Evgeniy Vladimirovich Pocherevin,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Shukshin Altai State University for Humanities and Pedagogy, Biysk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Zemstvo Steamships in the Tobolsk Province in the Early 20th Century for Transport Support of Local Management Structures
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2022-3-13
The article analyzes the organization of zemstvo shipping in the Berezovsky uyezd of the Tobolsk province at the beginning of the 20th century and reconstructs one of the aspects of the functioning of the local economy. Since there was a lack of roads in the county, the provincial administration used steam ships for official transportation. It should be noted that the operation of steamships by the provincial administration was quite rare in Siberia. The cost of maintaining steamships was covered by the population of the uyezd, which, as part of the performance of the labor duty, was obliged to maintain a system of transport communications. From 1905 to 1914, the steamships “Berezovets” and “Zhelanny”, the steam boat “Fedor” were rented from local shipowners. In addition, in April 1909, the steamship “Ostyak” was bought. However, the ship turned out to be unsuitable for operation, and was soon sold. After that, projects for the acquisition of new vessels were considered, but they were never implemented. Steamboats were used for business trips of officials, transportation of mail. Once during the navigation period, cruises were made to the lower reaches of the Ob River for inspection of fisheries. The ships were not intended for commercial use; however, the transportation of private cargo and passengers brought some income. As a rule, these funds were used to cover rent. If at the beginning of the period under review there were difficulties in finding a ship for rent, then later competition between the owners of steamships for the right to put them at the disposal of the local administration was developed. In this regard, the guberniya authorities had the opportunity to flexibly determine the cost of rent.
Publishing: 28/06/2022
The article has been received by the editor on 09/03/2022
How to cite: Pocherevin E.V. Zemstvo Steamships in the Tobolsk Province in the Early 20th Century for Transport Support of Local Management Structures // Historical Courier, 2022, No. 3 (23), pp. 177–185. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2022/ISTKURIER-2022-3-13.pdf]
Links: Issue 3 2022
Keywords: Tobolsk province; local economy; shipping company; provincial administration; private capital