Redemption payments are a government operation undertaken in the Russian Empire in connection with the termination of serfdom. Its main purpose was the transfer of allotment plots of land into peasant property. Before the start of this reform, people, having personal freedom, paid for the use of landowner land by quitrent and corvée. These were "temporarily liable peasants."
Redemption payments could be used regardless of the desire of the landowner. However, the whole amount, the amount of which was calculated on the basis of the articles of the Regulation, the peasant had to bear in full. A foreclosure loan was envisaged. But it took place only during the acquisition of manor settledness with field lands and lands. The conclusion of the transaction involved the termination of mandatory land relations between the landowner and the peasant.
The redemption operation in fact involved, as a rule, a voluntary mutual agreement. Along with this, the landowner could demand the mandatory conduct of this operation. However, in this case, redemption payments were calculated on a loan, and the landlord lost the right to receive additional remuneration. Additional amounts depended entirely on the agreement concluded between the landowner and the peasant, and therefore there are no exact statistics on this subject. It is known, however, that the size of the additional amount was twenty to twenty-five percent of the loan.
Redemption payments were for the peasant the most difficult form of direct taxes. The amount of payments depended on the rent that existed at that time. However, redemption payments were slightly less than installments.
In non-chernozem provinces, where fishing was more developed, the amount for land was disproportionate to the low profitability and value of the land. In such areas, the landowner put up his land for redemption with a certain economic calculation. And even if he lost additional payments, then, in fact, he sold the land for a price that significantly exceeded its actual value. So, by 1877, the number of transactions at the request of the landowner was almost twice the number of transactions by mutual agreement.
The repurchase regulation provided for early and other forms of repayment. In accordance with one of the articles (Article 165), it was possible to make redemption payments and demand the allocation of the corresponding plot immediately. This land became the private property of the peasant. This article somewhat shook the communal view of land ownership. By the end of the 19th century, the ransom significantly increased in exactly one hundred and sixty-fifth article. So, until 1882, about 47,735 allotments were transferred to peasant ownership, and five years later this figure increased to 101,413 allotments. Thus, by the year 1887, more than twice as much land and allotments had been purchased as in the previous twenty years.
There was a specific procedure in accordance with which a redemption assessment was carried out to determine payments and loans. There was an annual rent. It was installed for allotted for indefinite use by the peasant. This landlord received the landlord. The interim amount was capitalized out of six percent. Of the calculated capital amount, eighty percent (in the case of the acquisition of the full allotment by the peasant) or seventy-five (if the peasant acquired the reduced plot) was given to the landowner.
Of the annual six percent payment, half a percent was given to the government to cover the costs of organizing and conducting the operation, the remaining five and a half percent went to pay interest on securities issued by the landowner, as well as to pay off the debt.
The cancellation of redemption payments occurred in 1907, although it was planned in 1932. The early cessation of operations was associated with the beginning of the Stolypin agrarian reform, as well as with the influence of the events of 1905.