East African officials could hold back when it came to the Soviet market, but private citizens were another matter. At the beginning of 1925, East African enterprises' trade with the Soviet Union once again reached a new high.
Quite a few East African merchant ships set sail from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam for the Black Sea.
Previously, trade between East Africa and the Soviet Union in the Black Sea had been concentrated in Sochi and Crimea. After 1925, Odessa once again became an important port city for trade between the two countries.
Before Russia changed color, trade between East Africa and Tsarist Russia had already been quite developed. At the time, among the Russian destinations of East African vessels, Odessa was second in importance only to Saint Petersburg, the Tsarist Russian capital.
However, it was not until 1924 that the Russian Labor Party recaptured most of the Ukraine region, including Odessa.
February 11, 1925.
Port of Odessa.
The Malazov, an East African merchant ship laden with cargo, successfully docked there. The East African sailors, arriving for the first time, curiously looked over this "unfamiliar" country, standing on deck and craning their necks in every direction.
Thanks to the deliberate propaganda of governments everywhere, the Soviet Union was steeped in an aura of "mystery" within international society.
"I never thought that when I came here again, this place would once more become Russian land. No, it should be called Soviet land. A few years ago, Odessa was still the Tsar's territory. Then it was taken over by the Ukrainian government, and now this land has changed masters yet again. But Odessa is still much the same as before. There have not been any major changes," Malazov, the captain of the Malazov, could not help sighing.
Malazov had often run the