ТЕОРЕТИЧНІ ІДЕЇ ТА ПРАКТИЧНА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ ДЕРЖАВНИХ ДІЯЧІВ РОСІЙСЬКОЇ ІМПЕРІЇ ПОЧАТКУ ХІХ СТОЛІТТЯ У СФЕРІ ФІНАНСОВОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ

Abstract

The article analyzes the activity of the renowned figures of Russian finance at the beginning of the nineteenth century – Mikhail Mikhailovich Speranskiy and Mikhail Andriyovych Baludianskiy, who significantly influenced the organization of activities of the national government bodies and, specifically, the ministers of finance, and also influenced the definition of the tax policy of the state, the main financial document of the state – the description of revenues and expenditures (budget) of the Russian Empire in general and the formation of the structure of the revenue and expenditure parts of the budget in particular, as well as measures to overcome the budget deficit and the actual implementation of the planned budget indicators. In preparing of the study, the author aimed to determine the main ideas of state figures M. M. Speranskiy and M.A. Baludianskiy to improve the financial management in the Russian Empire and to analyze how these ideas were implemented in the budget process during 1810 – 1814. The main program of M. M. Speranskiy and M. A. Baludianskiy was known as the “Finance Plan” that consisted of two parts: the budget planning of 1810 and the planning of the state budget for subsequent years. At the same time, the innovation of the strategy and its main content consisted in refusing of assignation ruble, expenditure reduction, establishment of control over the state expenditures and introducing new taxes. The reform of financial management took place in the process of general changes in the system of central and executive power, which were as follows: the establishment of a state council, creation of state control, optimization of the structure of distribution of ministries and their internal structure, change in distribution of the official duties of ministers and their subordinates. The theoretical ideas and practical activity of such state figures, as M. M. Speranskiy and M. A. Baludianskiy, occupy an important place in the history of financial management of the Russian Empire. The reforms conducted by M. M. Speranskiy and M. A. Baludianskiy gave the idea of putting the legal foundation under the process of annual approval of the budget and granting the status of state law. Besides, these ideas declared the public and civilized norms of public finance management of that time, strict control over the planned expenditures and revenues of agencies, a single budget classification of revenues and expenditures for budgets of all levels. During the first two years of the reforms at the expense of higher taxes, the authors of the reform managed to increase the revenue part of the budget and substantially reduce its deficit. However, these theoretical and practical achievements of the reformers were not fully implemented in the early nineteenth century because of the constant participation of the Russian Empire in military campaigns, which led to an uncontrolled growth of military budgets, as well as through bureaucratic corruption and due to the elemental non-enforcement orders of the central government.