The first Russian external loan and the participants in its implementation

The article is devoted to the first Russian loan made on the international money market. Having entered into another war with Turkey in 1768, Russia turned out to be economically poorly prepared for this conflict. Limited financial resources forced the tsarist authorities to search for sources of support for this campaign. In this regard, the government took various steps to stabilize the country’s financial situation, and implemented a plan for the transition to paper money circulation with the issue of significant volumes of banknote rubles. To ensure military expenses associated with the maintenance of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean and strengthening the exchange rate of the Russian ruble, the government implemented in 1769—1773 the first domestic loan in the amount of 7,500 thousand guilders on the Dutch money market. The article discusses the process of producing the said loan and the participants in this monetary transaction. Two banking houses took part in its implementation. On the part of the Russian government, one of the first court bankers, Ivan Yuryevich Fredericks, spoke. On the Dutch money market, the brothers Raymond and Theodor de Smet were involved in the sale of Russian loans. They are credited with the success of this operation.