The Role of Greek Merchants in Russian Foreign Trade in the XVIII Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to trading activities of Greek merchants in the Russian Empire in the XVIII century. The authors aim to determine the geography of supply chains and the product range, to give specific examples of foreign trade transactions of Greek merchants and to determine their profitability. The authors show the numerous risks and dangers that accompanied the trading activities of Greek merchants during the period in question, including fraud, robbery and armed attacks on caravans. Notably, the confessional affiliation of Greek entrepreneurs and their status as an ethnic "minority" may have had an ambivalent effect on their commercial activities. On the territory of the Ottoman Empire, this brought additional risks to their commercial activity. In the Russian Empire, by contrast, such factors could lead to economic and financial support of the Greek diaspora by the government. The Russian government also acted as arbitrator in resolving property disputes between Greek businessmen. The commercial and communicative skills of the Greek merchants enabled them to act as effective intermediaries in the Russian Empire's trade with countries of the East and contributed to creation of the Greek diaspora's positive image in Russian society. The activities of individual representatives of the Greek diaspora led to the introduction of technological innovations in their production processes.