Tender Chases Security Staff Into Union

<BR>A tender announced a month ago by the city of St Petersburg, for a security company providing security for business activity, has split local security companies into two camps: members and non-members of the union 'Law and Order'. There are far more non-members than members, but the members are more likely to enjoy the patronage of the city administration. Yury Kurgansky is both chairman of the union Law and Order, and co-chairman of the city and oblast police's Coordinating Council, and categorically disagrees with the position of non-members: "The statement that only union members can participate in the tender is completely misguided. The tender is open to all. Of course, either work in the union or in the Coordinating Council will be taken into consideration, and we have already presented the city with a list of active members." "Today we have 2047 union members from 67 companies, and the number is growing all the time. For example, the company Zashita recently announced its intention to join the union," said Yury Kurgansky. The deadline for tender applications was 1 July, but DP's sources say that the applications period could be extended. It is interesting that civil servants running the tender have refused to release information about the number of tender applications. The city intends to sign a co-operation agreement with the tender winner, who will be promised assistance and co-operation, although few companies have demonstrated the willingness to enter into relations with the city administration on the city's own terms. The majority of security companies have chosen not to apply, and some consider that state assistance creates 'additional problems' in dealing with competing organs, such as police departments charged with licensing and monitoring security and private investigation companies. "The farther you are from power, the fewer checks there are. It's not worth the trouble," said the director of a major security company.