COMMODITY TURNOVER AND CUSTOMS REGULATION IN SEVASTOPOL CUSTOMS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY

The article analyzes the history of the creation and operation of Sevastopol customs during the second half of the 19th – early 20th century. Based on archival documents, some of which have been introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, as well as previously published statistical materials and collections of the Customs Department and other official publications from various departments of the Russian Empire, the main directions of export and import operations conducted through this customs bodies were identified. The volume and content of trade were determined, customs regulations were studied, resulting in compliance with established legal norms and conditions for importing goods into the Russian empire in the late 19th – early 20th centuries, exporting goods from the country and paying customs duties. The work of the Sevastopol customs is analyzed at various stages, as well as the specifics of organizing the specific work in this instance. It is concluded that Sevastopol was one of the main customs points on the Crimean peninsula, through which brisk trade took place in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1870s and 1890s, grain crops (especially wheat) were the main export products carried through Sevastopol, which were sent to ports in Europe and the Middle East.