Watchdog contribution: the State Duma has found a way to improve school security
In Yekaterinburg, they told about the situation in one of the schools where the guard worked seven days a week and did not receive money, although he actually lived at work. The management of the school and the private security company blame each other for the current situation. However, what happened cannot be called a unique case: although control over security companies in schools has become tougher recently, the situation is not getting better, because there is not enough money for these purposes. Thus, according to the Popular Front, 21% of directors admit that they are forced to save on security. Meanwhile, the State Duma hopes that it will be possible to change the situation by introducing zero VAT for private security activities. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Why do schools have security problems?
The story of the guard from school No. 208 in Yekaterinburg was told by local media. 63-year—old Viktor got a job at the Rysich security company, was sent to school, but for a month and a half he never left the territory of the educational institution - there was simply no one to replace him. He claims that he did not have a contract and did not receive a salary. Moreover, according to him, "the previous guard also <...> did not wait for the money and the weekend, closed the school and left."
The school principal confirmed the problem. She stated that for this reason, they decided to terminate the contract with the Rysich company. According to her, the school fulfills all its financial obligations. However, Rysych indicated that the contract with the school expired on October 31 and for almost a month the company allegedly guarded the school for free.
This case is absolutely not unique, Roman Nasonov, a security expert and head of the Rus Association of Security Structures, said in an interview with Izvestia.
— A very large number of facilities are currently guarded on a shift basis, when employees serve without changing, every day — sometimes for a whole month, — he stated.
The interlocutor of Izvestia explains this by saying that, firstly, the budget for security is insufficient, and secondly, there is a very large shortage of security personnel.
— Those who are younger and stronger have gone to a special military operation, and only pensioners remain for this job. There are clearly not enough trained regular staff for this situation," said Roman Nasonov.
Chairman of the Board of the Union of Self-regulatory Organizations of the Non-Governmental Security Sector (Union of SRO NSB) Sergey Silivonchik also notes that such cases occur despite the efforts made by regulators in the person of Rosgvardiya and the professional community itself.
"Today, there is an unhealthy trend that customers are forming: they choose the most incompetent, but the cheapest performers to provide security services," he told Izvestia. — This saves budget funds, formally meets the requirements for security, but in fact the services are not properly provided. And the schools are not those security companies that are ready to provide high-quality services, but those who are engaged in dumping, without having the right number of trained guards on staff.
Who guards Russian schools
Alexander Kozlov, President of the Federal Coordination Center for Heads of Security Structures (FCC ROS), said that in recent years the Rosgvardiya has strengthened control over compliance with the requirements of the law: it is now difficult to find a guard without a certificate in schools. But the problems remain.
— For example, there are cases when security guards do not match their professional qualities to the facility where they work: educational organizations are subject to increased requirements for anti—terrorist protection, - said Alexander Kozlov.
Anatoly Vyborny, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, believes that now "the situation has changed dramatically," although there used to be a lot of random people in the industry.
— Private security organizations (PSOs) actively attract professionals. Both former military personnel, police officers or Rosgvardiya, as well as veterans of their military service come to the industry. All of them, as a rule, have real combat experience. They know how to respond to emergencies and have the highest discipline," said Anatoly Vyborny.
He calls the driver of the changes the new specialized law "On private security activities", which prescribes mandatory professional training for all private security guards and regular improvement of their competencies. It will enter into force next year, starting on September 1, 2026, but the transition to fulfilling its requirements is already underway. It should be noted that so far the basic rules for the operation of private security companies are contained in the Federal Law "On Private Detective and Security Activities" and the regulations of the Russian Guard.
— If best practices are not being adopted today, these are rather shortcomings at the regional control level, rather than a systemic problem. But with the entry into force of the new law on September 1, 2026 and the expansion of the powers of the Rosgvardiya in this regard, we will legislatively exclude the entry of "random people" into the protection of schools throughout the country, — said Anatoly Vyborny.
Last year, however, there were still a lot of problems. This was shown by the comprehensive monitoring of the Popular Front in the field of general education in 2024/25. At that time, 5,080 directors of educational institutions were interviewed. And it turned out that only 55% of schools had security functions performed by a licensed private security organization. Another 26% of schools had a caretaker. In 14% — an ordinary watchman and only in 5% — a unit of the Russian Guard.
