Current Situation with Organized Crime in Ukraine

Abstract

The article provides analysis of organized crime in Ukraine for the period from 2006 to 2015. Based on official statistics data it has been revealed that quantitative and qualitative records of crimes, committed by organised groups (OG) and criminal associations (CA), are declining rapidly.The number of detected OGs and CAs in Ukraine from 2006 to 2015 decreased by 3,5 times, the number of detected criminal individuals decreased threefold. In particular, 466 OGs and CAs were identified in 2006, while in 2015 only 166 were identified. The number of persons convicted for crimes committed within stable organized structures were as follows: in 2013 – 587 persons, in 2014 – 492 persons and in 2015 – 228 persons. The last figure makes only 0, 2% of the total (both within and outside organized structures) convicted persons in 2015.In overall the law enforcement agencies identified the following number of OGs and CAs with transnational links in resent years: in 2014 – ten, in 2015 – four, in 10 months in 2016 – four. On average, a criminal group consists of four members. According to official records, during the period of 2014-2015 not a single gram of cocaine and heroin has been confiscated. The author observed a research of victimologist Jan van Dijk, which demonstrated that in 2003 Ukraine was among 15 countries with the highest levels of organized crime (Composite Organized Crime Index – COCI). Emphasis was made on the limitations of official statistics which does not always adequately reflect the actual level of organized crime. The aforementioned statistics for the past 10 years reflect the inefficiency of law enforcement agencies in identifying undercover, disguised criminal activity. The author explains the situation by various factors, among them one of the most important is corruption in law enforcement agencies. Comprehensive studies of organized crime latency is suggested to be conducted at the state level.