Associate Professor at King’s College London with over two decades of internationally recognised expertise on crime, corruption, policing, prisons and criminal justice reform across the former Soviet Union. Known for combining rigorous academic research with high-level policy advisory roles for international organisations as well as UK and US government departments.
I am available to produce general country expert evidence reports on political, social, and economic conditions, corruption and crime environments, state protection capacity, and risks faced by specific social groups in my countries of expertise. I also provide expert reports and testimony for cases involving risks from political activism, exposure of corruption or organised crime, trafficking and exploitation, state collusion with criminal groups, police corruption, and inhumane detention conditions in former Soviet Union countries.
I have extensively travelled and conducted field research across former Soviet Union countries, gaining a deep understanding of how informal networks, weak rule of law, and criminal-state nexus structures create specific vulnerabilities for asylum claimants. My research has been published in leading academic journals and briefed to senior policymakers and officials in various parts of the world. I am fluent in Georgian, Russian, and English, and I offer prompt, clear, and independent assessments to support robust legal arguments.
Expert with more than 18 years of research and consulting experience in post-Soviet Eurasia. Academically affiliated with world leading institutions including Oxford, Princeton and King’s College London. He has advised various governments and international organisations on various issues related to crime and corruption in Eurasia. Areas of expertise include:
- Country reports on countries of expertise
-Organized crime and mafia networks
-Police and security agencies
-Courts and criminal justice system
- Drugs trade
- Human trafficking and human smuggling
-Public sector reform
-Penitentiary system
Have done field research on crime and corruption related issues in all countries of expertise. Advised government of Kyrgyzstan in fighting against organised crime (2012);
Have authored more than 10 reports for international organisations about crime, corruption, and policing in post-Soviet Eurasia; Produced more than 50 due diligence reports on business entities in Eurasia for business intelligence companies in USA, UK and Canada; helped several law firms with asylum reports.
• Corruption and Illicit Tobacco Trade
Kupatadze, A., 2021, In: Journal of Illicit Economies and Development. 3, 2, p. 217-223 7 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.31389/jied.94
• Accounting for diverging paths in most similar cases: corruption in Baltics and Caucasus
Kupatadze, A., Mar 2017, In: CRIME LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE. 67, 2, p. 187-208 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9658-y
• Organized Crime and the State in Post-Soviet Eurasia
Kupatadze, A., 2017, Paradox of Power: The Logics of State Weakness in Eurasia (Central Eurasia in Context) . University of Pittsburgh Press Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter› peer-review
• Popular Punitiveness? Punishment and Attitudes to Law in Post-Soviet Georgia
Slade, G. & Kupatadze, A., 2017, In: EUROPE ASIA STUDIES. 69, 6, p. 879-896 18 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2017.1357165
• Georgia’s Break with the Past
Kupatadze, A., Jan 2016, In: JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY. 27, 1, p. 110-123 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0003
• Political corruption in Eurasia: Understanding collusion between states, organized crime and business
Kupatadze, A., 1 May 2015, In: THEORETICAL CRIMINOLOGY. 19, 2, p. 198-215 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480615574404
- Kyrgyzstan - A virtual narco-state?
Kupatadze, A., Nov 2014, In: International Journal of Drug Policy. 25, 6, p. 1178-1185