Artur Karlovich Stashevsky
Артур Карлович Сташевский
The Soviet trade representative who sent Republican Spain's gold to Moscow
Stashevsky proposed to finance minister Negrín the idea of opening 'a current account in gold' in Moscow, and persuaded him it could be used to buy arms and raw materials.
A Soviet intelligence officer and trade official from the SDKPiL. He ran the joint INO–GRU residency in Berlin as one of the key figures of early Soviet military intelligence, later headed Torgsin and served in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade before being posted to Republican Spain as trade representative in 1936. In Spain he negotiated arms sales and managed the financial side of Operation X; he has been identified as the man who persuaded Juan Negrín to deposit the Bank of Spain's gold reserves in Moscow. Recalled in June 1937 and shot two months later, he was rehabilitated in 1956.
Career timeline
- 1921–1924Head of the joint INO–GRU residency in Berlin
- 1925–1926Board member, Sovtorgflot
- 1926–1932Deputy chairman, Pushnotorg and Soyuzpushnina
- 1932–1934Chairman, Torgsin
- 1934–1937Head of Glavpushnina, People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade
- 1936–1937USSR trade representative in Spain