The Odesa Mafia’s Secret Flats in London (1 Viewer)

[Rogue Valley]

The Odesa Mafia’s Secret Flats in London

Mafiya kingpin Aleksander Angert with his wife Kateryna.

In the 1990s, “Angert’s Gang” in Odesa, Ukraine, was a powerhouse of crime. It diverted fuel sales from the reliably corrupt Odesa Refinery, extorted local businessmen, and even arranged the murders of local enemies and politicians. Then it disappeared, its only visible legacy the political career of Gennadiy Trukhanov, a former member and now Odesa’s mayor. Over time, the gang’s crimes have been forgotten and the money they stole was presumed to be long gone. Until now.

continues @ link above

Found this article from April of 2018 but it remains salient and relevant. Great Britain, and specifically London, need to made it much harder for Russian and eastern European corrupt government officials and criminals to launder their illicit gains through real-estate purchases. I once lived in Odesa (a beautiful city) and it still features a mafia element including mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov.

 

[Westphalian]

Strange that you talk about Odesa without once mentioning that it's in Ukraine.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Strange that you talk about Odesa without once mentioning that it's in Ukraine.

Since this is the Europe forum, how many cities named Odesa (formally Odessa) are located in Europe?

Anyone with even a middling competence in Geography would also know in which country the city of Odesa is located.

In closing, the article itself makes it clear where Odesa is located.

 

[Westphalian]

Strangely though, you only mention Russian oligarchs.

Does Russia run Odessa? Or did Kiev hire a wanted Georgian criminal and madman to run Odesa?

 

[Rogue Valley]

Strangely though, you only mention Russian oligarchs.

Does Russia run Odessa? Or did Kiev hire a wanted Georgian criminal and madman to run Odesa?

What are you on about? Angert (“the Angel”) has been the Don of the Odesa mafiya since the mid-1990's.

Angert, his protege Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, and Russian Oligarch Alexander Zhukov formed the Odesa mafiya troika.

Angert reportedly died of cancer overseas, but few believe it.

 

[Audubon Zed]

Odessa has a good football
program...

 

[Westphalian]

What are you on about? Angert (“the Angel”) has been the Don of the Odesa mafiya since the mid-1990's.

Angert, his protege Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, and Russian Oligarch Alexander Zhukov formed the Odesa mafiya troika.

Angert reportedly died of cancer overseas, but few believe it.

Is this your bekated acknowledgement the total inability of Ukraine's regime to tackle a foreign mafia oligarchy?

Did Saakashvili do a bad job or was he frustrated by the unwillingness of the Kiev putsch regime to do anything about corruption?

 

[Rogue Valley]

Is this your bekated acknowledgement the total inability of Ukraine's regime to tackle a foreign mafia oligarchy?

Is there corruption in the Odesa government? Yes. I've posted of it previously. It's no secret. And ... it's indigenous. Learn that word.

Did Saakashvili do a bad job or was he frustrated by the unwillingness of the Kiev putsch regime to do anything about corruption?

Poroshenko felt that Saakashvili was a political threat that he didn't need. The mafiya in Odesa also wanted him gone.

 

[Westphalian]

Is there corruption in the Odesa government? Yes. I've posted of it previously. It's no secret. And ... it's indigenous. Learn that word.



Poroshenko felt that Saakashvili was a political threat that he didn't need. The mafiya in Odesa also wanted him gone.

What nonsense.

Corruption exists only where the authorities have no interest in preventing it.


I'm pleased that you tacitly admit that Kiev has failed to do anything about corruption in Odesa, beyond appointing Saakashvili to fight corruption and then sacking him because of either political insecurity or, as you say, because the mafia didn't like him.

Still - it's your money going into that corrupt regime.

 

[Evilroddy]

Rogue Valley:

When did the English spelling of Odessa/Odesa change and how does that change the pronunciation in English? Given the new spelling is it now pronounced Oh-dee-sah or Oh-dee-zah? Or does it remain Oh-dess-sah? Revisionism for revision's sake really annoys me.

And what's with the extra "y" in Mafia?

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

 

[Rogue Valley]

What nonsense. Corruption exists only where the authorities have no interest in preventing it.

Utter rubbish. Corruption exists is every country, even the Vatican. You're just too dishonest to admit this reality.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Rogue Valley:

When did the English spelling of Odessa/Odesa change and how does that change the pronunciation in English? Given the new spelling is it now pronounced Oh-dee-sah or Oh-dee-zah? Or does it remain Oh-dess-sah? Revisionism for revision's sake really annoys me.

