— In September, the world championship in all-around bodyguards was held in Kyiv, which this year was attended by a large delegation of the BFDR. What is the reason for the growing interest in the sport of bodyguards, in particular, among regional security organizations? Does this indicate the development of the personal protection market in the Dnipropetrovsk region today?
— Undoubtedly, today we note an increase in demand for security services. This is connected, first of all, with the deterioration of the criminogenic situation and the economic climate in the region and in the country in general. As for the size of the BFDR delegation, it hardly differs from the annual one. This year, we sent more than 50 invitations to the competition to public sector employees, top business managers and our partners in the field of social activities. Oleksandr Zavizion, head of the Charitable Fund “Supporting the Development of Sports of Ukraine” was able to come; representatives of commercial structures, the Kryvyi Rih branch of the Federation: Serhii Danylyuk – director of the security company “Dobra Sprava”, Oleksiy Abusov – executive and Oleksandr Seredenko – commercial director of the security agency “Kamrat”.
We annually invite our friends (especially those who are not directly related to personal security) to attend the competition, first of all, in order to break the stereotype about the bodyguard in their heads, to shift it towards the truth. Since many still associate him with a romantic image of Superman or with a boorish healthy “bull”. But the truth is radically different and quite good. All-rounders-guards who come to the competition are cultured, educated people of different ages, from various public and private structures. But they are all similar in one thing: their profession is to protect, not to be donjuans, fantasists, etc. Because today there are a lot of people who seem to work in the field of security, but in fact are ordinary dreamers: either they have read books or watched videos, but they have no real idea about the profession. These people distort the idea of the work of bodyguards. That is why, for me, the main task, which is inextricably linked with bodyguard all-around tournaments, is the popularization of the real image of a modern bodyguard and the unified standards of this profession.
— From 2005 to 2013, BFDR was represented exclusively by teams of commercial structures. For the past six years, the organization has been training teams mainly in cooperation with state services: we are talking about “Zyklon”, teams of the tax police of the region. Why so?
— This is due to global challenges: from 2005 to 2013 – the development of bodyguard all-around as a sport. We were still under the impression that in 2001 the Ministry of Youth and Sports recognized all-around bodyguards as a sport. And in 2006, our team took second place, won silver medals, and according to the rules of the competition, the participants received the title of masters of sports.
This prompted many members of the Federation and Ukrainian specialized structures to participate in competitions for the development of sports. And the participants then transferred the gained experience to specific tasks related to security and security personnel. And until 2013, our interest in the competition was exclusively sports and professional. And in 2014, new threats came to Ukraine, due to which the competition was not held that year.
Since 2015, we have started to involve teams of state structures. They had a professional interest: involving our personnel to train their people, and we, for our part, had a desire to help state structures, which at that time found themselves in a not very good situation.
— What form of relationship with the partner structure do you choose when preparing the team?
— Currently, we involve various structures in cooperation. Until 2014, the Federation independently resolved all issues related to preparation and participation in competitions. Since 2015, we have chosen the optimal team training model based on the state and private structure. At the same time, the participants independently solve the issue of material and technical support, and we provide administrative and personnel resources. Such a system has justified itself: for 13 years in a row (BFDR did not participate in competitions in 2009 and 2014, – editor’s note) our region has been well represented at the all-around bodyguard championships of Ukraine, Europe and the world.
I would like to note another achievement of ours, which became possible thanks to the cooperation of BFDR with a partner structure – the creation of a women’s team. Together with Hilarion Pavlov, my deputy, we started to dream in 2015 that Dnipropetrovsk Oblast would eventually be represented by a female team of bodyguards. In the end, last year we found a like-minded person – Serhiy Penkov, the head of the regional tax police. And this year, thanks to joint efforts, it was possible to bring this idea to life! And at the 22nd championship of Ukraine in all-around bodyguards, the Dnipropetrovsk region was represented for the first time, including by a women’s team
— What exactly is the participation of the Federation during the training of the team?
— First of all, it is about methodical and coaching help. Together with the captain of the team, we test the selected candidates for professional suitability and psychological compatibility, draw up training plans for the quarter: shooting, hand-to-hand combat, driving, demining… The next very important stage is uniforms and material support. After all, if the team does not have a permanent car, it is impossible and ineffective to train to overcome the obstacle course. Next, we create a schedule for the participation of BFDR instructors in the team’s training process. This is also an integral component, since all our instructors have their own affairs: some are the head of the security service at the plant, some are the director of the Kyiv group of security structures, another is a volunteer paramedic who is constantly between the OOS zone and peaceful life… And such a busyness in Each. But we try to connect the desired with the possible and, based on the instructors’ busyness, plan classes. And then I don’t interfere in the training process, since all FTDO instructors themselves once performed in the team. So who knows this cuisine better than them!
