On September 2nd-5th the city of Kemerovo hosted the Russian National Conference for department heads of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation and representatives of leading guard and detective agencies in Russia. Among the participants of the conference was the General Director of Berkut Association of Guard and Legal Companies.

In the framework of the Russian National Conference for heads of license and permit departments of the Russian Ministry of the Interior, the first open meeting of the Coordination Committee for cooperation with guard and detective agencies at the Department for Public Order Protection of the Russian Ministry of the Interior was held.

The representatives of private guard agencies discussed the important issues of their activities with participation of Mr. G.V. Gudkov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Safety Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Mr. S.V. Zubkov, Head of the Supervision Department for Safety and International Activities of the Control Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. L.V. Vedenov, Deputy Head of the Department for Protection of Public Order of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia, Head of the License and Permit Administration, Major General of the Militia, Mr. A.I. Malikov, Head of the Department for Protection of Public Order of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation, Mr. O.V. Klimochkin, Head of the License and Permit Administration of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia.

On the first day of the three day event a meeting was held for the heads of guard and detective organizations, candidates for membership in the Coordination Committee of the Department for Public Order Protection of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia. Among the guests were Mr. M.A. Rudnik, Governor of the Kemerovo Region, and Mr. A.N. Elin, Head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate in the Kemerovo Region. After the greeting on behalf of the Governor and the Public Award Committee by Mr. G.N.Zaitsev, Chairman, member of the Committee of the Public Chamber for Public Control of Law Enforcement, Security Agencies and of the Reforming of the Judicial and Legal System, Vice-President of the Veteran Association of Alfa Anti-terrorism Department, of the Expert Commission of the Safety Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General, several leaders of guard and detective agencies, who made a significant contribution to public order protection, were awarded with medals for Honor and Courage, for Faith and Goodwill, for Excellence in Public Order Protection. Among them was Mr. Pavel Vladenovich Kovalev, General Director of Berkut Association of Guard and Legal Companies.

After the awarding ceremony the participants discussed important current issues:

• the current situation in the guarding business and activities of the KC ROSS (Coordination Center of the Heads of Guard and Detective Agencies);
• the Regulation on the rights and obligations upon acceptance and exclusion from the Coordination Committee of the Department of Public Order Protection of the Ministry of the Interior of representatives of guard and detective structures;
• elections of representatives in the Federal districts.

The second day of the Russian National Conference was devoted to discussion of the current legislation regulating guarding activities and its prospects. Mr. G.V. Gudkov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Safety Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, identified three important issues upon consideration of this bill. The first issue concerns ownership of weapon by the staff of guard and detective agencies. The second is related to refusal of granting a license and certificate of a guard on the basis of immediate data. And finally the third issue is licensing private security firms. Mr. G.V. Gudkov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Safety Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and Mr. O.V. Klimochkin, Head of the License and Permit Administration of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia, discussed in detail all the questions of the representatives of guarding and detective agencies regarding the bill. After the seminar two more meetings were devoted to exchange of experience between the representatives of guarding agencies and alarm security. One of the questions discussed is establishment of the Russian educational center for heads of guard and detective agencies.

During the Russian Conference-Seminar it was noted that in modern Russia the security business is a whole industry. However this industry has a range of problems which should be solved by the Coordination Committee established by the Department for Protection of Public Order of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia. Its members in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior will consider the problems of this sector and their potential solutions, review the necessity for passing regulatory legal acts such as the bill passed by the State Duma this spring concerning the activities of guard and detective agencies. The participants of the conference pointed out that establishment of the Coordination Committee at the Department for Public Order Protection of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia is an important step for strengthening cooperation between the guard agencies and law enforcement agencies. “The goal of both the police and private security agencies is public order protection. That’s why we should work together”, stated Mr. L.V. Vedenov. The resolution of the Conference says “we hope that the practical activities of the Coordination Committee will be an important factor in quality improvement of the potential of private security companies used for public order protection and prevention of offences as well as provide for better cooperation and experience exchange between the Coordination committees of law enforcement bodies in the regions”. A resolution was passed on establishing seven committees for various activities – statutory act development, observance of lawfulness and ethics, improvement of the professional image of a security guard, qualified staff training, cooperation in public order protection, etc.

One of important decisions passed by the Conference was approval of the procedure for appointing representatives of the Coordination committee in the Federal regions. Mr. P.V. Kovalev, General Director of Berkut Association of Guard and Legal Companies, was unanimously appointed the representative for the Volga Federal District, i.e. the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Marij-El, the Republic of Mordovia, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republic of Udmurtiya, the Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Perm, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk regions and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area.