At the same time, 21% of the surveyed directors admitted that they were forced to save money on providing security for an educational organization due to insufficient funding. Of those directors who, in principle, are forced to save money, 29% do it at the expense of security," the NF expert told Izvestia. Analytics" by Ekaterina Sidorova.
Why are there problems with financing school security
Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the VMT Consult analytical agency, explained that now the founder determines the financing of security in schools: for most schools it is the municipality, less often the subject of the federation. The school receives a subsidy from the founder, which is calculated based on the order of the Ministry of Education and Science No. 1040 dated September 22, 2015. It states that the costs of security, maintenance of alarm systems and other protective measures are included in the general economic needs of institutions.
— That is, the school does not determine the amount of funds on its own: it only spends the subsidy within the framework of the approved budget plan, - said the interlocutor of Izvestia. — If an institution enters into a contract with a private security company, payment for such services is also within the allocated funding. In practice, educational organizations often face a situation where the standard does not cover the full cost of physical security, and then they can apply to the founder with a request for additional funding, but the satisfaction of such requests depends on the budget's capabilities.
Sergey Silivonchik emphasizes that if a person is on duty without training, without a private security guard certificate, this is precisely the result of savings on the part of the customer.
"Budgets for school security are such that it is impossible to send really well—trained security guards to an educational organization without violating the law," he stressed.
He calls the lack of targeted funds the biggest problem in the context of educational organizations: no one really can say how much money is actually being spent on security. So, recently the authorities of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug reported that they had allocated 2 billion rubles for school safety.
— But if we take it in detail, then of these 2 billion, more than 800 million is money for sanitary and epidemiological welfare, and more than 700 million is for ongoing repairs. After deducting all these components, it turns out that just over 200 million rubles have been allocated directly for the safety of almost a thousand educational organizations. This is very little," said Sergey Silivonchik.
Alexander Kozlov said that the community has been asking the Ministry of Finance for a long time that the costs of protecting educational institutions should be a separate line, and not included in the general economic needs of institutions. Sergey Silivonchik also emphasizes the need for this measure, noting that there is a regulatory framework with requirements for school safety, but there is no regulatory framework that would provide for financing this issue.
Alexander Kozlov recalled that so far there is the 45th order of the Rosgvardiya, which regulates the procedure for calculating the initial maximum price for security services. The customer is obliged to calculate this price based on it and offer it to a potential contractor. However, the problem is that the contract is concluded at the end of the auction, and the amounts are halved or even more: there are cases of contract financing reduction relative to the original price by 55 and 59%.
— And taking into account the fact that the 45th order is based on the minimum wage plus 10%, then if you subtract 40-60% from this amount, who can you hire for this money? — Alexander Kozlov remarks.
According to estimates by the Federal Coordination Center for Heads of Security Structures, only 40-45% of the subjects of the Russian Federation meet the requirements of the 45th order of the Russian Guard today.
The problem is that budgets are now being cut in many regions of the Russian Federation, while some tax benefits for small businesses are being removed from next year, Roman Nasonov adds.
How to get out of the situation
Anatoly Vyborny believes that the new law, which will come into force next year, will also change the financing situation.
— Today, private security is represented by a huge number of microenterprises (more than 90%), which negatively affects the quality of services and contributes to "gray" salaries. More than 15.6 thousand are registered with the Rosgvardiya. Private companies employing over 592,000 workers," he told Izvestia. — The new basic law changes this logic. A professional is more expensive, and the obligation to provide the highest level of training and responsiveness should automatically lead to an upward revision of the cost of contracts.
According to him, an economic mechanism is currently being worked out that will increase the financing of security services without a direct burden on budgets. We are talking about an initiative to introduce zero VAT for private security activities, including at educational facilities.
— We are working on this initiative with Rosgvardiya and experts at the site of the CCI of the Russian Federation. VAT exemption will make CSR services more accessible to schools. Companies will be able to invest the saved funds in staff training and equipment, which will directly improve the quality of security and reduce the risks of informal employment," said the State Duma deputy.
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