Economic History of
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk was primarily a merchant city until the 1917
Revolution. Four trade fairs per year passed through Chelyabinsk and
there were functioning bazaars and shops. At the beginning of the twentieth
century, Chelyabinsk was ranked second in the Russian Empire in the tea
trade. The prominent Russian tea firms, Vyisotskyi and Co.,
A. Kyznetsov heir to Gybkin, and others operated in
Chelyabinsk. Additionally, there was developed trade in grains, buckshots
and agricultural equipment. Banks were also well represented in Chelyabinsk
including the State, Russian Trading-Industrial, United, and Northern banks.
Gold mining began to develop by the mid-nineteenth century.
Represented in industry were several factories. Among them, the major
factories were: V.G. Stell and Co., which produced
plows and other agricultural equipment and Matinov's buckshot factory.
An upheaval in the economic structure of the city took place in the
1920s-1930s when major tractor, electrical-metallurgical, and
machine-building plants were built here.
The industrial strength of Chelyabinsk grew even more with the onset of the
Second World War and the opening of a metallurgical combine and a watch
factory. Today, Chelyabinsk is one of the most important industrial centers
in the Urals.
Pre-revolutionary transportation was primarily horse and buggy. In
1925, buses were introduced, in 1932, trams and in
1943, trolleybuses. A subway has been under construction since
1992.