Organized Crime in the Economic Sphere: Analysis and Trends

The research is devoted to an imminent problem of contemporary Russia — the problem of organized crime in the economic sphere, which is viewed through the prism of statistical-criminological analysis. The authors substantiate their opinion that organized crime is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon deeply integrated into the economic system of Russia, which determines its long-term character. The article focuses on the statistical analysis of persons who committed crimes in the economic sphere as part of organized criminal groups (OG) and criminal communities (CC). The research material reflects the share of persons involved in these crimes among all persons who committed crimes under Ch. 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (RF). The authors also pay attention to the analysis of quantitative characteristics of persons who are part of organized criminal groups and criminal communities depending on the specific type of crime under Ch. 22 of the Criminal Code of the RF, including Art. 171, 172, 186, 187, 174.1, 198, 199 and 199.2 of the Criminal Code of the RF. At present, the statistical report forms include only the abovementioned crimes committed as part of organized groups and criminal communities. The authors present the statistical values of crimes committed by OGs and CCs in the economic sphere in the context of their regional differentiation. The current study includes all Federal Districts of the RF, for which the authors identified the spatial and temporal trends demonstrating both positive and negative dynamics in the registration of economic crimes. Statistical data are underpinned by the empirically proven facts of involvement in criminal economic activities connected with organized criminal groups and criminal communities; they are based on aggregated information obtained from the specialized statistical forms of the Chief Information-analytical Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The authors conclude that, for the modern society, the priority is not the recognition of the unavoidable presence of organized crime in the economic sphere, but a complex analysis of its etiology and the development of effective mechanisms of its prevention.