History

In August 1918, the Bolsheviks, who kept the gold reserves of the Russian Empire in Kazan, decided to evacuate the gold from the city, but the swiftness of the attack on Kazan by Kappel mixed up the plans of the Soviet leadership, who managed to take out only 4.6 tons of gold (100 boxes) from Kazan. The trace of this money is lost, although in 1929 the OGPU organized an expedition near Kazan to search for them, the historian A. G. Mosyakin established .

On July 27, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars created a group for the evacuation of gold reserves from Kazan, consisting of K. P. Andrushkevich (head), N. V. Nakonechny, S. M. Izmailov. On the evening of July 28, 1918, the group was in Kazan. She had at her disposal several barges and steamers equipped in Nizhny Novgorod. It was necessary to withdraw about 80 thousand pounds of jewelry. Work was accelerated on laying access roads from the bank to the pier, transport was being established, and gold packaging was being checked. To protect the gold on the way, a convoy of 20 people was formed, headed by A. I. Bochkov, member of the Revolutionary Committee, Commissar of Finance of the Kazan Council.

Gold reserves in Kazan.

On behalf of V. I. Lenin, the chief commissioner of the People's Bank of the Republic, T. I. Popov, in mid-June 1918 ordered the Kazan branch of the State Bank to prepare for a possible evacuation of valuables. On June 27, in the midst of work, the manager of the Kazan branch of the People's Bank, Maryin, summoned the commander-in-chief Muravyov. He accused financial workers of alarmism and cowardice. The next morning, a reinforced detachment from Muravyov's personal guard stood at the bank building. In the first days of July, Muraviev tried to seize power in Kazan and take possession of the storerooms of the Kazan Bank.