kgb to provide security to u.s. embassy in moscow

[dead man walking]

seriously.

buddy of putin wins no-bid contract.

это хорошо

[Gene]

Russian company records show that Mr. Budanov, who retired from espionage in 1992 after becoming upset by Russia’s direction under its first post-Soviet leader, Boris N. Yeltsin, is a former minority owner of at least three of Elite’s branches — in Moscow, in the Volga region and in western Russia. Records indicate that he no longer holds any ownership stake, but Kommersant, a Russian business newspaper, has reported that the company’s head office in Moscow is run by his son, Dimitri.

...tasks previously handled by local guards hired directly by the embassy in Moscow, like screening visitors, will be taken over by Elite Security employees. Hiring guards directly allowed closer monitoring of their backgrounds, but any Russian working for an American diplomatic mission, no matter how closely screened, is vulnerable to pressure from Russia’s state security apparatus.

Local guards are mostly restricted to the perimeter of diplomatic compounds and do not generally have access to secure areas.

The article quoted a "former KGB spy" who opined that he would never let any security firm with contacts with the CIA guard the Russian embassy. Elite Security Holdings has no proven existing ties to the Russian FSB or SVR.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/worl ... w-kgb.html


The KGB disbanded in 1991. Outside of the no-bid contract this story doesn't mean anything.