The Business Activity of the Soviet Companies (Venshtork and Centersayoz) in Northern Regions of Iran between 1921 to 1927 and the Consequences

After the victory of the leftist revolution in Russia, Iran's northern neighbor, the government took economy under its complete control and nationalized the foreign trade according to its socialist approach. So, the Soviet government established two state-owned companies Venshtork and Centersayoz in early 1920 and gave them the monopoly of Soviet's exports and imports. The link between the two economies of Iran and Russia provided the field of activity for two above mentioned companies in the northern regions of Iran, including Khorasan, Mazandaran, Gilan and Azerbaijan. It has been tried, accordingly, in present study to examine the business activities of Venshtork and Centersayoz in Iran during the years 1921 to 1927 and their consequences. The results of this research, conducted through a historical method and based on archival documents, show that the commercial performances of these two companies created a serious crisis in economy of Iran's northern regions and a severe dissatisfaction in Iranian businessmen. In addition, it has left a lot of political and social consequences. Because of the ideological political approach of the Soviet government, the Iranian government's efforts to resolve this crisis were not successful until the trade deal between the two countries was concluded in September 1927.