Industrialist Akinfiy Demidov is the son of Nikita Demidov, the founder of the largest dynasty in Russia. He developed the work of his father, opened factories that became the most important in the domestic economy. The name of the founder of the mining industry in Siberia and the Urals, which began the extraction and processing of malachite, magnet and asbestos, is the international airport of Yekaterinburg.
The history did not save the exact date of the birth of the famous entrepreneur. Biography of Demidov began in Tula in 1678. The family owned a cast iron smelter, as well as a firearms factory. Things improved markedly after Nikita met Emperor Peter the Great. Demidov was the main supplier of weapons during the Northern War. In 1702 he was granted land in the Urals. Akinfiy, who moved to the given area, took part in the arrangement of new enterprises personally.
Start of activity
He inherited not only an entrepreneurial spirit, but also the ability to protect his own interests before high-ranking nobles. Having become a real state adviser, Akinfius acquired a patron in the person of Biron himself. The active support of other important government officials ensured a quiet existence for two decades.
After the father left in 1725, the eldest son immediately began to manage the empire created by the head of the family. The new owner has diligently developed the factory infrastructure. He was engaged in paving roads, erecting new mining and processing enterprises. Assets are rapidly increasing.
In total, Demidov built 17 plants for smelting copper and iron. Nizhny Tagil plant became the main project in the life of Akinfiy. This enterprise was in no way inferior to the best plants in Western Europe. The company installed the best equipment at that time, launched the world's largest blast furnace. Cast iron production increased five times.
Nikita Demidov did not have time to master the lands obtained on the Revda River near the Wolf Mountain. The son was engaged in construction. He erected the Korelsky, Nizhne- and Verkhnechugunsky factories in 1730. After construction, he began work on the Revdinsky pig-iron processing plant. It was completed in 1734. The old enterprises were not forgotten.
Akinfiy updated the Vyisky plant, increasing the number of furnaces to a dozen. Due to the too high iron content in the ore, its quality was low. Demidov began reorganization. At first, he redesigned the plant for the smelting of copper semi-finished products coming from other mines. Then he put the blast furnaces.
New enterprises
In 1729, the Suksunsky smelter appeared. Due to the nesting nature of the deposit, it was not possible to accurately determine the scale of the reserves. They are completely exhausted after several years of work. Since mid-1730, the company was engaged in the purification of copper ores. In 1730, a company against dissenters began in the country. In the Urals, their number was especially impressive.
After the split of the Orthodox Russian Church in the 17th century, most of the Old Believers founded in this region. The Demidov willingly took them to work, helping to hide from the persecution. True, the calculation was very pragmatic. Labor power became very cheap, and profits multiplied at times.
The first in the dynasty, Akinfiy began the development of Western Siberia. He organized several expeditions to the Altai Territory. He dreamed of discovering silver. The first coveted samples were received by 1726. The pond was not suitable for industrial production; searches were continued with the involvement of foreign specialists. In 1733 they began work.
By 1744, silver was found. The treasury noticeably lacked funds. Elizaveta Petrovna immediately allowed the construction of factories in Altai. The enterprises on the advice of Demidov were directly subordinate to the head of state, and not to numerous colleges and officials.
Successful Demidov were always in sight. Not without envious people. In 1733-1935, a large-scale verification began on denunciations. After several trials, Akinfiy paid a lot of fines. But in the end, they managed to prove the point and save Altai plants, the main pain point. Against the backdrop of the successes of the Ural enterprises, a decline in the Tula was not noticeable.
Serious competition in the face of the state-owned arms factory and a shortage of coal led to the extinction of the fishery. In Central Russia, Akinfiy did not build factories. Therefore, it was decided not to support unprofitable production. In 1744, the only blast furnace was stopped.
