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Угольный «эксперимент» в административной деятельности графа М. С. Воронцова во второй четверти XIX века
The paper analyzesthe role of coal in the administrative activities of MikhailS. Vorontsov,the Novorossiya Governor-General, duringthe second quarter of the 19thcentury. The focus of this study is to ascertain the signifi-cance of coal as a natural resource forthe administrative positioning of the viceroy and the construction of his status. Departing from the analysis of the economic efficiency incoal consumption and the impossibility of “energy transi-tion”in the first half of the 19thcentury, the paper focuses on coal’s role as a political actor in the administrative life of the Russian Empireduringthe second quarter of the 19thcentury. The competition for control over coal also re-flectsthe ideas of Minister of Finance E. F. Kankrin, and M. S. Vorontsov regarding the role of natural resourcesin 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 strengthenhis position.