The Tambovskaya Bratva is a large
gang in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. According to common allegations, it was organised in Leningrad in 1988 by two men from
Tambov Oblast,
Vladimir Kumarin and one from St. Petersburg. The gang is named after their region of origin. Despite allegations,
Kumarin continues to deny his involvement. Originally the gangsters were recruited from people of Tambov origin and sportsmen, and were engaged in a
protection racket
A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from vio ...
.
It became famous in the city after coverage from
Alexander Nevzorov in his ''
600 seconds'' TV show in the city.
Saint Petersburg
After establishing in 1988, the Tambov Gang used a
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
church on
Vasilyevsky Island as the site for interrogating people. Kumarin and Petrov have been close to the
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
since the late 1980s.
Viktor Ivanov has strong links to the Tambov Gang.
He supported
Vladimir Kumarin's Tambovskaya OGG in their war against the Malyshevskaya OGG for control of the Leningrad sea port and the trafficking of
Colombian narcotics through the Leningrad sea port to Europe.
[
In 1989, the gang clashed with , another leading criminal group of ]Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, in a bloody armed conflict. In 1990, some of the gang members including Kumarin were imprisoned for racketeering, but Kumarin was released from prison in 1993. He later briefly allied with Alexander Malyshev (), who had controlled the narcotics trade since 1993 after ousting the Azerbaijani mafia from the trade, to fight the Kazan gang from Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
.
Kinichi Kamiyasu met Gennady Petrov () and Kuzmin in December 1990 when Manvel Davidov through his father Temo Davidov, a member of the Chechen mafia
The Chechen mafia (; ) is one of the largest ethnic organized crime groups operating in the former Soviet Union next to established Russian mafia groups.
Structure
While most Slavic and Caucasian gangsters in the Soviet era followed the thieves ...
which had caused Manvel to flee the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
for Stockholm where Kinichi Kamiyasu gave him a job and a Polish passport, introduced the Russian mafia
The Russian mafia ( or ), also known as Bratva ( ; ) less as Obshchak (Общак) or Brigades (Бригады) , is a collective of various organized crime related elements originating or/and operating in Russia.
In December 2009, Timur ...
, Petrov, Kuzmin, and Malyshev, to the son of a Japanese yakuza from Kobe-Osaka, Kinichi Kamiyasu.[ Temo Davidov had been acquainted with Petrov, Kuzmin, and Malyshev.][
In 1993 – 1995, an internal war developed between groups within the Tambov Gang. On June 1, 1994, Kumarin survived a murder attempt in his car but was severely wounded and lost his arm.][Бензиновые кризисы и ОГГО-коммерция: о чем писал "ДП" 20 лет назад]
/ref> He believed that the Velikie Luki were responsible and, later, Viktor Gavrilenkov () and Nikolai Gavrilenkov () were shot with Viktor Gavrilenkov being killed in the bedlam.[ He continued his recovery in ]Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
(Germany) and Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. By 1995, he allegedly had retaken full control over the gang.
By then, the gang had incorporated some of the racketeer businessmen and became interested in investment and fuel trading effectively evolving into a mafia
"Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
. It also helped organizing several private security enterprises. Some of its members allegedly became members of the State Duma
The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
and the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg
The Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg () is the regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament of Saint Petersburg, a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (federal cities of Russia, federal city) of Russia. It was established ...
, as well as a sector opening in Sydney, Australia allegedly being run by Mikhail Klapanov. Even the speaker of the Assembly Viktor Novosyolov gave his support and maintained close relationships with Kumarin.
Formed in September 1994, the Petersburg Fuel Company (PTK) was administrated by the Saint Petersburg City Administration.
During the later half of 1993 and into 1994 and with bank accounts in New York, Vladimir I. Dyakov (, b.1959) of the Kazan Gang, which had many very devout Muslim Tatars
Tatars ( )[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...
, fought the Tambov Gang for control of St. Petersburg's energy trade. The St Petersburg mafia gangs also fought for control of the St Petersburg seaport, however, Viktor Ivanov strongly supported the Tambov Gang to control both the oil and the seaport.[
From 1998 to 1999, Kumarin became Deputy President of PTK, the top fuel trading company in the city.][
In the autumn of 1999, the status of the gang started deteriorating again. Viktor Novosyolov was killed by an explosion in his car on October 20. Some of its most important members were imprisoned or killed. Kumarin left his position of PTK Deputy President.
The Tambov Gang now includes several hundred active members.
In August 2001, Interior Minister of Russia Boris Gryzlov said that the Tambov Gang controlled up to 100 industrial enterprises in Saint Petersburg, including PTK, the leading fuel retailing operator in the city, as well as four main sea ports of Northwestern Russia, ]Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
, Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...
and Murmansk
Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...
.
