To the History of Financial and Economic Activity of the Volga River Transport During the NEP and the First Five-Year Period
Abstract
The Volga transport for 10 years (1923-1934) was influenced by all those changes which happened in the national economy of the country during the periods of the New Economic Policy and its transition to the forced industrialization. Since 1923 attempts of its delivery to concession in connection with the project of creation of the Volga-Don-Azov Sea hydraulic engineering constructions by means of the Western firms and banks took place. In 1929 those attempts ended without any results. Most likely, threat of outflow from the USSR of scarce currency in the form of profits of concessionaires was the main cause. That threat moved promises of foreign firms to significantly modernize and expand the Volga transport with all its coastal infrastructure, and also to promote creation of “new freights” in a zone of operations of the Volga fleet. Up to its reorganization in 1934 the Volga fleet constantly experienced the financial and technical difficulties caused by wear of watercrafts, low tariffs for a cargo transportation, etc. However, these low tariffs allowed the large new enterprises and constructions of the first five-year plans period to reduce their transport expenses. It favorably affected the process of industrialization of the Volga region and other ones. Losses on freight transportation were offset by the Volga water transport due to passenger traffic by increasing the high efficiency of passenger capacity of ships, an intensification of a passenger traffic and increase of a passenger tariff.
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