In Polissia, miners have been mining amber for years. After the amber laws were passed, law enforcement did not restore order: miners continued to work illegally. Therefore, entrepreneurs who bought mining licenses could not enter their sites. Пrivate security service "Bogomol" came nand assistance to the Amber Galbin group of companies.
Almost four years ago, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine simplified amber mining. The company "Burprom - was one of the first to buy special permits for the plots located in the Galbyn tract in Sarny district. This place is quite famous, because prospectors here for more than a decade illegally mined solar stones.
Entrepreneurs paid more than ten million hryvnias for the license, but could not enter the mine because of black miners.
Here is how Pavel Bondar, director of Burprom, recalls those events:
The state did not guarantee security. We contacted the State Security Service and signed a contract with them. But the circumstances around our sites did not allow them to do their job, and they (the State Security Service - ed.), unfortunately, terminated the contract.
Protecting amber territories in the forest, with miners, far from cities, is no easy task. The entrepreneurs spent several months looking for a way out until they came across private service "Mantis".
For an average citizen, security activities are associated with the safety of a building or a site. Our specificity is dictated by the object of protection. After all, these are large land plots. They are located in forests, far from settlements in the Sarny and Dubrovytsia districts," said Ihor Shamryk, head of the Bogomol service.
Burned car and threats
In addition to problems with prospectors working illegally on the sites, the entrepreneurs were confronted by criminals. They openly threatened them with physical violence and even destroyed their property. In particular, the deputy director of Burprom, Serhiy Savin burned the car.
Criminal elements continued to engage in black mining. But we had guys from sports clubs, students from sports clubs, former law enforcement officers, experienced people who dealt with this line of work," recalls Yuriy Melnyk, deputy head of the Bogomol service.
It was Yuriy Melnyk who, together with Ihor Shamryk, selected employees for the service. Having worked in the Security Service of Ukraine, the leaders were well aware of the criteria that employees had to meet.
The Bogomol service restored order
Today, the Bogomol service has several dozen employees. They protect twenty sites for which enterprises of the Amber Galbin group of companies have purchased special permits for amber mining.
The guards patrol the territory, which sometimes reaches three hundred hectares. To do this, they use off-road vehicles, ATVs, buggies, and quadcopters with thermal imagers.
Dogs also help employees. In particular, the two-year-old Bagira knows her way around and quickly detects criminals, especially prospectors. Recently, she even bit an employee who returned to the territory after a shift.
Over the course of three years, the Bogomol service has cleaned up the territories of Amber Galbin's enterprises, Ihor Shamryk is convinced:
It was difficult to rebuild the psychology of local residents, to show them that illegal mining has been stopped and the situation in our areas has changed. Currently, the number of law enforcement visits has decreased. It is not like it was 4 years ago.
Bogomol guards serve in the Armed Forces and terrorist defense
In addition to their main tasks, the guys who work in the area near the border with Belarus keep an eye out for suspicious people, cars, and drones and report their activity to the relevant authorities.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion 20% employees of the Bohomol service went to serve as volunteers in the Armed Forces and the terrorist defense. They still have their jobs.
The guards are also particularly proud of six people who were demobilized for health reasons and now work for the service.
Every day, the guards listen to briefings and constantly train. They do not drink alcohol.
But the success of the service lies elsewhere, says Ihor Shamryk, the head of the service:
The job is not easy. You are at the site for a week. You are constantly patrolling - rain, snow - it doesn't matter. But the main thing is always teamwork, teamwork. The team takes over the shift. There is a senior officer, there are guys divided into sections, and they work together."
The managers of the service keep track of innovations in the security industry. They also communicate with Amber Galbin entrepreneurs to improve their work.
In the future, they plan to expand and protect other facilities.