File 3047/1909 'Railways: Asiatic Turkey; railway construction in Asia Minor' [‎77r] (158/368)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government]
ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA.
A
CONFIDENTIAL.
i\V
[March 29.]
Section 5.
[10425J
No. 1 .
Sir A. Nicolson to Sir Edward Gh'ey. — (Received March 29.)
(No. 148.)
Sir, St. Petersburgh, March 22, 1910.
DURING a conversation which I had with M. Sazonow this afternoon, I told him
that I received a visit in the morning from Colonel Massy, formerly in His Majesty’s
Consular Service, who had spoken to me in regard to a project which he was advocating
for an Anglo-Russian combination in the construction of the Samsun-Sivas Railway
and of other lines in those parts of the Turkish Empire. In reply to my enquiries,
Colonel Massy (who was recommended to me in your despatch, No. 26, Commercial, of
the 4th March, and presented a letter of introduction from the Foreign Office) had
stated that he had been in communication with some Russian gentlemen of
importance in St. Petersburg!! who were anxious to favour his scheme. He had
not, he said, seen any high officials, nor had he been in relations with any financial
establishments in this capital. I had told him that there already appeared to be at
least one syndicate in the field for the Samsun-Sivas Railway, and that this syndicate
was composed of the International Bank of Commerce in St. Petersburgh, the
Russian Bank for Foreign Commerce, and the Regie generale of Ottoman Railways.
This group, I understand, was favoured by the Russian Government, and that His
Majesty’s Government would only support a British combination which worked with
the group supported by the Russian authorities. I was not, I had told Colonel
Massy, quite clear as to the exact composition of the group or groups enjoying
Russian support, and I was desirous of having this point elucidated. There was a
British Euxine Trading Company, which had been in communication with some
Franco-Russian financiers, of whom Rossolato Bey was one, and I was anxious to
ascertain whether these latter gentlemen were in combination with the group which
I had mentioned, and of which Count Vitalis’s company seemed to be an important
member. Colonel Massy has told me that he was connected in fact with this
Euxine Trading Company, and that though the Russian Government had in the first
instance been disposed to favour Count Yitalis and his Russian associates, he had been
“ given to understand ” that M. Stolypine was reconsidering the matter as he had since
learnt that the Yitalis combination was in close connexion with the Ottoman and
Deutsche Banks, and that the combination was in fact largely a German undertaking.
When this had been brought to the knowledge of M. Stolypine, his Excellency had
been unwilling to support any combination which would encourage the introduction of
German influence into districts of the Turkish Empire which by their geographical
situation were of importance to Russian interests. I had told Colonel Massy that I
must see my way a little more clearly than I did at present, and that I would take an
opportunity of speaking to M. Stolypine and to M. Kokovtzoff, the Minister of Finance,
on the subject.
I told M. Sazonow that l doubted if M. Stolypine had much knowledge of, or
interest in, railways in Asiatic Turkey, but that I presumed that M. Kokovtzoff was
well acquainted with the whole subject. I would, however, like to know exactly what
group was supported by the Russian Government, as this was a point on which I was
in doubt. As to the “Russian gentlemen of importance ” with whom Colonel Massy
had been in communication, their names were unknown to me ; and when I asked
whether they had any financial backing, Colonel Massy had replied that the project
would be financed from London. The whole affair seemed to me somewhat obscure.
M. Sazonow said that the group which the Russian Government were supporting
was composed of the Baiique internationale de Commerce, of the Banque russe pour le
Commerce, and of Count Yitalis’s Regie generale des Chemins de Fer ottomans. He
had quite recently seen the president of the Banque internationale, and he had told
him that matters were proceeding satisfactorily, and that the Russian banks would
furnish 30 per cent of the capital. He had not heard that the Deutsche Bank or any
German capital was interested in the project, or that there was any intention.of securing
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