wagner explain to RBC.

The issue of creating full-fledged PMCs in Russia has been discussed many times, but a breakthrough in this sense occurred after the Crimean events of 2014, in which GRU units performed well, said an RBC interlocutor close to this organization. It is the GRU that secretly supervises the “Wagner group,” a Defense Ministry officer and an FSB officer confirmed to RBC, adding that this detachment arose after “the situation in the world worsened.”

In the Middle East, the “Wagner Group” appeared shortly before Russia began to officially deploy its bases in the fall of 2015, says a Defense Ministry officer and confirms a source familiar with the operation. In total, almost 2.5 thousand people were located near Latakia and Aleppo, and the operation was led by officers not only from the GRU, but also from the FSB, he adds.

No one officially announced recruitment to the Wagner detachment, but the rumor quickly spread through groups on social networks, whose users were actively interested in “how to get into the Wagner PMC.” There was no shortage of people willing: in 2016, from 1 thousand to 1.6 thousand PMC employees were in Syria at the same time, depending on the tension of the situation, says a source familiar with the course of the operation. The Ministry of Defense did not respond to RBC’s request whether “citizens who are not serving in the Russian Armed Forces” are really fighting in Syria, and is it true that these soldiers are being trained at a base in the Krasnodar Territory.

The money to the soldiers of the “Wagner Group” was paid in cash, it was not officially registered anywhere, and the purchases of weapons and equipment were classified, a Defense Ministry officer explains to RBC and confirmed by two interlocutors familiar with the operation. According to them, the expenses were covered by the state and “high-ranking businessmen.” RBC's interlocutors refuse to mention their names even in an informal conversation with the voice recorders turned off.

In the summer of 2016, Fontanka wrote about the connection of one of the entrepreneurs with the “Wagner group”: the publication claimed that over the past two years, “Wagner” moved around Russia, accompanied by people working for the St. Petersburg restaurateur Yevgeny Prigozhin. Surrounded by the commander of the Fontanka PMC, she found the head of the security service of one of Prigozhin’s companies, Evgeny Gulyaev, and his subordinates.

The Concord M company, owned by Prigozhin, is one of the main suppliers of food for the Office of the President of Russia, and the Concord catering plant serves Moscow schools. Prigozhin’s companies are a virtual monopoly on the capital’s school food market, and are also one of the largest service providers for the Ministry of Defense: companies deliver food and clean military units.

For private investors, financing PMCs is a way to prove their loyalty, explains an interlocutor at the Ministry of Defense. For example, for closer cooperation with the military department. RBC magazine found no evidence that Prigozhin’s companies provided financial support to PMCs. Moreover, if in 2014 the volume of services provided by companies associated with the businessman to the Ministry of Defense and its structures amounted to 575 million rubles, then in 2015 the volume of such contracts reached 68.6 billion rubles, follows from SPARK-Marketing data.

These contracts make up the lion's share of all government contracts that 14 companies received (the connection of most of these companies with Prigozhin can be traced through SPARK-Interfax; the remaining structures are managed by people who worked with the restaurateur at different times, Fontanka wrote). In 2015, the total volume of tenders they won amounted to 72.2 billion rubles.

Hybrid financing

The costs of maintaining a PMC numbering several thousand people are quite difficult to calculate. The Wagner Group does not pay for the rent of buildings and land, say two RBC interlocutors familiar with the structure of the camp. The state and private divisions of the camp in the Krasnodar Territory are located, according to Rosreestr, on a single plot of about 250 square meters. km. There is no information in the database about who owns the land, but several neighboring plots are registered under the territorial forestry department of the Ministry of Defense.

The military department is engaged in equipping the training ground. As follows from documents on the government procurement portal, in the spring of 2015, the Ministry of Defense held a corresponding auction for the amount of 294 million rubles, its winner was JSC Garrison, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defense. The base in Molkino also underwent refurbishment: 41.7 million rubles were spent on the training ground.

