Abstract: The relevance of this study is derived from the fact that the commercial activity of the above-named river company in the eastern outskirts of the Russian state is poorly reflected in modern historical literature, which therefore does not fully depict the process of Russian society's industrialization. This article's subject is the transportation of cargo and passengers along the rivers of Western Siberia and the analysis of their quantitative and qualitative characteristics, which makes it possible to identify the main features of the organization behind the most profitable direction of the enterprises of river companies. The study's aim is to identify the structure and transport mechanism of the “Partnership of the West Siberian Shipping Company and Trade” on the rivers of the Ob-Irtysh basin. The research methods used by the author in this article are the statistical and problem-chronological methods, as well as the principles of scientific objectivity and historicism. The study's results are the following: the author's examination illustrates the development process of cargo transportation of Western Siberia's largest shipping company with the features of a capitalist enterprise, which can be used to study the formative process of capitalist elements in Siberia. The author's conclusions are: the dynamics of increasing or decreasing profits from transportation of the entrepreneurial company in the Ob-Irtysh basin highlights the signs of a capitalist organization in the “Partnership of West Siberian Shipping Company and Trade”: the main source of profits was freight transportation, the creation of a transportation structure for each route, the abandonment of low-income river routes, and the allocation of various types of vessels. For a successful economic development it was necessary to change not only the rules of transportation, but also the mechanism of the relations with partners and clients. The development process of river transportation demonstrates that a capitalist company is not only an economic enterprise but also a participant in the relationship between clients, customers, the state, partners and competitors.