The Moscow Empire – Europe’s Eternal Raw Materials Appendage

Fur – the Soft Gold of Muscovy
From the very beginning of Muscovy’s statehood, fur trading was the cornerstone of its economy. Since the 13th century, fur obtained through tributes from subjugated peoples and hunting in vast surrounding forests became the most important export commodity.

Accounts from foreign travelers such as Fletcher, Herberstein, and Olearius confirm the dominance of fur in Muscovy’s economy up until the 17th century. According to them, fur accounted for up to 70% of the treasury’s revenues.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Moscow actively exploited fur resources in the Volga-Oka interfluve. From the 15th century onwards, it began organizing expeditions eastward — into Yugra, the Perm lands, and Zavolochye. Over time, the sources of fur shifted further east, beyond the Urals and into Siberia.

The conquest of Siberia became a key stage in fur expansion. By the 16th century, Muscovite rulers had ensured that all Tatar kingdoms paid tribute (yasak) in furs. By the mid-17th century, revenues from fur exports constituted a significant portion of the treasury’s income. For example, in 1660, half of all state income came from fur trading in the colonies.

Grain: A New Phase of Resource Dependency
From the 18th century, the role of fur began to decline gradually, and grain took center stage. By the 19th century, grain had become the key export commodity of the Russian Empire. In the 1840s–1850s, its share of total exports reached 30%, and by the early 20th century, it ranged from 45% to 70%. The average annual grain export volume from 1900 to 1913 amounted to around 600 million rubles, nearly half of the empire’s total exports.

Grain trade tied Russia to European markets. Venice had been purchasing Russian grain since the 14th century, and by the 19th century, its primary buyers were Germany, France, and Great Britain. However, grain exports not only signaled economic dependence on European demand but also exacerbated internal social problems. Russia remained an agrarian country where peasants made up about 85% of the population, and agricultural yields were exceptionally low.

The USSR inherited this grain dependency. In the early decades of Soviet rule, grain exports continued to be a critical source of foreign currency, especially during militaristic industrialization. The mass procurement of machinery and technology from abroad was financed by grain sales, leading to domestic shortages and the famine known as the Holodomor.

Hydrocarbons: The Resource Empire of the 20th Century
By the mid-20th century, the USSR’s and later Russia’s economy had fully shifted toward the extraction and export of hydrocarbons. Oil and gas became the “new grain,” defining the strategies of foreign and domestic policy. From the 1970s onward, the Soviet economy became heavily reliant on revenue from oil and gas exports to international markets.

In 2021, revenue from hydrocarbon exports accounted for over 45% of Moscow’s budget, underscoring the enduring dependency on a raw materials model. The cost of oil extraction in Russia remains among the lowest in the world — just $3–$5 per barrel — enabling the country to maintain competitiveness in global markets.

War as a Tool of Expansion and Economy
Throughout its history, wars and the occupation of new territories have served Moscow not only as a means of political expansion but also as a way to reduce logistical costs. Securing access to the Black and Baltic Seas was a key step in facilitating explosive growth in grain and fur trade with Europe.

This strategy continued during the Soviet era and beyond. Control over resource-rich regions and geopolitically significant territories ensured Moscow’s access to international markets, demonstrating that commercial interests have always been at the core of Moscow’s foreign policy. Ideology was merely a facade.

Moscow as the Metropolis, Russia as Its Colony
The history of Moscow’s economic policy demonstrates its persistent reliance on raw material exports while underscoring its status as a metropolis sustained by the exploitation of its regions.

Since the days of Muscovy, Russia has functioned as a raw material colony supplying resources to the center — Moscow — which uses them to serve its own interests.

One of Moscow’s key achievements has been its ability to minimize exploitation costs. This has been achieved through nearly free labor, the absence of strict environmental regulations, and a lack of investment in infrastructure for the colonies. Meanwhile, the resource-producing regions themselves remain among the poorest in the country. For instance, oil-rich regions like Western Siberia and the Volga face a complete lack of investment in healthcare, education, and transportation infrastructure.

A comparative analysis shows that no other major resource-producing country has such poor living conditions in its resource regions. This model allows Moscow to maintain a high level of consumption and investment in the central region at the expense of the rest of Russia, which functions as a colonial periphery.

The history of Moscow’s raw material exports — from fur to grain and later hydrocarbons — highlights the resilience of a model based on the plunder of natural resources and the exploitation of colonial labor.

In different eras, the main export commodities were fur, grain, oil, and gas, but the essence of the model has remained unchanged. The economy was built on exploiting natural wealth and subjugating the local population of the colonies. This allowed resources to be concentrated in the hands of Moscow’s ruling elite and used to maintain power.

Today, Russia continues to follow the path of a raw material economy established during the fur trade era. Moscow, as the metropolis, remains the primary beneficiary, while impoverished and devastated regions serve as the raw material periphery. Overcoming this model would require fundamental changes in economic and social policy, but no such changes are likely, as no one in Russia is willing to challenge the status quo. Everyone seems content with it.