The maintenance of the base itself, as well as other military units, is also on the balance sheet of the ministry of Sergei Shoigu. Tenders for services for garbage removal and laundry transportation, sanitation services, territory cleaning, and heat supply are carried out in packages for several dozen or hundreds of military units, grouped by territorial basis. On average, in 2015–2016, the military department spent 14.7 million rubles on one military unit. excluding classified contracts, follows from the procurement documentation of six auctions, which mention a base in the Krasnodar Territory.

In 2015–2016, the Ministry of Defense allocated an average of about 410 thousand rubles for the removal of waste from one part of the Southern Military District: the Megaline company became the winner of the tender. Until the end of 2015, the co-owners of the company were Concord Management and Consulting and Lakhta, which each owned 50%. Until mid-2011, the owner of a 14 percent stake in the first company was Yevgeny Prigozhin, and until September 2013 he controlled 80% of Lakhta.

Sanitary maintenance of one military unit of the district in 2015–2016 cost an average of 1.9 million rubles, technical operation of heat supply facilities - 1.6 million rubles. The winners of the tenders for these services were the companies Ecobalt and Teplosintez, respectively (the latter, according to Fontanka, is managed by Megaline employees). The most expensive cost of maintaining a camp is cleaning. In 2015, the Ministry of Defense allocated an average of 10.8 million rubles for cleaning one part of the Southern District. Contracts for cleaning in Molkino were concluded with the company “Agat” (the company is registered in Lyubertsy, the connection with Prigozhin and his entourage could not be traced).

Unlike base maintenance, contracts for the supply of food to units are not posted on the government procurement portal - this information falls under military secrets, since it allows one to determine the number of fighters. In July, an advertisement appeared on the Avito.ru website about hiring workers for a military canteen in Molkino. The employer is the company "Restaurantservice Plus". A similar vacancy was posted on one of the Krasnodar portals back in May. A man named Alexey answered the phone number listed in one of the advertisements, confirming that Restaurantservice Plus was looking for workers for the canteen of a military unit. Phone number This company matches the numbers of two companies associated with Prigozhin - Megaline and Concord Management and Consulting.

It is not clear whether the Krasnodar PMC camp is supplied from the same government orders as the GRU camp on the same base. RBC's interlocutor, who is familiar with the structure of the unit, claims that the camps are similar in number and size, therefore average cost service is also applicable to the Wagner Group base. Companies related to Prigozhin could earn the most at auctions that mention the military unit in Molkino: Megaline and Teplosintez: these companies signed government contracts worth 1.9 billion rubles in 2015–2016, it follows from procurement documentation.

When asked whether the restaurateur’s companies are connected with the financing of the Wagner Group, a high-ranking federal official only smiled and replied: “You must understand - Prigozhin feeds very tasty food.” The companies "Restaurantservice Plus", "Ecobalt", "Megaline", "Teplosintez", "Agat" and "Concord Management" did not respond to RBC's request.

Price issue

If contracts for base maintenance go through electronic platforms, then it is almost impossible to track the expenses for the salaries of PMC fighters - salaries are paid mainly in cash, fighters from the “Wagner group” claim. Part of the money is transferred to instant cards, which do not indicate the owner’s name, and they themselves are issued to unauthorized individuals, one of them clarifies and is confirmed by an officer of the Ministry of Defense. Cards without a name are issued by a number of Russian banks, including Sberbank and Raiffeisenbank, as indicated on their official websites.

When talking about salaries, RBC's interlocutors cite similar figures. According to a driver working at a base in the Krasnodar Territory, civilians receive about 60 thousand rubles. per month. An RBC source familiar with the details of the military operation indicates that a PMC fighter can count on 80 thousand rubles. monthly, while at a base in Russia, and up to 500 thousand rubles. plus a bonus - in the combat zone in Syria. The salary of a PMC employee in Syria rarely exceeded 250–300 thousand rubles. per month, a Defense Ministry officer clarifies in a conversation with RBC. WITH minimum threshold at 80 thousand rubles. he agrees, and estimates the average salary for an ordinary person at 150 thousand rubles. plus combat and compensation. With a maximum number of 2.5 thousand people in the “Wagner group”, their salary from August 2015 to August 2016 could range from 2.4 billion (at 80 thousand rubles per month) to 7.5 billion rubles. (with monthly payments of 250 thousand rubles).