— Those who have repeatedly attended tournaments know your Federation as the author of the slide show that traditionally ends the championship. Where did this project come from?
— For this idea, I am grateful to my brother, photographer Yuriy Bukhanovsky, who, unfortunately, currently works abroad. Back in the days of my work in the Security Department of UKRSIBBANK, he traveled with me to banking seminars and filmed them. And internal protocols, as you understand, did not provide for anyone to see these pictures in the public sphere. It was the same with competitions. Security forces from different countries and organizations came. Therefore, inviting an outsider, not understanding where the photos will go, was not interesting and uncomfortable for us. Therefore, I involved the specialist whom I trusted both as a professional and as a person.
The idea of a slide show was born earlier than we were able to realize it for the first time – in 2015 in Lviv. The guests, participants and the organizing committee liked the slide show very much. And so it became traditional. Today, coming to the competition, we already feel the need to leave such an artistic mark.
— In addition to participation in competitions, the Federation declares more than five areas of activity. What is the organization doing now?
— The first and, perhaps, the most relevant direction for us today is the development of the professional standard of a security guard and the introduction of amendments to the law “On Security Activities”. The topic is clearly ripe. Because the illegal segment that our colleagues talked about a month ago at the conference “The Black Market of Personal Protection is the way to nowhere. Reboot”, is quite dangerous. We would like to believe that Ukraine will emerge from the crisis precisely in a civilized, legal field. And if so, then there should be professional standards, appropriate registration and licenses. Bodyguards should be issued with documents confirming their professional status, if, of course, he is a bodyguard, and not a “multidisciplinary specialist”: then a bartender, then a lifeguard at a boat station, then a bodyguard…
— It’s no secret that your colleagues today inextricably link the issue of the legality of the security guard profession with another aspect – the legalization of carrying and using short-barreled firearms. What is your opinion on this?
— I explained my position in detail in an interview with a journalist of the NTN TV channel, which I gave in the fall at the 10th World Bodyguard All-Around Championship. To the question “Will the legalization of weapons be useful for Ukrainian society?” I answered in the negative: no, it won’t. And he made an amendment that many of my colleagues would be indignant, saying, whose mill is he throwing water at. After all, all guards and security structures make sure that there are weapons. I personally wish I had a short barreled gun. I sincerely wish that my colleagues at security companies had it. But I do not imagine (mostly because of the level of corruption in the country) how this law will work in the first two or three years after its adoption. I have concerns, because the legal culture and the culture of interaction with weapons in our country are at a rather low level.
Maybe I’m wrong. And veterans who have come from war, who understand the power of weapons and their dangers, will be able to teach the civilian population. After all, citizens should have weapons and be able to defend themselves. But again, I always talk about the foundation: in what soil is this seed sown. The legal culture of the population and the level of corruption are such that the legalization of weapons may now be premature.
— That is, in your opinion, total corruption in the country is among the main reasons that make it impossible for citizens to use weapons for the purpose of self-defense? Does BFDR have experience in combating this disease?
— Since 2017, we have been actively working on the issue of combating crime in the region. We have developed a whole set of measures and directions. And they came to the conclusion that the basis for Ukrainian criminality is, among other things, corruption. Of course, if there were less of this fertile soil, crime would also decrease. I realize that neither I nor my colleagues have experience in anti-corruption activities. For the last year, we have been attending thematic events for the sake of learning. After all, today we need a tool to fight corruption, to defeat crime and ensure a decent future for our descendants.
— Let’s return to the activities of BFDR. The organization has a high status as an expert in issues of development and assessment of the quality of services among security structures and clients. How did you manage to earn this authority and what is the direct function of your public organization in the market of security services?
— When the client does not turn to the security firm, but to the Federation, then we act as a third, independent party that guarantees compliance with the requirements of commercial secrecy. Our task is to choose a structure that will suit the client directly, and to explain to the security unit the specifics of this particular customer. Appealing to us, the Federation, is especially effective when security concerns are pressing. In this way, the precious time of the client and the executor is not lost in search of mutual understanding and delving into the essence of the matter.
Unfortunately, in the security sector, it very often happens that the parties work for a month, six months, or a year, but it is not possible to come to an agreement. Roughly speaking, the parties spend time on mutual claims, reproaches, and therefore do not realize their ideas.
