The general policy of Catherine the Great at the time was to diminish the number of towns and to create large uyezds, and in 1764, most of the uyezds were abolished, however, Sievers argued that this policy was not appropriate for Novgorod Governorate, since it was large, sparsely populated, and difficult to administer.

In 1772, as a result of the First Partition of Poland, parts of Livonia and what is now eastern Belarus were transferred to Russia.

In 1773, Olonetsky Uyezd was incorporated as Olonets Province but still remained in Novgorod Governorate.

The province consisted of three uyezds with the centers in Olonets, Vytegra, and Padansky Pogost.

In 1816, Novgorod Governorate became the area where military settlements were deployed, in accordance with the project designed by Aleksey Arakcheyev, an influential statesman.

It was inconvenient to have both civial and military administration in Staraya Russa, and therefore Starorussky Uyezd was abolished in 1824.

The town of Staraya Russa and some adjacent territories were directly subordinated to the Defense Ministry.

The military settlements were proven inefficient, in particular, in 1831, the area participated in the Cholera Riots.