Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan tour.

  “...I entered into an agreement with the company of the Tashkent 1st Guild merchant N.Ya. Pugasov... Pugasov’s company is the most reputable in the entire Turkestan region. Its turnover reaches several million rubles. In Tashkent, Pugasov has a large trade, and in our region he is considered the first merchant. He has two distilleries, two vodka factories, and one tannery in Semirechye. In Verny he owns large real estate, has three of the best stores in the city with various goods and, in addition, 16 stores in different places in the region. In the branch of the Russian-Chinese Bank, his current account is not limited to a certain amount...”

Member-Secretary of Statistical Committee under Semirechensk Regional Board V.E. Nedzwiecki. In a letter to Franz de Paul Schreckenfuchs. 1906.

Historical facts of Lepsinsk.

How the region developed is reflected in the chronicle of the history of Lepsinsk. In 1910, there were 17 volosts in Lepsinsky district. Beekeeper Klimenko built the first house in which the school was located; over time, the educational institution became known as the Higher Primary School.
Around this time, a parochial school began to operate, and a Tatar school began to operate at the city mosque. Teacher Latypov was invited from Kazan to teach children in a Tatar school. In 1951, the first graduation of students from the village high school took place.
The county town had a distillery, two breweries, 14 taverns, two water mills and a wax factory. The largest owner of these city enterprises was the famous merchant from Verny, Nikita Yakovlevich Pugasov. It should be noted that N. Pugasov’s enterprises were by that time one of the oldest in Turkestan; the year of their foundation is considered to be 1878, its founder N.Ya. Pugasov was a pioneer of the local trading industry.
The merchant was a major philanthropist and monopolist. Thanks to his wide financial capabilities, several shops and houses were built in Lepsinsk, and about 300 local residents were provided with work. In addition to N. Pugasov, the brothers Poshivkin, Shkurenko, Beibit Kulbaev, and Portnykh had their own businesses in Lepsinsk.
The village at that time had about 1,200 inhabitants. N. Pugasov had many plans for the construction of enterprises in the village, so at first, at the end of the 19th century, he built a small brick factory that produced and fired bricks using a special technology.
The mixture for making bricks was complex - sand was added to the clay, which was taken from the banks of the Lepsy and Aganakta rivers. Each brick was affixed with the trade mark “N. P.”, which meant Nikita Pugasov. The bricks turned out to be strong, and over time they became monolithic.

History of N. Pugasov’s distilleries and distilleries in Lepsinsk.

In 1898, 700 meters from the right bank of the small Bulinka river, N. Pugasov built a distillery. In the same year, the first migrants from Tatarstan arrived. The one-story distillery building, which was repaired and re-equipped several times during Soviet times, is still located in the southern part of the village, not far from the forest nursery of the Zhongar-Alatau Natural Park.
There are rumors that the plant administration strictly forbade workers from drinking alcohol at work, and if anyone was noticed in this addiction, they were fired from work. But after finishing work, in the room at the entrance, there was a chained mug and bottles of vodka and you could drink to strengthen the spirit and sometimes from the heart.
As for the history of the distillery, we have the following dates: in 1929, the plant began to function again after stagnation in industry and production, Moskalenko was appointed director of the plant. In 1951, the distillery ceased to exist, having operated for 53 years.
As you know, N. Pugasov also owned two breweries, and at his expense the St. Nicholas Church and a bridge across the Lepsy River were built. N.Ya. died Pugasov in 1911, in the city of Tashkent.

“On April 20, 1911, the head of the Trading House, Nikita Yakovlevich Pugasov, known throughout Semirechye, died in Tashkent. On April 21 at 11 o'clock in the afternoon a memorial service for the deceased was celebrated in the Cathedral. The memorial service was served by His Eminence, His Eminence Demetrius, Bishop of Turkestan and Tashkent meeting with the clergy.
The memorial service was attended by His Excellency P.P. Ostashkin, all relatives, numerous employees of the Trading House and many outside admirers of the deceased"

Obituary dated April 22, 1911.

Geographic coordinates of Pugasov memorial house in village of Lepsi: N45°31'45.81" E80°36'50.96"

Note: 
If you are using geographic coordinates for the Google Earth or Google Maps navigation systems, you must remove the last two digits from the geographic coordinates and " (hundredths of seconds) and enter the result in the input line. Example: N51°44'09.67" E72°39'40.81" = N51°44'09 E72°39'40

Their archives of city of Almaty.

“We, not far from the city, have a distillery (formerly Pugasova), which cannot wait for economic hands. It also has staff: a factory manager, a warehouse manager, a coachman - but there is no work. There is unemployment all around, a financial crisis, the peasants don’t know where to go with their grain, but the plant is standing still...”

April 23, 1928. “From materials about the work of the Talgar and Lepsin wineries.”

“...In the current 1927 - 1928, the Talgar and Lepsinsky wineries were put on mothballing due to the crop failure that befell the province in 1927....The equipment of the Talgar and Lepsinsky distilleries is outdated and significantly worn out, but, according to knowledgeable persons, the factories can still continue to operate on this equipment..."

  Alma-Ata. October 11, 1928. “Manager of the association of distilleries, Comrade Zaitsev.”

Report on the progress of preparatory work for the launch of the Talgar and Lepsin wineries.

“The renovation of the Talgar winery can now be considered completely complete. The plant is provided with sufficient fuel, but the lack of a sufficient amount of grain grains currently does not make it possible to start distilling on time, i.e. until October 15 this year.
By order of the relevant organizations, distilleries are allowed to supply only millet and barley and a limited amount of rye. To fulfill the planned distillation program, 125,000 buckets of 40% alcohol are required, of which 85,000 buckets at the Talgar winery and 40,000 buckets at the Lepsinsky winery.
Keeping in mind distillation should be carried out at the Talgar plant for 7 months, and at the Lepsinsky plant for 6 months. The total required amount of cereals: millet 166,735 poods and barley – 125,000 poods...
In order to start up the factories, there is no prospect of further supply of grain cereals... In view of the above, I inform you that the Talgar winery has been operating since October 15 of this year. cannot be allowed..."

Authority:
Alexander Petrov.
N. Buketova, 2006 - 2016.  
https://cathedral.kz/ru/articles/kupcy-semirechya-ivanov-nikolay-nikolaevich-1918-1921gg

Photos by
From museum of Lepsinsk.
https://cathedral.kz/ru/articles/kupcy-semirechya-ivanov-nikolay-nikolaevich-1918-1921gg