Another important aspect is the involvement of an independent party: expert assessment of knowledge and skills, organization of training. This is especially relevant when you have to face the protection of large objects, for example, a bank, a plant. In this case, the federation is a mediator that allows you to determine whether the client and the executor see the problem and understand it in the same way, whether they have the same goals, or whether the client sets the right tasks. However, not everyone wants to listen to such advice. But our credo, which we always strive to convey to the business: quality service provision is impossible without mutual learning. For example, it was possible to see security personnel working in the traditions of the 80s and 90s. That is, they have not heard anything about artificial intelligence in modern security systems, about BSR (business continuity – ed.). And in this case, it is necessary not to worsen the situation, but to solve it in the most profitable way for the client and the security company. After all, time is a very expensive resource, more valuable than money.
— From the name of the Federation it follows that you are engaged in personal physical security. But most of the interview you talk about complex protection and security. Why? And doesn’t this contradict the essence of the organization itself?
— Indeed, in 2007, our organization started as an official representation of the sport of all-around bodyguards. However, in 2017, a number of unfavorable events in the state, in particular, the peak of raiding, prompted us to add the direction of combating crime to the organization’s charter. After all, it is impossible to protect a person without taking into account the entire range of threats around him. On the other hand, it is impossible to combat crime only with the help of security guards. Only a complex of measures with constant counseling of the client and disclosure to him of the entire range of threats will be effective. For example, the client has a production that may have problems; threats arise with the involvement of family members, close business partners of the client, due to property issues. Unfortunately, in our field, most threats remain relevant, and new challenges appear every day. Therefore, we are constantly expanding the range of our activities, testing new tools and practicing them at partner enterprises.
— Can we say that the goal of combating crime is not only the protection of the client, but also the protection of the bodyguard himself and his immediate environment?
– Undeniably. The training, which is part of the anti-crime direction, makes our bodyguards aware of the need to constantly monitor the state of security of themselves and their families.
I am grateful to our colleagues Oleksandr Cherednyk and Viktor Tkachenko for the book “Personal Protection of Individuals”, which comprehensively and succinctly describes all aspects of working with the object of protection: starting from his house and water supply systems through which unhealthy water can come, and ending issues of the guard’s own safety. After all, the VIP’s threats and the bodyguard’s personal threats, which may arise in connection with the specifics of the work, are two completely different types of threats. Unlike his client, the security guard lives in an ordinary house, among ordinary people, his children, wife go to ordinary schools, kindergartens, hospitals, shops. And that’s why any bodyguard, coming home, also takes care of the security of his own home, the safety of family members.
— Your opinion: what should be introduced in Ukraine to strengthen the national anti-terrorist system?
— Our country is rich in specialists who served at the beginning of the development of Ukrainian statehood and, accordingly, know many useful things that can be applied even now. So if the state were to organize this segment, Ukraine would move in the direction of, for example, Switzerland, the USA, where there is a formalized relationship between the sheriff, private security structures, state special services, etc.
Roughly speaking: if certain information falls into the hands of private detectives, they are guided by special protocols and methods of further actions. And so the information is passed on so that the state takes measures to minimize risks. After all, in the process of work, a private structure often observes the birth of a criminal group or the creation of some criminal scheme. And the criminal world exchanges schemes very quickly and it is difficult to catch up with them.
If the connection “private structure – state body” mentioned by me was regulated at the legislative level, if there were bilateral rules of ethics of relations, I am sure, this would very soon bring benefits to the state, law enforcement agencies, and private security structures. But for this, I repeat, we must overcome corruption. It is important.
— And the final question: how does the Federation implement the direction of social rehabilitation of military and former employees of law enforcement structures?
— Today, this is the employment of former military personnel and employees of law enforcement agencies. Of course, we would like to have certain programs in our country that would simplify the socialization of this category of citizens. After all, it is very important not only at the level of employers, but also at the scale of the state: to correctly direct the knowledge of a person who came from war and thinks in terms of war. These can be various associations – from state paramilitary formations to farms, commercial structures, etc. By and large, it doesn’t matter what format it will be. After all, these people have a heightened sense of justice and collectivism, and therefore a high efficiency in joint work. I can give an example. However, I have not yet heard of another such dosav. Veterano Group. People in this business are united not only by the desire to make money. They have a different root – they are burned by the war. And that’s why, in my opinion, they have less chance to one day come to some kind of internal conflict than ordinary businessmen, united only by the desire to make money, nothing more.
And we have partners who show interest in this topic. In particular, this is Mr. Oleksandr Khoruzhiy. More than two years ago, when we raised this topic, I noticed that he is also concerned about this as a person and a professional who cares about what city and country his children will live in. We noted a mutual altruistic interest. So, as the people say, a good start is half the battle.