Abstract
<jats:p>The main problem that the author solves is to determine how the Moscow Trading Company contributed to the process of Europeanization of Russian trade. The author reveals the features of the trade policy of the Russian government, which, along with the privileges given to English merchants, expanded the scope of economic ties with other countries. The purpose of the article is to reveal the nature of the relationship between the Russian government and the trading company of English merchants, which operated in Russia from the moment of its creation in the 16th century until the decline of its activities in the first half of the 17th century. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that the trade policy of Moscow in the 16th–17th centuries depended, first of all, on the diplomatic course pursued by the Russian government, which sought to transform the economic partnership with England into a political union in the struggle for the Baltic, and also used such a means of regulating trade relations with the Moscow Trading Company as privileges granted to English merchants; Russia directed these relations along the channel it desired, forcing the English government to fulfill its main demands regarding export-import operations and defending its national interests. The article shows how Russia managed to extract great benefit from the Northern Trade Route in its relations with the West and to strengthen its defense capability. The article is addressed to historians and specialists in the field of the history of international relations.</jats:p>