The article describes the regional activities of the well-known Surgut journalist Ivan Prokopyevich Zakharov. The main achievements of his career, social conditions for the formation of scientific interests and the results of his research are presented. The importance of the social and anthropological method and oral history for the modern methodological reform of the Russian historical science is emphasized.

In the framework of this article, the author addresses the problem of the interaction of the Ob-Ugrians and Siberian Tatars in the military field. The military cooperation of the inhabitants of Western Siberia in the Middle Ages was not something unique in the history of Eurasia and was recorded by a few written sources. However, the scarcity of information leaves debatable the issue of the status of the Ob-Ugrians in the campaigns of the Siberian Tatars. The author offers promising ways for further development of the problem.

The article considers the problem of the early days and entrepreneurial activity of the Tula gunsmith V. Medvedev’s family in the capital of the Tobolsk Governorate during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Medvedev family belongs to the classical model of the traditional type: after the accumulation of the capital, it is split between the heirs; there is diversification of the capital, etc. Initially, the sons of the founder sought to conduct business affairs together, for that reason the paper mill was opened. However, their descendants changed their occupation. The purpose of entrepreneurial activities was the obtaining of a large income, but not the desire for a stable profit.

There is a point of view, according to which drunkenness in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century acquired enormous proportions. There is also a considerable number of works claiming the opposite. The article describes the problems of drunkenness and the activities ofsobriety societies in the Tobolsk eparchy during the Great War, 1914–1918, based on the facts and opinions of contemporaries.

The article discusses the creation and activities of Siberian committees for the promotion of the peoples of the northern border districts at the first stage of their existence in the second half of the 1920s. It is shown that the work of the committees was largely aimed at studying the economic potential of their territories, as well as at the prospect of developing the Arctic with the active participation of the indigenous peoples of the North of Siberia.

The article considers the development of tourism in Siberia in the pre-war period, as well as features of health centres, sanatoriums and camps as recreational facilities. The role of medical tourism during the Second World War and the future of health centres in Siberia are described.

The article describes the transport system of Ugra in the 1950s–1960s. The situation in the Khanty-Mansi National Okrug at the beginning of oil and gas development is analyzed. The conclusion about the reasons for the priority of river transport development in the initial period of economic modernization of Western Siberia is drawn.

The article presents an analysis of the construction of a network of departmental vehicle roads at the early stage of oil and gas development in Western Siberia. Attention is focused on the experience of construction of roads for the oil and gas industry, associated with the formation of territorial production complex. It is noted that the limiting factor in the construction of the first motorways was a weak material and technical base.

The article analyses the problems of industrial development in Siberia. It is concluded that scientific and technological progress is the main factor in the growth of the Siberian industry, and its eastward movement in the second half of the 1960s and the 1980s was associated with the acceleration of industrial growth and the need for the development of new areas with rich natural resources for the entire national economic complex of the USSR.

The article describes the process of technical support formation of the construction trust “Surgutgazstroy” in 1965–1992. The issues are highlighted. The conclusion that the main factor in the failure of the trust enterprises was the misplaced delivery of the necessary equipment and spare parts is made.

The article examines the activities of the Seventh Day Adventists religious community (SDA) in Western Siberia. The causes of the internal dissidence are analyzed. The relationship of this Protestant movement with local authorities and its contribution to the movement development for freedom of conscience in the USSR are investigated.

The article describes the problems of formation of publishing during industrial development of the North of Western Siberia. Based on the study of archival and other records the features of publication management of printed editions by printing establishments formed in the main administrative and industrial centres of the region are described.

The article is devoted to the study of the main problems of libraries in schools of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug around the collapse of the USSR. The author reveals numerous contradictions related to the number of school libraries, as well as librarians in the Okrug, exposes the occupational level of these workers in addition to the main difficulties in their work based on archival documents. The conclusion about the high level of development of library services in schools of Ugra is made.