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Alfa-Tsentr (Alpha-Center, Russian: %u0410%u043B%u044C%u0444%u0430-%u0426%u0 435%u043D%u0442%u0440) is a Russian private military company based in Beloretsk, Russia.[1] The company served an important logistics and support role throughout the course of the Second Chechen War, and served as an auxiliary guard to the pro Kremlin regime of Akhmad Kadyrov.[2]
[edit] Origins
[edit] Privatization
Originally conceived of as a holding company for newly privatized state assets, Alfa-Tsentr purchased many large military hardware factories, army and air force operational facilities in the mid 1990s. These formerly Soviet assets were purchased from the government of Boris Yeltsin at a fraction of their value as part of a larger trend that came to be known as the loans for shares scheme. [3]
[edit] Current Structure
Today the PMC is comprised of 3 main divisions:
Operational
The operational units of Alfa-Tsentr are considered its core assets. These include non conventional warfare units (Spetsnaz), pilots and ground crew operators, body guard detail and close protection teams, combat engineers, logistical support teams, command and control units, combat medics, evacuation and search + rescue crews.
Advisory
Similar to NATO-oriented private military companies such as England's Aegis Defence Services, Alfa-Tsentr operates a consulting division which provides research and analysis on security threats, both for civilian and government military organizations.
Training
The company is responsible for government-outsourced training in the Russian Federation, particularly that of local police forces which participate in nation-wide interdiction of organized crime activities. After Alfa-Tsentr's initial role as a holding company, some of its first activities included training of paramilitary forces, including controversial Chechen Kadyrovtsy.[4]
[edit] Facilities
Since 2000, Alfa-Tsentr has performed some logistical support at the Kosvinsky Mountain facility in the Sverdlovsk Oblast.
