Russian Telegraph Agency

In 1904, Minister of Finance Vladimir Kokovtsov argued for a state telegraph news agency by saying that private owners were not reliable. In July 1904, at a meeting of special departments, the project for creating a state telegraph agency was approved. On 1 September 1904, the agency started its work. The agency was located in Petrograd before the revolution. During World War I, the agency changed its name from St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA) to Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA).

During the October Revolution, Petrograd Telegraph Agency's building was occupied by Baltic sailors under the leadership of Leonid Stark. He transmitted the first reports about the revolution in Russia to all newspapers in the world. On 18 November 1917, Council of People's Commissars decreed that the Petrograd Telegraph Agency will be the central information body.

On 7 September 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted the “Resolution on the merger of the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA) and the Press Bureau under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee”. The new agency was named the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The technical base of ROSTA was made up of the structures of the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA) and private news agencies. The resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR required all media to reprint the decrees of the Soviet government and the latest news received through ROSTA channels. It moved first to Metropol Hotel, Moscow, and then to a separate building on Milyutinsky Lane. On 23 December, Belarusian Branch of the Russian Telegraph Agency (BELOTROSTA) was opened on Zakharyevskaya street in Minsk.

On 12 December 1920, the agency was subordinated to Glavpolitprosvet. In 1919, agency had only 42 branches, and then by 1922 there were already 474 branches and correspondent offices. This allowed the Russian Telegraph to supply the capital and provincial periodicals with new information as quickly as possible. The agency then changed its addresses to Armenian Lane in 1923.

After the creation of the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) on July 10, 1925, ROSTA functioned as the news agency of the RSFSR. In March 1935, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, ROSTA was liquidated, and its functions were transferred to TASS.