The cost of equipment for each fighter can reach up to $1 thousand, travel and accommodation will cost the same amount per month, says Chikin from MSG. Thus, the cost of the presence of 2.5 thousand people in Syria, excluding salaries, can reach $2.5 million per month, or about 170 million rubles. (at the average annual dollar exchange rate of 67.89 rubles, according to the Central Bank).

The maximum expenditure on food during the Syrian campaign could be 800 rubles. per person per day, estimated Alexander Tsyganok, head of the Center for Military Forecasting at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis. From this estimate it follows that food for 2.5 thousand soldiers could cost up to 2 million rubles.

The main losses on the Russian side in Syria are suffered by PMCs, say RBC interlocutors familiar with the details of the operation. Their death toll figures vary. An employee of the Ministry of Defense insists that a total of 27 “private traders” were killed in the Middle East; one of the former PMC officers speaks of at least 100 deaths. “From there, every third “two hundredth”, every second “three hundredth”, says an employee of the base in Molkino (“cargo-200” and “cargo-300” are symbols for transporting the body of a dead and wounded soldier, respectively).

RBC contacted the family of one of the dead PMC fighters, but the relatives refused to communicate. Later, several posts appeared on the social networks of his relatives and friends in which the actions of RBC correspondents were called a “provocation” and an attempt to tarnish the memory of the murdered man. An officer from the “Wagner group” claims that non-disclosure of working conditions at the PMC is a condition for the families to receive compensation.

The standard compensation for the relatives of a deceased soldier is up to 5 million rubles, says a source familiar with the PMC structure (the same amount is received by relatives of Russian Armed Forces personnel who died during hostilities). But getting them is not always easy, insists an acquaintance of a “private trader” who died in Syria: families often have to literally scramble for funds. An officer from the Ministry of Defense clarifies what the deceased relative families receive 1 million rubles, soldiers are paid up to 500 thousand rubles for wounds.

Taking into account salaries, base supplies, accommodation and food, the annual maintenance of the “Wagner group” can cost from 5.1 billion to 10.3 billion rubles. One-time expenses for equipment - 170 million rubles, compensation to the families of the victims with a minimum estimate of losses - from 27 million rubles.

Foreign PMCs and security companies do not disclose the structure of expenses - from their reporting it is impossible to “pull out” either the amount of training costs, or the fighter’s salary, or the cost of maintaining the group. In the mid-2000s in Iraq, employees of one of the most famous military companies, Academi (formerly called Blackwater), received from $600 to $1,075 a day, the Washington Post wrote. According to the publication's calculations, the US Army general at the same time received just under $500 a day. Veterans of the US Marine Corps who trained soldiers in Iraq could earn up to $1 thousand, the Associated Press wrote. CNN estimated the salaries of mercenaries a little more modestly - at $750: this is what the fighters were owed at the beginning of the war in Iraq.

Later, the monthly salary of “private traders” working in the Middle East could rise to approximately £10 thousand (about $16 thousand at the average annual rate), the Guardian indicated. “There was a period of about three months in 2009 when we were losing people every two to three days,” the publication quotes a British Army veteran who was serving under contract in Afghanistan at the time. The total losses of PMCs operating in the Middle East amounted to dozens of killed and hundreds and thousands of wounded: for example, in 2011, 39 soldiers were killed and 5,206 people were injured.

"Syrian Express"

The fighters get to Syria on their own; there is no centralized dispatch, explains one of the mercenaries. But cargo for the “Wagner Group” is delivered by sea - on the ships of the “Syrian Express”. This name first appeared in the media in 2012: this is the name given to ships supplying the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including with military goods.

The composition of the “express” can be divided into three parts: ships of the Navy, ships that previously carried out civilian voyages and then became part of the military fleet, and chartered bulk carriers owned by various companies around the world, says the creator of the Maritime Bulletin website, Mikhail Voitenko. It monitors the movements of ships using an automatic information system (AIS), which allows them to identify ships and determine movement parameters, including course.

