Underground looking for new and younger godfather

Photo: Jaanus Lensment

In just a few years, when organized crime boss Assar Paulus is released from prison, heads of Estonia's criminal organizations will face an existential question: who and when will take over from Nikolai Tarankov who has effectively been the godfather of the Estonian criminal world for the past 25 years.

Changes in the executive circles of organized crime are inevitable in the coming years. The only question is how much power to hand down to whom and when. The uncrowned king of the Estonian underworld Nikolai Tarankov has reached retirement age. A fact that is reflected in Golden Kolya's other nickname – Old Kolya.

Under Tarankov's leadership, the criminal world has managed to keep a low profile, with a few exceptions, for the past decade. Bloody organized crime wars are but a distant memory from the 1990s.

Ostensible peace and distribution of areas of influence through negotiations is of existential importance to organized crime. Things have gone better than they might have in Estonia as there are a lot of interest groups – Estonia's criminal underground still has around ten active groups.

Information available to Postimees suggests the existence of seven-eight definite groups.

«We are constantly mapping the state of organized crime, it is one part of the criminal police's work. We collect information from several sources as well as ongoing criminal cases. For several reasons, I cannot specify the number of active criminal organizations in Estonia,» said head of the organized crime bureau of the Central Criminal Police Rene Kanniste.

There are groups that are determined by ethnicity (for example Estonians, Asers, Chechens and Ingushians) as well as those known by the name of the leader. It is extremely important to know who is working under whose protection in the criminal world, as it allows criminals to assess the limits of potential conflicts, as well as how far they can go in protecting their interests.

Ethnicity-based groups are not made up exclusively of people with similar backgrounds however. The company is uncharacteristically mixed; for example, when it comes to the «Chechens», members of which have both Estonian and Russian names. It is much the same concerning the «Asers» and even «Estonians».

The reason for this is a simple one: modern criminal organizations are formed purely based on purpose. The main thing is to make illegal money, whereas people's ethnicity is nowhere near as important as it was in the 1990s. As the saying goes: the color of the chicken doesn't matter as long it keeps laying eggs.

All the aforementioned groups have been active in Estonia for a long time, and the criminal world has seen no noteworthy newcomers in the past decade. Work allocation seems to be similarly unchanged.

You have your muscle – honing their skills in gyms and not afraid to put them to use elsewhere if need be. Because such opportunities are rarely afforded these days, we mainly hear about them in the aftermath of spontaneous bar fights or other similar incidents.

Everyone with a lick of sense realizes that treating the first person you see to a beating could lead to a prison sentence, and that it is more sensible to convince the other side of your point of view verbally. If at all possible, one should also try to engage in something seemingly legal. For example the catering business.

That is what happened to the uncrowned king of grand theft auto in Estonia, Stanislav Volkov, who was a regular member of the so-called common treasury board, years ago. Today, when professionals have almost completely stopped stealing cars, Volkov runs a popular restaurant in Tallinn's Old Town.

This might not mean of course that Volkov is now a legitimate businessman. Harju County Court is preparing for an upcoming trial in which Volkov and accomplices are accused of organizing systematic customs fraud that involved bribing a former customs officer.

The next godfather will probably be chosen from among seemingly legitimate men such as Volkov in a few years' time. Assar Paulus could be considered as someone with a pragmatic and close working relationship with Tarankov.

Tarankov also has a bigger say in who will become the next godfather. The predecessor's favor is necessary for ensuring the continued good fortunes of other players.

However, there are others with potential. Today, when leaders prefer to «work» without leaving their homes, trusting younger members with practical matters, initial sympathies have developed. The recipients of the latter must prove their suitability and reliability over time. There is virtually no room for error.

To secure authority, candidates must have suitable character, show fairness in solving criminal arguments, and definitely abstain from drugs. Criminal organizations exist on the foundation of the leader's authority – his decisions are to be heeded without further ado.

Just as it happened during Assar Paulus' trial, where some defendants initially refused to seek a deal with the prosecution only to change their minds later, following the boss' purely pragmatical decision that had to be accepted, even unwillingly.