 In 1989 Ņesterenko took over the unified RAF team in the Soviet league and in the Baltic league.In 1990 and 1991 the team played better, but then the Soviet Union collapsed and RAF joined the Latvian Virslīga.In the early 1990s RAF was one of the strongest teams in Virslīga, three times finishing second and once third (in 1992 they finished runners up to Skonto Rīga in an additional game after finishing the season on equal points).