“The supply of military bases occurs with the help of an auxiliary fleet. If there are not enough ships, then the Ministry of Defense hires ordinary commercial ships, but they cannot transport military cargo,” explains an interlocutor familiar with the organization of sea freight. Among the ships that have joined the ranks of the Navy since the spring of 2015 is the dry cargo ship Kazan-60, which, as Reuters wrote, is part of the “express.” Behind Lately it changed owners many times: at the end of 2014, under the name “Georgy Agafonov”, the ship was sold by the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company to the Turkish company 2E Denizcilik SAN. VE TIC.A.S.

The Turks resold it to the British company Cubbert Business L.P., then, as stated in a letter from 2E Denizcilik to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine (a copy is at the disposal of RBC), the “Russian-based” company ASP became the owner. Among the companies associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin is a legal entity of the same name, the winner of several auctions for cleaning Ministry of Defense facilities and a participant in one of the tenders for maintaining the base in Molkino. In October 2015, the ship became part of the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) of the Russian Navy under the name “Kazan-60”. The Black Sea Fleet command did not answer RBC’s question about how the fleet received the vessel.

In total, at least 15 civilian ships were involved in the “Syrian Express”: all of them followed the Novorossiysk - Tartus route in the fall of 2015, Voitenko notes, citing AIS data. Mostly ships are registered to companies located in Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Ukraine. Several companies are located in Russia, as follows from data from the services marinetraffic.com and fleetphoto.ru.

Voitenko estimates the charter of one civilian ship at $4 thousand per day, of which $2 thousand is its maintenance, $1.5 thousand is the cost of fuel and fees. Based on this estimate, the rental of only civilian ships from the “express” for 305 days (September 30 - July 31) could amount to $18.3 million, or a little more than 1.2 billion rubles.

Sensitive interests

In early March 2016, with the support of Russian aviation, Assad's army began an operation to liberate Palmyra: the city was recaptured after 20 days of fighting. “All the scattered ISIS gangs that escaped the encirclement were destroyed by Russian aviation, which did not allow them to escape in the direction of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor,” said Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, head of the main operational department of the General Staff.

They played a major role in the liberation of areas of the historical part of Palmyra PMC fighters, speaks former officer groups. “First the Wagner guys work, then the Russian ground units come in, then the Arabs and the cameras,” he says. According to him, the Wagner detachment is used mainly for offensive operations in difficult areas. This makes it possible to reduce losses among regular forces in Syria, says an interlocutor at one of the PMCs.

It is not entirely correct to call the “Wagner Group” a private military company, another representative of this market is sure. “The detachment does not set out to make money; this is not a business,” he clarifies. In the case of the “Wagner Group,” the interests of the state, which needed forces to solve delicate problems in Syria, coincided with the desire of a group of former military personnel to earn money by carrying out tasks in the interests of the country, explains an RBC interlocutor close to the leadership of the FSB.

“The benefit of PMCs is the opportunity to use them abroad, when the use of regular armed forces is not very appropriate,” says Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis. He actually repeats the statement of Vladimir Putin. “This [PMC] is really a tool for realizing national interests without the direct participation of the state,” Putin, who was then head of government, said in the spring of 2012.

In the same vein, in the fall of 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is responsible for the military-industrial complex, spoke out: “We are thinking about whether our money will flow to finance other people’s private security military companies, or we will consider the feasibility of creating such companies within Russia itself and take a step in this direction".

PMCs are also an opportunity for large businesses to use armed guards, which will ensure the security of facilities abroad, such as oil pipelines or factories, notes Grinyaev from the Center for Strategic Assessments and Forecasts. To protect its facilities, including in Iraq, LUKOIL in 2004, for example, created the LUKOM-A agency, and the security of Rosneft facilities is provided by a subsidiary of the company RN-Okhrana.

