MAFIA INCREASES ITS CONTROL OF BUSINESSES, BANKS.

Accordingto Russia’s interior ministry, there were 1300 organizedcriminal groups in Russia in 1994, Kommersant (no. 20)reported. These gangs controlled 48,000 commercialenterprises, 1500 government-owned concerns, and 800 banks,an increase in their stake of 50 percent over the yearbefore. Similar increases are being seen this year, theinterior ministry said. Not only does the mafia employagents to penetrate and then take over honest businesses, italso engages in industrial espionage for one firm againstanother, the business weekly pointed out. Racketeering isnow so widespread that several Russian insurance firms arenow offering insurance against it, Smena reported June 1.

Mafia vs. Nomenklatura in Daghestan.