‘The current laws that regulate the security agencies’ activity in Russia are really out of date and need to be replaced. However, the proposed changes meet neither these agencies’ needs nor the dictates of the time,’ says Oleg Borisov, General Director of Europe-Asia Information and Consulting Center, President of Ural Center of Nongovernmental Security Institutions Association, and member of the Academy of Security, Defense and Law-and-Order.

Borisov comments upon the legislation enforced in February 2009:

‘As a matter of fact, the new law limits the private security agencies’ options and makes them even more dependent on the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As the extradepartmental security forces of this same ministry are the market’s number one player at the moment, one could say that the governmental agency is trying to disadvantage its rivals. Unfortunately, this new law does not improve on the safety of either businesses or private individuals at all.’

‘Then, I feel that prior to adopting new laws the government should come up with the concept of the country’s national security strategy. We all need to understand just what is considered a law-enforcement agency in Russia and what kinds of other agencies are at play here. Only then is it expedient to propose the laws regulating their performance,’ he adds.

‘The thing is, the law-enforcement is fully in the government’s hands under the current system, so the society is excluded from providing for its own safety. In Russia, the law-enforcement agencies are synonymous with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, whereas in some other countries, these agencies also comprise some private companies and civilian organizations. So some minor changes in the existing law are not going to solve this major problem. Nevertheless, if the government did try to solve it, the society might develop a better attitude for the system. Moreover, the state’s financial burden would be relieved through delegating some functions to the private, self-supporting agencies,’ Oleg Borisov notes.