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.