Actually, the spellings changed at independence in 1991. But the West was hardly aware of Ukraine. However, great strides in this have been made since Maidan. The Ukraine government has been asking foreign governments/media (via ambassadors) to change the transliteration of Ukraine place names according to the wishes of the Ukraine government. Kiev is Kyiv. Odessa is Odesa. Lvov is Lviv. Zaporozhye is Zaporizhzhia. etc. Also, it is simply... Ukraine, not the Ukraine. Towards the end of December, Poland switched....

And what's with the extra "y" in Mafia?

Sorry. It is how mafia is spelled the eastern European neighborhood. Just like Maria is spelled Mariya. Sometimes my languages get a bit commingled.

PS. And the vocalization remains Oh-dess-sah.

 

[Evilroddy]

Actually, the spellings changed at independence in 1991. But the West was hardly aware of Ukraine. However, great strides in this have been made since Maidan. The Ukraine government has been asking foreign governments/media (via ambassadors) to change the transliteration of Ukraine place names according to the wishes of the Ukraine government. Kiev is Kyiv. Odessa is Odesa. Lvov is Lviv. Zaporozhye is Zaporizhzhia. etc. Also, it is simply... Ukraine, not the Ukraine. Towards the end of December, Poland switched....

Sorry. It is how mafia is spelled the eastern European neighborhood. Just like Maria is spelled Mariya. Sometimes my languages get a bit commingled.

PS. And the vocalization remains Oh-dess-sah.

Rogue Valley:

Thank you for taking the time and effort on the three points of clarification for me. I appreciate that.

I still suspect it's mostly revision for revision's sake and that Ukrainian ambassadors are ignoring the rules of English pronunciation (one "s" after the "e" means that the "e" is long) to make a political point but in a world of linguistic drift that kind of thing is occuring all the time, I guess.

That causes me to ask the next annoying question. Why do Ukrainian authorities care how foreigners spell their city names in foreign languages? It seems a function of deep-rooted national insecurity (the psychological kind and not the military type) that Ukrainian authorities are lobbying governments and media sources to change the spelling of Odesa/Odessa in foreign languages. I can understand the Lvov/Lviv change, lots of bad blood there between the Poles and the Russians/Ukrainians and I can understand and support the dropping of the definite article before Ukraine, but dropping an "s" from Odessa in a foreign language when that omission changes the pronunciation by the rules of that foreign language seems silly. Should we now call You-Krame by the name Uk-rane and just ignore our own rules of pronunciation again?

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Rogue Valley:

Thank you for taking the time and effort on the three points of clarification for me. I appreciate that.

You are welcome.

I still suspect it's mostly revision for revision's sake and that Ukrainian ambassadors are ignoring the rules of English pronunciation (one "s" after the "e" means that the "e" is long) to make a political point but in a world of linguistic drift that kind of thing is occuring all the time, I guess.

The names are transliterated according to how they are spelled in Ukrainian. Many Ukrainian cities and towns were long known by their Russian or Polish names. Also, many cities, towns, villages, and settlements and place names honored Tsarist/communist/Soviet figures. Since independence, the people in many places demanded a return to the Ukrainian name. Thus Rovno (Polish) became Rivne (Ukrainian). After Maidan, the people demanded other changes, thus the city of Dnipropetrovsk (a combination of Dnieper River/Communist leader Grigory Petrovsky) was renamed Dnipro in 2016. There are no longer any places in Ukraine named after Communist/Soviet figures or historical events. The Lenin and Stalin statue's are also all gone.

That causes me to ask the next annoying question. Why do Ukrainian authorities care how foreigners spell their city names in foreign languages? It seems a function of deep-rooted national insecurity (the psychological kind and not the military type) that Ukrainian authorities are lobbying governments and media sources to change the spelling of Odesa/Odessa in foreign languages. I can understand the Lvov/Lviv change, lots of bad blood there between the Poles and the Russians/Ukrainians and I can understand and support the dropping of the definite article before Ukraine, but dropping an "s" from Odessa in a foreign language when that omission changes the pronunciation by the rules of that foreign language seems silly. Should we now call You-Krame by the name Uk-rane and just ignore our own rules of pronunciation again?

Russians call Ukraine "Little Russia". Ukrainians are tired of this. They want the nation that they want. A more European nation. Who can blame them? It's still a bit odd though. Take Odesa for example. The majority of inhabitants are ethnic Ukrainians (68%) with an ethnic Russian minority (25%). Yet the majority of inhabitants (85%) speak Russian. However, all signage and all official documents are in Ukrainian (by law). So! You have to be able to understand both languages. This is why Putin's excuse for invading eastern Ukraine (protecting Russian speakers) is so farcical. People there can understand both languages, and there also exists a bastard language which is a combination of the two. It is not at all unusual to have a married couple, with one being mainly a Ukrainian speaker and the partner mainly a Russian speaker.