EXTERNAL BORROWINGS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS IN SIBERIA

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of external borrowings of the Russian Empire in the financing of railway construction in the Siberian region. In the context of the elimination of the State Railway Foundation, the Russian government at the initial stage of this process directed at the construction of the railroad Yekaterinburg-Tyumen a part of the proceeds of the VIIth Consolidated Railway Loan, which was placed not only on the Russian stock market, but also inGermanyand theNetherlands. The loan was implemented quite successfully, but the contemporary Russian Minister of Finance N. H. Bunge was criticized for issuing high-yield loan abroad. Since the beginning of the 1890-s, when the financing of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was discussed, foreign investors offered their services, but after S. Y. Witte had joined the Ministry of Finance, priority was given to internal, governmental sources of financing. Thus, the Russian government consolidated the Siberian region as an integral part of the Empire, the entire political elite of the country being interested in its development.

Keywords

• russia
• sibir
• railway construction
• financing
• external debt