Економіка, управління та адміністрування (Dec 2023)
Ukrainian business network of Halychyna (the second half of the 19th - the first half of the 20th century)
Abstract
The conditions for the emergence of the Ukrainian business network of Halychyna were formed in the second half of the 19th century. Savings and incomes of the population grew both among the peasantry and among the city dwellers. At this time, the Galician middle class began to form, which included the wealthiest peasants and, mainly, educated employees - professors, lawyers, journalists, officials, entrepreneurs, priests. Ukrainian politicians, lawyers, entrepreneurs and priests became the most active part of the middle class, and they were the main organizers of the Ukrainian business network. The names of Kost Levytskyi, Vasyl Nagirnyi, Andriy Sheptytskyi should be especially noted. The economic reason for the formation of a national business network was the need for profitable investment of accumulated wealth. From the very beginning, the Ukrainian business network was in competitive relations with the dominant Polish and Austrian business networks. This was manifested in the fact that it was much more difficult for Ukrainians to take a profitable loan from a Polish or Austrian bank or even to invest their money, than for Poles. The main goal of creating a business network was to help Ukrainians develop their business. The formation of the Ukrainian business network in Austria-Hungary was stimulated by the Law on Trade and Economic Partnerships («On Earning and Economic Partnerships») on April 9, 1873. At the center of the Ukrainian business network were the bank «Dniester» and the «Hypothecny Land Bank», and the main part of it was an extensive network of credit unions and cooperatives. In 1873, there were only 16 such organizations, and in 1912, there were 428 Ukrainian credit unions and cooperatives working in Halychyna, which had 162,000 members and a total capital of 8.4 million crons. The First World War, the disintegration of Austria-Hungary and the transfer of Halychyna under Polish rule slowed down the development of the Ukrainian business network for some time. Its new prosperity began in the 1930s, but it was interrupted in 1939, when Halychyna was occupied by Soviet troops.
Keywords
