Fedir Ex.

When it absolutely, positively has to be there, or somebody's fingers get broken. This is Fedir Svichkar, boss of his own small international courier business. He's doing pretty well for himself. So well, that he has interest from a bigger company looking to help take his operation to the next level.

It's easy to see how someone with good connections in Eastern Europe is an attractive investment, what with the emerging free market and recent rapid growth. Until, of course, you realise that those connections aren't quite so 'good' after all. Svichkar was a career criminal, running with Ukrainian gangs for over a decade as his record shows.

You don't even have to dig that deep. His name crops up in Russian newspaper reports, associated with the likes of Otari Kvantrishvili and Andriy Kobin. If a little simple digging by a guy with a laptop can turn this stuff up, you'd expect the big investors to be aware and steer well clear. Unless, of course, they just don't care. And want to get that Eastern foothold by hook, or in this case, very much by crook.