Economic Growth of the Russian Empire as Per Financial Reporting of the Ufa Branch of the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank

Abstract

A branch of the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank operated in the city of Ufa from 1873 to 1916. This large private bank, with headquarters in Saint Petersburg, occupied a 60% financial market share in the Ufa Governorate. The annual financial reports of the Ufa branch were analyzed to assess the economic development of the region. The capital turnover of the Ufa branch suggests that the local economy was growing until 1905. However, from 1906 to 1915 the capital turnover was decreasing, and on the threshold of World War I the economy of the South Urals was in the state of stagnation.