Rozplav

Factories such as this clothing production plant in Samistopol were extremely common during rozplav, and were often owned by large conglomerates.

Rozplav (Soravian: Poзплав, literally fusion) was a period of mass corporatisation and marketisation in the All-Soravian Union of Republics between 1956 and 1968, described as the climax of prevailing attitudes of corporate nationalism within the ZVNP and its high-ranking officials.

The doctrine was introduced by Gabriel Tozulyak, and mainly emphasised the importance of domestic corporate ownership within the framework of a rapidly growing Soravian economy. One of the hardest hit sectors was agriculture, and in rural places such as Belosoravia and Vedmed, the introduction of large agribusinesses and corporate farming prompted the rise of oligarchs, mainly landowning elite, who benefitted off of government initiatives promoting land sale and, in some instances, land seizure.

Rozplav has both been described as a success and a failure by various economists and political scientists. In large urban areas, in was responsible for an increase in median income and an uptake in tertiary-sector employment, whereas in rural towns and countries, it decimated local economies that were based off of locally-owned and operated farms.

Corporatism prior to rozplav

Before the introduction of rozplav, Soravia had long been considered a mixed market economy, where the free flow of goods and capital on a day-to-day basis was mostly unregulated by the government. Czyzewski-era reforms introduced state-driven paths for agricultural produce as part of a series of counter-measures against the Great Collapse in 1917, which ensured that produce harvested on local farms was able to be sold. The policy was successful, but marred by widespread corruption and embezzlement that prevented profits from returning to the farmers.

In many cases, the state would exercise power through the use of state-owned corporations. Many of Soravia's pre-war military armaments companies were either wholly or partially state-owned, and Pudovkin-era plans to decrease unemployment majorly elevated the importance of these companies, who often would see many of those made unemployed by the Collapse employed on their production lines.

While successful in decreasing unemployment, the practise was widely condemned both domestically and internationally. Working conditions at the production factories were terrible, and factory workers often had to put up with damp, dark and cold factories for upwards of 12 to 14 hours per day. Disease ran rife throughout factories and many workers died easily preventable deaths on the production line. The factories were also poorly maintained, and some even neglected by the companies who owned them.

After the Solarian War, the number of people self-employed or employed by a small local business increased, and Soravia's newfound economic status on the global stage allowed trade to boom, benefitting its domestic economy. These businesses often had to compete with large, established companies, often owned by conglomerate holding companies whose central ownership lay in select businessmen and entrepreneurs who had close ties to the government and ruling party.

Corporatist attitudes within the ZVNP

After the wartime era, attitudes within the ZVNP began to shift towards the idea of corporate ownership of an increased amount of essential services within the country. Spurred on by the notion of increased efficiency, both generally and economically, the idea gained traction within the party in the late-1940s and early-1950s. More extreme believers in the corporatist agenda espoused the beliefs explored the idea of a three-tiered society, where the state would deal mainly with the corporations, who would in turn deal with the people. The hierarchical nature of this model was criticised by many party members but was supported by influential businessmen, who often exercised political influence behind the scenes through bribery.

When Tozulyak succeeded Pudovkin in the presidency, corporatism became one of the main values of the party, and corporate nationalism quickly became a core tenet of the party and its top officials. As Soravia quickly began to lag behind the economies of Eastern Euclea, many of whom already employed some form of corporatism, this belief eventually snowballed into the introduction of rozplav in 1956.

Introduction and implementation

In 1956, during a party conference in Samistopol, Tozulyak announced the introduction of rozplav as part of his "new age" economic reforms. He remarked his desire to move away from state-owned enterprise, which he described as "archaic".