COAL “EXPERIMENT” IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES OF COUNT MIKHAIL S. VORONTSOV IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The paper analyzes the role of coal in the administrative activities of Mikhail S. Vorontsov, the Novorossiya Governor-General, during the second quarter of the 19th century. The focus of this study is to ascertain the significance of coal as a natural resource for the administrative positioning of the viceroy and the construction of his status. Departing from the analysis of the economic efficiency in coal consumption and the impossibility of “energy transition” in the first half of the 19th century, the paper focuses on coal’s role as a political actor in the administrative life of the Russian Empire during the second quarter of the 19th century. The competition for control over coal also reflects the ideas of Minister of Finance E. F. Kankrin, and M. S. Vorontsov regarding the role of natural resources in the development of the south of the Russian Empire, and also became a prism reflecting different economic ideas. The author posits that the discord between Vorontsov and Kankrin concerning the coal project enabled the Governor-General of the southern region to strengthen his position.