Vyarmansk

People's Republic of Vyarmansk Народна република Вярманск
Flag
Motto: "Свобода чрез сигурност" (Bulgarian) "Freedom Through Security" (English)
Capital and largest city	Vyarmansk
Official languages	Bulgarian, Russian
Demonym(s)	Vyarmanskan
Government	Unitary Marxist–Leninist one–party socialist republic
• General Secretary	Gennady Arkhipov
• Deputy Secretary	Kosyo Stoyanov
Legislature	Congress of the Vyarmansk Communist Party
Area
• Total	465,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	2,200,000
Currency	Vyarmansk Ruble (₽)
Driving side	right

Vyarmansk, officially the People's Republic of Vyarmansk, is a unitary Marxist–Leninist one–party socialist republic located along the eastern most edge of the Vulpes Mountains. Hosting a population of around 2.2 million, Vyarmansk started as an undeveloped and largely agricultural society, something common to the region. When the communist party took power, they started to transform Vyarmansk into an industrialized socialist society. The leadership of Vyarmansk undertook massive state investment in heavy industry, state infrastructure and military strength, neglecting the production of consumer goods. The first Three Year Plan called for "active self-reliance", collectivization of agriculture and initiated mass mobilizations campaigns in agriculture, and developed a new industrial management system. Industry was fully nationalized by 1953, and by 1960 almost all homes had electricity, though unreliable.

Geography

Vyarmansk is located in the eastern most part of the Vulpes Mountains, along the Komarov Sea and covering a total land area of 465,000 km². The swampy Malinkov Depression is in the west of the Republic, contrasted by more hilly landscapes in the east heading towards the Vulpes Mountains.

There are 246 rivers in the Republic, with the Tanev River and its tributaries being the major water arteries. Most rivers are considered to be minor—10–50 meters (33–164 ft) wide and 0.5–1.4 meters (1 ft 8 in – 4 ft 7 in) deep—and usually freeze between mid-November and mid-April. There are over 700 lakes and ponds; many located in the swampy areas and having areas of less than 1 square kilometer (0.39 sq mi) and depths between 1 and 3 meters (3 ft 3 in and 9 ft 10 in). Lake Bakalov, occupying 150 hectares (370 acres), is the largest by area, while Lake Yordanov is the deepest. Swamps cover large areas—10–70 square kilometers (3.9–27.0 sq mi) and up to 100 square kilometers (39 sq mi)—and usually freeze in December.

Climate is moderately continental, with moderately cold and snowy winters and warm and often rainy summers, as compared to the dry mediterranean climate of the western Vulpes Mountains. The average temperatures range from 18–20 °C (64–68 °F) in summer to −18 – −20 °C (0 – −4 °F) in winter. November is the windiest month of the year. Annual precipitation varies from 450 to 500 millimeters (18 to 20 in).

There are scattered deposits of molybdenum, coal, manganese, iron and tin. About 50% of the Republic's territory is forested, although the level of forestation varies significantly from one district to another.

Flora

Spruce trees make up a majority of the forested areas in the country, with smaller pockets of Aspen trees. Lingonberries are a common sight, enjoying growth from the acidic, moist soil of the spruce forests of the Malinkov Depression. Grasses grow wherever they can find a patch of sun, and mosses and lichens thrive on the damp ground and on the sides of tree trunks.

Fauna

Mammalian predators include the Eurasian lynx, Siberian weasel, sable, gray wolf, coyote, red fox, and brown bear. For birds, the Siberian thrush, white-throated sparrow, and black-throated green warbler migrate to this habitat to take advantage of the long summer days and abundance of insects found around the numerous bogs and lakes. Large herbivorous mammals include moose, and in the southern areas, populations of other deer species such as the elk and roe deer. Small mammals of the include rodent species including beaver, squirrel and racoons.

Politics and government

The constitution, approved in 1921 by the Vyarmansk Communist Party, established the organization of the state. According to Article 1, Vyarmansk is a "revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat, the peasantry and the intelligentsia". The national government of Vyarmansk has been completely absorbed by the Vyarmansk Communist Party. All decisions of state are decided within the halls of the all-powerful Communist Party. The national legislature takes place in the form of the Congress of the Vyarmansk Communist Party. The General Secretary of the Party serves as head of state, as there exists no "president" or "prime minister", only Party positions. All ministries are controlled and operated by the Central Committee of the Vyarmansk Communist Party. The Central Committee, as the Party's highest decision-making institution, elects several bodies to carry out its work. The first plenary session of a newly elected central committee elects the general secretary of the Central Committee, the party's leader; the Central Military Commission (CMC); the Secretariat; and the Central Control Commission (CCC). According to the party constitution, the general secretary must be a member of the Secretariat, and is responsible for convening meetings of the Central Committee, while also presiding over the work of the Secretariat. The Secretariat "exercises the functions and powers of the Central Committee when a plenum is not in session".

