Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of development of Russian entrepreneurship in the second half of the 19th century. Sergei Ivanovich Maltsov was a well-known Russian industrialist. In the territory of the Kaluga region in the second half of the 19th century, S. I. Maltsov created a large industrial zone. The factories of the Maltsov industrial region produced railways, steam engines, steamships, locomotives, wagons, agricultural machines. In the town Dyatkovo, Maltsov’s plant produced unique crystal goods. In 1871 Maltsov built the first personal telegraph line in Russia. In two years a narrow-gauge railroad with a length of more than 300 km was constructed, which connected all the factories of the Maltsovsky industrial region. All the Maltsov’s products and machines were of excellent quality. At the Moscow Polytechnic Fair in 1872, S. I. Maltsov was awarded a gold medal and a certificate of the first degree for demonstrating the process of manufacturing a locomotive. In the 1870s, Maltsov carried out a large order from the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Empire. He produced 150 locomotives and about 3 thousands wagons. However, the new minister did not pay for the order. The government of the Russian Empire turned out to be an unreliable trading partner. Bureaucratic arbitrariness led to the collapse of Maltsov’s enterprise. In 1893 S. I. Maltsov died. Many of his machines and industrial products were unique and some of them were made for the first time in Russia. Therefore, we call S. I. Maltsov a pioneer of Russian industry.