Import replacement does not work in the pistols market - the Prosecutor's Office prefers expensive foreign weapons.
Legendary killer Alexander Solonik was known to have had a soft spot for the Austrian pistol "Glock 17". The personnel of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Investigative Committee will now look every bit like the heroes of Hollywood thrillers, as last week Prime Minister Vladimir Putin extended the list of weapons that prosecutors and investigators were allowed to use. They will now be able to carry 9-mm Glocks, Chezetas and Berettas under their armpits.
This is an odd decision to make in the midst of an economic crisis. In the automobile industry, the picture is the opposite: customs duties are introduced to force motorists to give up foreign-made cars in favour of Russian-made ones. Those who want to stick with foreign cars may get a flying visit from the Zubr OMON special unit located outside Moscow, who will explain to them the importance of backing domestic producers. Civil servants have also been told that it would be more patriotic to drive Russian-made Volgas given the difficult time the country is experiencing. Civil servants hardly relish the prospect, but are afraid to voice objections.
And then suddenly, instead of the familiar Yarygin pistol which, as had recently been announced, was to replace the obsolete standard Makarov, fancy imported weapons will be used. Whether the Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee should be entitled to carry arms is a big question mark. Prosecutors and investigators deal with statements, forensics, confrontations, identifications and court battles, but the Head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, believes that his guys are capable of more. He has repeatedly asked Vladimir Putin to provide his agency with automatic rifles, machine-guns, sniper rifles, hand grenades, electrical shockers, rubber clubs, etc. - in short, the whole kit that makes one feel like a true silovik (a member of the army and security agencies). A military atmosphere reigns in his agency. One can often read on the notice board that "an operational staff meeting will be held in such and such room at such and such time". In reality, the Investigative Committee is not supposed to have any operational staff, because neither Bastykin's office nor Yuri Chaika's Prosecutor's Office are supposed to engage in any operations, since that is police business. Likewise, its employees are not expected to take part in any special operations that would necessitate the use of machine-guns, grenade throwers, and electric shockers.
The Investigative Committee's bid to become fully armed was quashed, and permission to carry nifty foreign pistols is something of a consolation prize. Carrying papers from one floor to the other with a service Glock under your armpit is almost as cool as driving a government Mercedes. On that issue, the Prosecutor's Office is not to be outdone by the Ministry of the Interior, which gained the right to arm its elite units with imported weapons two years ago. Of course, nobody questions that the Interior Ministry's commandos need Finnish sniper rifles.
An investigator would only need a pistol for self-defense. The Investigative Committee has explained that they need weapons because they work in dangerous conditions in the North Caucasus. Apparently the conditions are so dangerous that the Yarygin pistol, which got some good marks from the army commandos after the Russian-Georgian war, does not suit the prosecutors. When I asked Vladimir Yarygin himself what he thought about it, he was embarrassed: "I cannot comment on Mr Putin's decisions." He did compare his own pistol with the Glock, however: "Some people like the Glock, some don't; it is sensitive to mud and it is more expensive than our pistol."
When asked about the cost of buying new foreign weapons, the prosecutor's press service declined to comment. Other members of the Prosecutor's Office staff believe the price may be up to $1000 per unit. Belarus, for example, buys the most expensive of the three models, Glock, at 500 euro per unit.
If one takes the trouble to unearth the text of the Government Decree On Imported Pistols, one may find some interesting things there. For example, item 17 is "9 mm Chezetta-775 pistol". There is no such weapon in nature; instead, there is a CZ-75 pistol (made in 1975). Item 13 is a "9 mm APS revolver". Since when has the legendary Stechkin automatic pistol been called a revolver? All this paperwork carries Putin's signature. One wonders if he ever read what he was signing. Perhaps the document wasn't worth reading anyway, since it is really all about what the Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee employees will feel when looking at themselves in a mirror.
Dhzemal Orhan
