Russia in the Foreign Trade: Past and Present

Russia in the Foreign Trade: Past and Present

December 1, 2012, for the first time in history, the Russian Federation took over the presidency of the "Group of Twenty" - the leading forum for international cooperation on the most important issues of the international economic and financial agenda. One of the priorities of the Russian Federation in the "Group of Twenty" is to strengthen multilateral cooperation to find global solutions to the current economic challenges and risks. Establishing mutually favorable foreign trade regimes corresponds to the joint interest of the G20 member countries and is essential for the rapid recovery of the global economy.

The summit of the G20 member countries’ leaders will take place September 5-6, 2013, in St. Petersburg. In time for the event, the Presidential Library has prepared a special digital collection, which includes publications and archival documents from different historical periods covering the development of trade relations between Russia and the countries of Europe and Asia.

The submitted documents cover the chronological period from the early 17th to the 21st century. The collection includes material of a legal nature (international trade agreements and contracts, customs laws, etc.), statistical reviews, monographs, and abstracts. The main emphasis is on the history of the development and implementation of customs policy as one of the most important forms of state regulation of foreign trade.

The collection was built up using the materials of the following institutions: The Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, Gorky Regional Universal Scientific Library of Vladimir, State Public Historical Library, State Scientific Library of the Far East, Pushkin Regional Universal Scientific Library of Magadan, Krupskaya Regional State Scientific Library of Moscow, National Library of the Republic of Buryatia, Russian State Library, National Library of Russia, Russian State Historical Archive, Pacific State University, Tobolsk State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, Mendeleev Regional Scientific Library of Tyumen, Center of Information Technologies and Systems of the executive power bodies - TsITiS.

  • General section

    The section contains the works of a general nature covering different aspects of Russian foreign trade.
  • Foreign trade development

    The section contains studies, surveys and archival files, reflecting the state and development of Russia's foreign trade from ancient times to the present. Studies are arranged in alphabetical order, the sources - in chronological order.
  • Foreign trade structure

    Materials of the section are brought together in two groups which correspond to the commodity and geographical structure of the foreign trade. The first group consists of documents describing the objects of Russian export and import. The second includes studies and archival documents which cover Russia’s trade relations with certain countries and regions.