Across the USSR, under the blat system, embezzling from the state was taking place on a vast scale. All it took was knowing the right factory managers, paying off officials. “You could make a fortune in the ’70s if you were smart, had some balls and the right connections,” Boris says. “We didn’t even think of it as ‘organized crime’ yet. To us, it was survival—making a living under the corrupt communist system. Some guys did it with the underground factories. I did it with my work crews. I’d go out to Siberia each season, put together a crew, and pocket my cut from dead souls. Once the season was over, I’d come back to my hometown loaded with black cash.”
