The Bratislava mafia began to take shape immediately after the fall of the regime, but its main boom was during the reign of Vladimír Mečiar. After the beginnings associated with the harsh practices of smaller gangs, the Bratislava mafia was given its structure by the rise of the sophisticated leadership of Miroslav Sýkora. As a businessman with knowledge from his studies at the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), he began to organise the mafia in a sophisticated way.
It was the so-called Sýkorovs who were supposed to have cooperated with the Slovak Information Service, for example, in the smuggling of the President’s son abroad and the related murder of Robert Remiáš, or in the intimidation of politicians and investigators. The group was also behind the notorious robbery of VÚB Bank, in which the gangsters stole CZK 173 million. The growing strength of the group, however, did not appeal to the political authorities, as the gang’s leadership demanded a reward for their services in the form of participation in state and semi-state companies. Miroslav Sýkora was shot dead on 6 February 1997 in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn hotel in Bratislava. However, the succession of the group continued and other active members are still active in various business entities involved in criminal cases.In parallel with the Sýkorovs, a younger gang of Pita’s Juraj Ondrejčák and Takáč’s, connected to the political top, also began to operate in Bratislava and its surroundings. The History of Corruption deals with their activities elsewhere.
