On March 22, 1872, Britain and Russia signed the "Anglo-Russian Bilateral Trade Agreement," the "Anglo-Russian Grain Mortgage Loan Agreement," the "Anglo-Russian Financial Mutual Trust Agreement" …
Apart from not forming an alliance, the Tsarist Government had economically gravitated towards the British, which had become a fact.
According to the terms of the treaty, the Russians had become a member of the British Pound—Gold System, and the international dominance of the British currency was officially established.
As compensation, the British had to provide the Tsarist Government with interest-free loans of 150 million pounds over the next five years, all of which the Russians would repay with agricultural produce.
It was clear to the perceptive that the so-called loan was just a pretext. The amount of the loan disbursed each year corresponded precisely to the value of the agricultural produce exported by the Russians, essentially being a sizeable purchase contract.
