The Main Department of Appanages and the Problem of Supplemental Payments to Construction Contractors for Office Buildings in Livadia

Abstract

The article refers to one of the episodes of interaction between the Ministry of the Imperial Court and Appanages and construction contractors at the imperial residence Livadia in Crimea. The author, on the basis of materials stored in the Russian State Historical Archive, studies the process of considering the petitions of contractors, who participated in the reconstruction of the complex of the Livadia estate in 1910–1911, to receive additional payments to compensate for the losses incurred. The article notes that all submitted appeals contain a reference to force majeure circumstances that entailed unplanned expenses. The author points out that for the substantive consideration of petitions, the officials sent requests for documents to the Livadsko-Massandra Appanage administration. After receiving the materials, they made a decision based on the results of their analysis. These proceedings including the activity of the specially assigned commission could last several months or even more than a year. The study of archival documents outlined two scenarios for responding to contractors’ requests. When the case was considered exclusively by the institutions of the Department of Appanages, the applicants received part of the requested amount. At the same time, the contractors were notified of the final nature of the decision made, and further requests were rejected. According to the second scenario, when the petition reached the leaders of the Ministry of the Imperial Court and the Emperor, the Department of Appanages received the highest order to fully satisfy the contractor’s request. But even so, as the article notes, officials sought to cut costs through the use of deductions.