On 16 January 2007, the Prosecutor General of Russia Yury Chaika announced that the Tambov Gang had recently forcefully taken over 13 large enterprises in Saint Petersburg and was being investigated.
In May 2015, Spanish prosecutors alleged that Parex Bank, which held mostly offshore deposits for persons from Russia, was the preferred Latvian bank for the money laundering of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, Yuri Chaika, and Russian Mafia
The Russian mafia ( or ), also known as Bratva ( ; ) less as Obshchak (Общак) or Brigades (Бригады) , is a collective of various organized crime related elements originating or/and operating in Russia.
In December 2009, Timur ...
especially the Tambovskaya Mafia from Saint Petersburg and that very large sums were laundered for them through Latvian and German firms associated with Parex Bank and Overseas Services, which is a sister firm of Parex Bank, by Mikhail Rebo, also spelled Rabo, and his wife Tatiana Rebo who was the manager of the Parex Bank Berlin.
2007 and 2008 arrests
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised in tackling organized crime, ...
was a key witness for the Spanish prosecutors.
On 13 June 2008 Spanish police arrested 20 members of the organisation's Spanish branch. In connection with the raid Russian politician Vladislav Reznik was investigated[Испанские СМИ сообщили об обыске на вилле депутата Госдумы РФ]
Lenta.ru A money laundering scheme involved Vera Metallurgica, a subsidiary of Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) which Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian oligarch and billionaire. Deripaska began his career as a metals trader after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He used accumulated funds from trading to acquire stakes in the Sa ...
and Iskander Makhmudov were the main owners in the early 2000s.[
Alexander Malyshev, apparently having resolved his feud with the gang, joined with them instead and moved to Spain to continue operations after several attempts on his life in Saint Petersburg. Gennady Petrov, a high-ranking associate and neighbour of the sister of King Juan Carlos was also arrested. During the police operation, code-named Operation Troika, US$307,000 in cash and twenty-three luxury cars were seized. Bank accounts totalling €12 million were frozen. Arrests were made in ]Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
as well, where a member of the organisation, Michael Rebo, was involved in laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
and other illegal activity.
The criminal investigation of 2008 led to further arrests and a major Russian mafia (the Tambov Gang) money laundering scheme be revealed. According to the Bulgarian prosecutor more than one billion euros of Russian money had been laundered through a series of financial transactions in Bulgaria and Estonia. The laundered money was, according to allegations, part of the Saint Petersburg Tambov gang's proceeds from drug trafficking, prostitution and protection rackets. The alleged Tambov Gang money laundering operation was coordinated by Elizabet Elena Von Messing and Svetozar Milter.
According to the sources, about a billion euros of Russian money were first transferred to a real estate and financial services company in Bulgaria, called Optima Ca. That firm then wired half of the money to the Estonian financial house AS Tavid, which sent the money back to Russia. The rest of the money was transferred to accounts in Cyprus, Dubai, Hong Kong and other countries, according to the newspaper.
The investigation, which is going on in Bulgaria, is secret. Two persons were investigated in Bulgaria on May 23, 2008, for this case, Elizabet Elena Von Messing and Sverozar Milter. Von Messing, a Russian with Finnish citizenship and whose second husband Andrei Khloev () is very close to Kumarin, had acted as a proxy.[ The court hearings on the investigation of the two Russians were not open to the public.
A similar trial in Spain involves the Solntsevo Gang.
]
Conclusion
After a ten-year trial the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish National Court has acquitted all 17 defendants on October 18, 2018, on all accounts. The prosecution provided insufficient evidence to link the defendants to the criminal conspiracy or any associated wrongdoing.
Vladislav Reznik, Michail Rebo, Juri Salikov, Diana Gindin, Andrey Malenkovich, Leonid Khazhin, Svetozar Milter, Leocadia Martin Garcia and Ignacio Pedro Urquiujo Sierra and others are among the acquitted.
Criminal sphere
According to Mark Galeotti in 2017, the Tamboskaya OGG controls both the Saint Petersburg sea port and the Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
sea port.
See also
* Roman Tsepov
*Russian mafia
The Russian mafia ( or ), also known as Bratva ( ; ) less as Obshchak (Общак) or Brigades (Бригады) , is a collective of various organized crime related elements originating or/and operating in Russia.
In December 2009, Timur ...
Notes
References
*
Further reading
* Roth, Jürgen. Die Gangster aus dem Osten. Hamburg: Europa Verlag, 2003.
External links
* Volkov, Vadim
Not a word about the past
Expert #15(322), 2002.
Criminality in St. Petersburg
December 30, 2004. {{in lang, ru
Organizations established in 1987
1987 establishments in Russia
Factions of the Russian Mafia
Transnational organized crime
Organised crime groups in Germany
Organised crime groups in Spain
History of Saint Petersburg
History of Novgorod Oblast
History of Karelia