 In the same year the government of Emperor Nicholas I established a coast guard - originally to observe coasts of the Black Sea and of the Sea of Azov.Count Sergei Witte, the Russian Minister of Finance (1892-1903) in the government of Alexander III (reigned 1881-1894), reformed the service on 13 October 1893 into the Independent Border Guards Corps (IBGC - a para-military rather than a civilian organization) headed by an army general and reporting directly to the ministry.In 1906 about 40,000 soldiers and officers served in the IBGC - maintaining the defence of the lengthy Imperial border.