ISSUES OF SOCIAL-ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE BATUMI JOINT-STOCK COMPANY "SHELENGOVSKY AND CO." ACCORDING TO ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS (1912–1922)

Abstract

Abstract. Based on the historical materials preserved in the Archives Administration of Adjara (Fund I-21), this paper explores the operational history of the Batumi Joint-Stock Company "Shelengovsky & Co." (later renamed "Plastina") between 1912 and 1922. The study analyzes the enterprise's transformation matrix from a partnership into a joint-stock company, alongside the managerial and raw material crises (specifically the shortage of black iron) encountered during its initial operational years. Furthermore, it examines the company's extensive financial and economic networks with regional and international entities—including the Nobel Brothers' Society, the State Bank, and the municipal governments of Tiflis and Batumi—as well as its internal organizational structure. Drawing upon archival evidence, the paper investigates the social profile of the enterprise, the demographic and ethnic composition of its workforce, and the socio-political impacts of the 1917 revolutionary period on corporate life. Special emphasis is placed on the post-Sovietization phase (1922), which brought about the total nationalization of private capital and the conversion of the facility into the "First Soviet Factory". The research demonstrates that this specific archival fund serves as a crucial micro-historical source for understanding the industrial, social, and economic evolution of early 20th-century Batumi.