The article shows one of the main directions in economic contacts between Saratov and Ufa – timber trade in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries. The main source was the reporting of the Ufa branch of the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank, one of the largest private banks of the Russian Empire, whose branches opened in Saratov in 1871, and in Ufa in 1873. The main feature of the Ufa forest trade in Saratov was the use of promissory notes due to the need to quickly sell goods before the end of navigation.