ABSTRACT
Businesses in Ukraine are increasingly being targeted by organized crime groups who are taking advantage of Ukraine's instability and weak government infrastructure. The resulting symbiosis of business and organized crime has served to foster interdependent relationships and power structures that are difficult to penetrate. Organized crime frequently targets businesses in order to penetrate and overturn the existing social structure in Ukraine. Organized crime businesses or "quasi-businesses" satisfy the high demand for their products and services. The trend is to create a special pool of legal defenders for victimized businessmen, and to prevent victimization by using various crime prevention strategies. Organized crime and the victimization of business are both forms of socially deviant behavior. The level of victimization is determined not only by the level of involvement of organized crime, but also by the victims' perceptions of how business should be operated. The responses of businessmen surveyed for the research reflect their association of business victimization with organized crime.
