THE ROLE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FIRM В«KOKOVIN AND BASOV» IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTH-EAST OF SIBERIA IN THE EARLY XX CENTURY
L.M. Dameshek, M.D. Kushnareva
Irkutsk state University, Russia, 664003, Irkutsk, Karl Marx str.,1
Keywords: north-eastern Siberia, large firms, Ayan department, the fur trade, the tea trade, the counterman, trading business, land development, trucking industry, development of gold
Abstract
Based on the previously unstudied sources the article attempts to identify specifics of development of remote areas in the north-eastern Siberia by representatives of large firms. The authors analyze the merchant correspondence of V. I. Fefelov, the authorized representative of the trading house «Kokovin and Basov», coming to conclusion that in the harsh conditions of the North the clerk managed to organize, in a very short period of time, an uninterrupted supply of tea and other goods from the ports of the Sea of Okhotsk to the central regions of the Yakutsk region, Chukotka and Kamchatka. Fefelov organized overland transportation through its own transport company. Appointing such an experienced salesman as V.I. Fefelov to serve in the Department of Ayan provided the firm «Kokovin and Basov» an opportunity to develop in a very short time gold deposits, as well as to acquire new resources for timber trade. V.I. Fefelov played a considerable role in arranging the trading business. Besides that, at the beginning of the XX century, he created а detailed map of Aldomа and the territory adjacent to the Bay of Ayan. The authors show the dynamics of development of commercial affairs conducted by the Ayan department of the firm «Kokovin and Basov». It is noted that within the period of 1908-1910, the turnover of trading business at Ayan department grew, both in tea trade and in furs. Moreover, in order to attract fishermen, V. I. Fefelov introduced a system of credit for cash instead of barter. The authors concluded that the development of commodity-money relations in the North-Eastern Siberia resulted not only in the expansion of areas of large firms’ trade operations, but also in the strengthening of their economic positions at strategic locations on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Agent activities of trustees of large firms included trading in goods, developing the northern territories, and gold and timber resources. At the same time, trading business infrastructure was formed and new means of communication were developed.
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