“For a state, the use of private military companies can be financially beneficial solely for solving specific tasks, but cannot replace the army,” notes Vladimir Neelov, an expert at the Center for Strategic Conjuncture. Among the risks of legalizing PMCs, he names the possible outflow of personnel from the active military - not only for financial reasons, but also for the sake of career growth.

As for the Wagner PMC, due to the appearance in the media of information about its connection with the base in Molkino, the Ministry of Defense is discussing the option of transferring private owners, says an FSB officer. According to him, among possible options- Tajikistan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia. This is confirmed by the interlocutor at the Ministry of Defense. At the same time, he is confident that the PMCs will not be disbanded - the unit has proven its effectiveness.

With the participation of Elizaveta Surnacheva

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2085221.html

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 a year. Revenue from one military operation can reach $20 million. 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 - main features

When it comes to private military companies in Russia, in most cases the public demonstrates a clear negative attitude towards this type 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 values.

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 Peaceful time;
• ready to carry out strategic planning, intelligence activities, logistics and consulting.

Due to active development private armies, the 21st century is called by many analysts “the era of military entrepreneurship”

Currently, there are about 3 thousand largest military companies in the world. Analysts from The Economist magazine note that the approximate turnover of the global PMC market in 2016 amounted to $350-400 billion. 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 British Armed Forces Colonel David Stirling.

It is not possible to unambiguously 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 high level motivation	They do not have ideological and ideological motivation
Convenient for countries with weak military institutions	Most PMC contracts contain a list of actions of fighters, which reduces their flexibility in specific military situations
Capable of rapid deployment	They do not have a single operational control center
Their losses are not included in official government reports.	Incomplete information for operational management
Allows you to avoid forced mobilization of citizens liable for military service	Lack of coordination of actions with regular army troops
Due to the absence of bureaucracy, they are distinguished by flexible operational management	Low equipment and expensive military equipment (the latest tanks, airplanes, etc.)

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

Business model - PMC as a commercial organization

Who benefits from the creation of a PMC?

• For their founders, this is a way to receive large revenues from participating in military conflicts and providing security services (if you calculate the profitability, then for large RMS it reaches 100%).
• For customer states, this is a way to save on the maintenance of a regular army and avoid mobilizing their own conscript population to participate in armed clashes.
• For hired soldiers, this is a very risky option, but quick and high earnings.

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 can creating a private army be considered a profitable business option?

1. Such structures can enter into contracts with any state, regardless of the country of their residence, to provide 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 regular armies and receive technical and material supplies from the state.
4. Often the clients are international organizations.

Characteristics of the organization's services

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

1. provide support to internal affairs officers as part of operations to capture criminals;
2. provide security for facilities strategic purpose(reserve warehouses, energy facilities, embassies, etc.);
3. organize escort of convoys and vehicle movements with humanitarian aid;
4. are engaged in training 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 of unexploded ordnance;
8. organize logistics supplies for troops;
9. conduct reconnaissance operations;
10. protect ships from pirate attacks;
11. advise on drawing up combat strategies, etc.

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

What does it take to create a private military company?

1. Permission from the military department. 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 military conflicts, use their own uniforms, weapons and equipment. In this regard, it is worth thinking about where to get start-up capital, which should be at least 1-2 million dollars.

Important point! Private companies purchase equipment and military equipment in small quantities from engineering factories and specialized companies (as opposed to regular armies) and therefore should expect that their cost will be 5-30% higher.
Source: “Soldier of Fortune” website

4. Staff. The entire PMC staff can be divided into two parts:

• management 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.

Important point! Payment for the services of mercenary fighters depends on the price of the contract within the framework of a specific military or security operation.

Non-state military companies must also pay for food and accommodation for 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 dollars to several tens of billions of dollars. Moreover, the amount of payment for their services depends on the nature of the activity (the most expensive is participation in military operations in hot spots).

It is known that about 70% of the income of non-state military organizations is generated through government orders, the rest comes from private customers. Moreover, about 60% of the PMC’s budget goes to payments to fighters.

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

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

Source: Military Review magazine

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

	Name	Number of employees, people	Annual turnover, million dollars	Average daily salary of a fighter, dollars.
	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.