Astrakhan port in the organization of transportation of oil and petroleum products in the late 1910s - early 1920s

The events of the Great Russian Revolution led to a radical change in the principles of functioning of the country's economy. Nationalization of the oil industry and the withdrawal of the private capitalist sector from it, military actions during the civil war influenced both the work of the oil producing and oil refining sector, and the organization of transportation of oil and oil products. The objective of the paper is to analyze the changes that took place in the organization of transit of oil products through Astrakhan in the late 1910s - early 1920s. Achieving the goal required solving the following tasks: to characterize the system of management of the oil industry in the region during the period under study; to assess the impact of the nationalization of the oil industry and interdepartmental disputes over ownership of nationalized property on the organization of Caspian-Volga oil transit; to identify a set of problems that arose in connection with changes in the system of management of sea and river transport and coastal infrastructure; based on statistical data, to show the dynamics of oil turnover through the port of Astrakhan. The source base was a set of published regulatory documents, unpublished office materials and statistical data. The methodological base is represented by a set of scientific principles and special historical methods. The study showed the difficulties of the transition period in the work of the oil industry, associated with wartime conditions and the re-subordination of the property of oil enterprises and infrastructure, which actually stopped oil transit through the Astrakhan port at the end of 1918-1919. The priority role of oil products for the post-war recovery of the country's economy predetermined increased attention to the industry on the part of the government. This led to the creation in 1922-1923 of a number of new or reorganization of existing enterprises, joint-stock companies and government agencies, the work of which ensured regular supplies of fuel to the central regions of the country from the oil regions of the Caspian Basin.