aici - Asociatia Tinerilor Istorici din Moldova

Ca urmare, putem afirma că, după anexarea la Imperiul
Rus a teritoriului dintre Prut şi Nistru, denumit
ulterior impropriu Basarabia, prin Pacea de la Bucureşti
din 16/28 mai 1812, autorităţile imperiale au
manifestat un interes viu pentru includerea provinciei
în sistemul pieţei interne ruse. Totuşi, aceste intenţii
au fost supuse mai multor interese neeconomice, în
special în contextul militar în care era conceput teritoriul
nou-anexat. Efectul negativ pe care l-a avut
războiul ruso-turc din 1806-1812 asupra Basarabiei,
precum şi dislocarea aici a armatelor ruseşti după 1812
au determinat adoptarea la nivelul organelor regionale
a numeroase restricţii asupra exportului cerealelor şi
vitelor, cele mai solicitate mărfuri pe piaţa externă,
în vederea asigurării alimentare a populaţiei, dar, mai
ales, a militarilor. În plus, provincia avea de suferit din
motiv că chiar dacă a fost inclusă politic în hotarele
Imperiului, ea a continuat pentru o perioadă îndelungată
să fie supusă unor măsuri protecţioniste în
ce priveşte exportul în guberniile ruse a unor mărfuri
extrem de solicitate precum sarea, vinul, rachiul ş.a.
SUMMARY
COMMERCIAL AND CUSTOMS ISOLATION OF BESSARABIA AFTER ITS ANNEXATION
TO RUSSIAN EMPIRE (1812-1830)
In Soviet historiography the annexation of
Bessarabia to the Russian Empire was appreciated
as a catalyst for development of trade, social and
production relations in the territory between the Prut
and Nistru Rivers. However, an unbiased review of
archival sources reflecting actions taken by the Russian
government in the newly annexed region raises
questions about the true aims pursued by it, besides
the declarative ones to contribute to the prosperity of
the province and the local population. In this article
we intend to analyze more closely these measures in
domain of trade and customs, taken by the Russian
government in Bessarabia after its annexation to the
Russian Empire, to determine the methods by which
the inclusion of the province into the Russian domestic
and foreign trade was realized, and to appreciate the
real goals pursued by the imperial decision makers.
Based on archival sources the article shows that
despite the measures taken to encourage trade in
the newly annexed province, there were numerous
prohibitive decisions, which targeted the main export
items such as cereals and cattle. Prohibitions on grain
export, decided at the level of central and local organs
of power, substantially prejudiced the provincial
merchants, and created obstacles to penetration of
the commercial capital from abroad. Because the
interdictions were affecting trade seriously, there
was a general dissatisfaction among the merchants,
especially due to the fact that in Bessarabia the trade
practice remained in the addressed period the right of
all the inhabitants of the province and even foreigners,
without any discrimination, based on the same
principles that existed until 1812.
A first attempt to regulate the commercial
relations of Bessarabia was made by the Regulation of
November 28, 1816. This, however, failed to resolve
multiple issues generated by the trade and customs
isolation of Bessarabia after its annexation to the
Russian Empire. The Regulation created a number of
obstacles to imports of Russian goods in Bessarabia,
because they were subject to duties under the tariff of
1816, as if Bessarabia was a foreign state. In addition,
in order to export from Bessarabia to the rest of the
Empire duty-free admitted goods, the merchants of
the province firstly had to obtain a confirmation of
local origin of products from the police department
of the city of residence, and then to present with it
to Chisinau to obtain from competent bodies the
permission of crossing the Nistru customs and sanitary
cordon. Moreover, historians that have previously
investigated the problem (M. Muntean, V. Tomuleţ)
concluded that the list of allowed merchandise for
exportation from Bessarabia to Russia without the
payment of customs duties included only those goods
that were not requested in Russian domestic market
and were exported in minor amounts. Edifying in this
sense is the case of grains, which export to Ukrainian
gubernias, apparently, didn’t make any sense and
thus were included in the list of duty-free allowed
goods. However, problems faced by local merchants
in exportation through the ports of the province, and
a growing interest for grains from the merchants of
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