The article examines the efforts of the State Bank of the Russian Empire to expand its branch network in the Crimea in the second half of the ninteenth - early twentieth centuries. The first activities of the State Bank on the peninsula were carried out in Sevastopol as one of the most promising port cities in the post-reform years. A branch was opened there in 1875. This was followed by the establishment of bank branches in Simferopol, Feodosia and Yalta. The author analyzes the bank’s recruitment policy with the focus on the history of the bank officials entering the service in the Sevastopol branch. Particular attention is paid to the difficulties that accompanied the process of opening bank branches. In the process of expanding the banking network, spirit of rivalry arose, which prevented the management of the country’s main credit institution from objectively assessing the need to create a particular branch. Various cities of the Crimea expressed the wish to open a branch of the State Bank. As for the efforts of the city authorities of Yevpatoria, they failed. For a long time, the branches of the Bank in the Crimea experienced difficulties in renting the premises suitable for their activities. Thus, the Sevastopol branch did not have its own building during the first ten years of its history; the Simferopol branch lacked its own premises for five years, and the Yalta branch had to rent new premises every year from 1882 to 1912. The article gives only general analysis of the operational activities of the Crimean branches of the State Bank. This aspect of their work requires deeper and more extensive coverage in a separate work. Nevertheless, the author was able to conclude that the State Bank on the Peninsula failed to provide full support, as regards the development of the region, to its business circles, which felt a lack of affordable and cheap credit. This article was written using archival materials from the funds of the Russian State Historical Archives. The core information contained in it is published for the first time.

The article focuses on the history of the establishment of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Bessarabian region of Chișinău and Khotin in the aft ermath of the war with Turkey. Initially, the authorities of the Russian Empire intended to subordinate the local church institutions to the Holy Synod upon the annexation of the Danube Principalities, an action seemingly modeled on the precedent set by the Georgian Church. However, the deployment of French military forces in proximity to the Russian border necessitated the prompt establishment of peace between the Russian and Ottoman militaries by the Russian military leadership on the Danube. This geopolitical context precluded the acquisition of these territories by the Russian Empire, compelling the Russian side to focus its territorial ambitions on Bessarabia alone. Following the ratifi cation of the Peace of Bucharest (1812) in the Transnistrian region of the Moldavian Principality, the organizational framework for the establishment of local authorities, including those of a religious nature, was initiated. Metropolitan Gavriil (G. Bănulescu-Bodoni), who successfully completed all the planned activities within the shortest possible timeframe, was entrusted with the formation of the local diocese. By the close of 1812, the local diocese in Chișinău had already commenced its operations, entrusted with the oversight of over 750 parishes and more than 10 monasteries and sketes. In early 1813, the opening of the fi rst educational institution in Bessarabia was realized through the efforts of Metropolitan Gavriil, in the form of a theological seminary, which soon began to operate a noble boarding school for the children of the local nobility. Also in 1814, Gavriil’s efforts resulted in the opening of a printing house at the bishop’s residence in Chișinău, which printed books in the Slavonic and Moldavian languages. It is also noteworthy that the exarch had conceived the idea of founding a printing house during the construction of the diocesan house and built a separate building for it, even before receiving the approval of the tsarist authorities. By the mid-1814, Metropolitan Gavriil’s efforts had resulted in the full operationalization of the dioceses of Chișinău and Khotin in the Bessarabian region. Notably, this region was distinguished from numerous others by its acquisition of the right to print the necessary literature for church and educational activities.