The Pulp and Paper Industry Evolution in Russia: A Road of Many Transitions
This chapter explores the evolution of the pulp and paper industry in Russia. The evolution is divided into three main periods: the era of the Russian Empire, the Soviet era and the era of transition to the market economy. The evolution described refers t
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The Pulp and Paper Industry Evolution in Russia: A Road of Many Transitions Olga Mashkina
11.1 The Era of the Russian Empire 11.1.1
Beginning: Development of Technology, Use of Raw Materials and Products
History suggests that manual papermaking in Russia began in the middle of the sixteenth century under the rule of Czar Ivan the Terrible. However, the attempts were not very successful, and many of the mills did not remain operational. Thus, the main drive for development in papermaking was seen during the rule of Czar Peter the Great. The establishment of the first Russian newspaper in 1703 and the publishing of books on science and technology required a lot of paper, thereby giving impetus for the development of the industry (Reztsov 1912; Uchastkina 1972). The construction of the first manual paper mill, Krasnoselskaya Mill, began in 1714 in the Krasnoe Selo (a place chosen by Peter I). Krasnoselskaya paper mill generated 25.5 thousand roubles in profit. It produced various grades of paper, about three quarters of it being writing paper (Reztsov 1912). A significant part of the production was done at Petersburg Mill, established at the same time as the first mill. In 1727 Petersburg Mill was closed (it used wind power and was non-operational for some time). Later this mill was given to Count Sivers, who had established rules that all companies of Petersburg had to buy paper from this mill and recycle the other materials (old paper, textiles). During this time, a few more paper mills were established, for example, Troitsk Mill (Uchastkina 1972; Reztsov 1912). The technology of the time included manual papermaking which was heavily based on Dutch influence which began during the mid-sixteenth century. Holland at the time was one of the leaders in paper production (before the introduction of
O. Mashkina (*) Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Helsinki, Finland e-mail: [email protected] J.-A. Lamberg et al. (eds.), The Evolution of Global Paper Industry 1800–2050: A Comparative Analysis, World Forests 17, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5431-7_11, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012
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rolls), and thus, many Dutchmen were involved in the construction and management of the first Russian paper mills (Chuiko 2009). The invention of the paper machine revolutionized papermaking. In 1816, the first Fourdrinier machine was imported and installed at the Petergof paper factory (Chuiko 2009). However, the development of mechanical paper production did not spread widely thereafter because the government granted special 10-year agreements (“privilegia”) to a few owners. This agreement obliged others wanting to install Fourdrinier machines at their factories to pay a certain per cent of profit to the owner of the “privilegia”. This halted the development of mechanical paper production in Russia for more than 10 years, and the first papermaking machine at a private Russian factory appeared only in 1842 (now considered the oldest paper factory and known Paper Concern “Bumaga”) (Chuiko 2009;
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