Interese economice rusești la Dunărea de Jos: societatea rusă de navigație pe Marea Neagră și Dunăre (sfârșitul secolului al XIX-lea – începutul secolului al XX-lea
Russian economic interests at the lower Danube: the russian company for navigation on the Black Sea and the Danube (late 19 th century – early 2th century)

Summary/Abstract: After gaining political independence in 1878, Romania aimed to strengthen its economic presence on the international markets. The new commercial orientation of the country towards Austria-Hungary, through the provisions of the Customs Convention of 1875, had visible results on the overall trade of Romania during the times of the commercial war (1886-1892) against the Dual Monarchy. Profound changes in the structure of the Danubian ports of Brăila and Galaţi were introduced in 1883. The free-port regime was abolished, and the liberal government in Bucharest started the development of the Romanian maritime ports. This paper aims, beyond recreating the commercial milieu of the 1878–1914 period, to emphasize the rivalry between Romania and Tsarist Russia with regard to the international trade and navigation in the Black Sea area. During the 19th century, the Danubian and the Northern Black Sea areas had been the largest producers of grain in Europe. Starting from these premises, this paper analyses the main aspects related to rivalry from the Great Powers and Russia’s company in the battle of integration in the international grain deposit-ports. This rivalry contributed to the establishment of the Company of Russian Steamers for Navigation in the Black Sea and on the Danube which competed with other foreign companies. In addition to the economic benefits achieved from its shipping activities, the Russian company had access to detailed information on various fields from the Romanian ports. The activity of the Russian company was expanded and covered almost all Romanian ports on the Danube and Prut, and its agents actively promoted the Tsarist interests beyond the field of trade and navigation.

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