The Transit Part of the Commercial Port of Vladivostok: Its Role and Significance in the Region's Economy, the 1920s

Abstract

The article is devoted to a little-studied chapter of the economic history of the Soviet Far East in the early 1920s, directly related to the history of Russia's largest port on the Pacific Ocean. The authors examine the measures taken by the Center and the regional government body — the Dalrevkom — to return Vladivostok the role of the most important transport and logistics hub. The Transit Part of the Commercial Port of Vladivostok was a means of solving this problem. It was based on the pre-revolutionary experience of the 'Manchurian Transit' that made Vladivostok the main port not only for Priamurye, but also for north-eastern provinces of China (Manchuria). The article is based on archival documents, some of which are introduced by the authors into scientific circulation for the first time. The focus is on the period of formation of the Transit Part in 1924–1928. The authors show the process of formation of the regulatory framework and draw attention to the interaction of central and local authorities in the organization of the Transit Part of the Port of Vladivostok. The researchers come to the conclusion that the project implemented in the mid-1920s was based on a generalization of the already existing successful experience in organizing 'interim warehouses' at Egersheld (Vladivostok) owned by the Chinese Eastern Railway, as well as on the ideas underlying the unrealized project of Free Port of Vladivostok. The prospects for studying the topic are connected with further development of the problem in the framework of an independent research project.