The urgent task of the economy of modern Russia is the transition from raw material exports to the supply of non-raw goods. Every schoolchild today can "beat off" the phrase "Russia sits on an oil "needle. Present economists and strategists are thinking over the mechanisms of transition to non-raw materials export.

But how did we come to what we have today? What has Russia been trading in the past centuries? To answer these questions, the Made in Russia correspondent decided to take an excursion into history.

The beginning of foreign trade

Russia, just as now, lags behind European countries in terms of living standards, has never been a pioneer of foreign trade. The countries of the Old World traded with each other and with other states, and "Russian Bear" only began to turn in its den, waking up from centuries of hibernation. Although Kievan Rus was quite active in trade relations with many countries, but its collapse into principalities and oppression of the Tatar-Mongol yoke threw foreign trade relations back several centuries.

Time went by... In the 14th century trade relations within the country began to take shape. Cities began to trade with each other. A specialization appeared. Crafts were better developed somewhere, somewhere emphasis was placed on the development of agriculture, while Primorye was producing fur. Trade relations were built with colonies on the southern coast of Crimea, with Iran and other Central Asian states, as well as with the Horde. Flax, fur, oil, fat, leather, canvases, saddles, knives and arrows were sold well.

Roads in our state in the 15th century were not a hitch, so the main trade was in winter, when it was possible to pave the luge way. In summer, the key message was riverine. Polish and German merchants who were interested in fur were visiting Moscow. But it was inconvenient to get there, and in the 16th century only Poles went to the white-stone shop.

Russian fairs

The first merchant at that time was considered to be the king, who issued a decree in the 15th century, according to which all overseas goods were to be presented first to be selected for the royal treasury. This requirement caused delays. In Veliky Novgorod the Tsar's eye was not always sharp, the decree was broken every now and then, so the Swedes, the Germans, the Livonians and the Flemish came to this city with pleasure. The trade was boycotted, and Novgorod bounced around Moscow.

It was not inferior to Novgorod in the 16th century and Dmitrov, where merchant ships sailed along the Volga were unloaded. From there goods were shipped overland to Moscow, and in Dmitrov itself there was a boiling fish trade. The surrounding villages did not sleep either, benefiting from the sale of salt, bread and cattle.

It is known from the chronicles about a large "Fair of the Holly town" at the mouth of the river Mologi, where foreigners from different countries came. For 4 months there was trade in fur, clothing, fabrics, metal products. Fur fair was in Kholmogory.

The heyday of trade relations with Sweden

In the 16th century, export volumes to this country were very low. Inhabitants of the border regions used to smuggle bread from Russia in exchange for iron. Under Ivan III trade with Scandinavians stalled altogether. The situation was corrected by Vasily III, who concluded a contract with Sweden. Merchants from Scandinavia began to carry goods across Russia, built a Swedish farmstead in Novgorod.

Ivan the Terrible went even further, having concluded a contract beneficial to both parties. Rusichian merchants got the right to transit through Sweden to other countries, and on Scandinavian ships, and the Swedes passed through us to the Celestial Empire and India, not forgetting about trade in Russia.

"Golden" Peter's era.

The Reformer Tsar, who broke through the window to Europe, did much not only for the development of the Russian fleet, but also for its foreign trade. Sometimes it was necessary to make tough decisions for that. Peter I promoted his main brainchild - St. Petersburg. By that time Arkhangelsk had already turned into a major trade port, the main one in Russia. Foreign merchants liked its convenient location, the access to the White Sea, the ramified delta of the Northern Dvina.

However, the Russian Tsar forbade to bring goods for trade to Arkhangelsk, and ordered to take them to the new capital of the Russian state. The city began to decay quickly. But Peter's hail began to get rich. The merchants resisted, but the tsar forcibly moved them to St. Petersburg, reduced the duty for the capital from 5% to 3%, and things began to get better. If in 1718 52 merchant ships entered the Neva, in 1725. - in 1725, there were already 450.

The access to the Baltic Sea opened the way for Russian goods to Europe. Fur, bread, hemp, yoghurt, caviar, resin, stubble were supplied from Russia. And as Russian merchants by enterprise did not differ, and languages overseas did not know, the monopoly on state trade has been entered. The Tsar himself decided what goods were currently considered to be in demand and strategic, and signed a decree on their export.

The impact of capitalism on trade relations

Peter the Great's efforts to develop industry in Russia after his death began to dwindle. The main industrial production was concentrated in the Urals. But the production could not compete with machines from Germany and England, which were better equipped technically. Therefore, the lion's share in foreign trade was still represented by agricultural products.

At that time Russia occupied the 1st place in the world market for the export of flax, bread, fur. The second place (after America) was occupied by the export of forest, meat, oil and eggs. The third place (after Germany) - on sugar export. For several centuries there was an increase in exports and imports, but the volume of the first has always been larger and grew faster.

The blockade of the Soviet Union countries

The revolution of 1917 severely shaken our country's position in foreign trade. The economic blockade by the capitalist countries and the civil war brought almost all the results of its predecessors to naught. Some countries started a dialogue with Russia only after 1921. Exports in terms of their assortment practically did not change, but it was necessary to buy a lot to establish a new state.

But before getting back on its feet, the country was plunged into the Great Patriotic War. Then it went through a significant period of recovery. In the 60s, we exported machines and equipment to developing countries, and to developed countries - oil, metal, timber, textiles. The sharp rise in oil prices in the 70s forced the government to focus on the development of the commodity sector. And by 1987, oil exports constituted almost half of the total volume of exported goods. The current figures are higher. However, the world economy dictates its own rules and at a new stage our country has to think over strategies for the development of non-resource exports. And this is already a matter of the future.

Mikhail Vasilyev