General Secretary Gennady Arkhipov.

Deputy Secretary Kosyo Stoyanov.

General Secretary

General Secretary of the Central Committee is the title given to the overall leader of the party and is the single most powerful position in Vyarmansk.

Party Congress

The Congress of the Vyarmansk Communist Party is, at least nominally, the highest state body. Acting as the legislature of the nation, its powers and functions include the creation of new state commissions and committees, the approval of the Three-Year Plans and the government budget, election of the Central Committee, appointment of officials to the Supreme People's Court and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society. In practise, the institution approves and implements all decisions made by the Central Committee.

Central Committee

The Central Committee is a collective body elected at the annual party congress. It is mandated to meet at the first of each month to act as the party's supreme governing body. Central Committee members are elected to the seats because of the offices they held, not on their personal merit. The first plenary session of a newly elected central committee elects the general secretary of the Central Committee, the party's leader; the Central Military Commission (CMC); the Politburo; the Secretariat; and the Central Control Commission (CCC). The Central Committee or the Politburo and/or Secretariat on its behalf can issue nationwide decisions. The Central Committee reviews and votes on party policies and proposals and issues decisions on policy, budgets and resource allocations. The Central Committee meets monthly, and issues its directives to the Secretariat, headed by the Deputy Secretary - both appointed by the Central Committee. The current General Secretary of the Central Committee is Gennady Arkhipov.

Headquarters of the Vyarmansk Communist Party.

Secretariat

The Secretariat heads the communist party's central apparatus and is solely responsible for the development and implementation of party policies. The Secretariat manages and and directs the day-to-day operations of the Vyarmansk Communist Party. The Deputy Secretary is responsible for chairing the Secretariat in place of the General Secretary. When the General Secretary can not chair the meetings of the Secretariat or Central Committee, the Deputy Secretary will take his place. The Secretariat meets weekly. The current Deputy Secretary is Kosyo Stoyanov.

Central Control Commission

The Central Control Commission is responsible for controlling party discipline. The Party Control Committee oversees the discipline of Party members and candidate Party members in terms of their observance of the programme and regulations of the Party, state discipline and Party ethics. It administers punishments, including expulsions from the Party. The Central Control Committee also considers the appeals of Party members punished by their local Party organizations.

The composition of the Central Control Commission is elected by the Party Congress; members of the Central Control Commission can not be simultaneously members of the Central Committee. The activities of the Central Control Commission largely help not only to reduce the number of violators of party and ethical norms in the party, but also to somewhat improve the poor quality of the management system. The current Chairman of the Central Control Commission is Leonid Kostandov.

Military

The Vyarmansk People's Army numbers 150,000 men, serving in four different branches – Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, and Missile Forces.

The VPA operates 3,000 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 2,500 large caliber artillery systems, over 500 combat aircraft, 33 combat vessels, as well as 67 Scud missile launchers, 24 SS-23 launchers and dozens of FROG-7 artillery rocket launchers.

Economy

Vyarmansk has maintained an incredibly closed and centralized economy for several decades. It follows a pattern of five-year plans with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency. The economy is heavily nationalized, where the government will provide fuel and materials for a factory, while the factory will manufacture products and quantities according to the government's requirements. Food and housing are extensively subsidized by the state; education and healthcare are free; and the payment of taxes is officially abolished. Industry and services employ 65% of Vyarmansk's labor force. Major industries include machine building, mining, metallurgy, forestry and agriculture. Its 600 cooperatives and state farms are moderately successful, with intermittent fertilizer and equipment shortages. Potatoes, soybeans, cabbage and carrots are some of the primary crops. A significant contribution to the food supply comes from commercial fishing and aquaculture. Smaller specialized farms, managed by the state, also produce "luxury crops", including berries, honey, asparagus and herbs.

The official stance of the Vyarmansk Communist Party is that in order to implement the principle of economic self-sufficiency, one must build an independent national economy. More specifically, heavy industry with the machine-building industry as its backbone is the pillar of an independent national economy. The Communist Party also emphasizes the importance of technological independence and self-sufficiency in resources. As a result of the dedication to this idea, Vyarmansk has created an autarkic industrial economy. Propaganda preaches the virtues of technological self-reliance. The pursuit of economic autarky has been blamed for contributing to low standard of living when compared to neighboring states.

Energy

Lyubyshevsk Nuclear Power Station

Vyarmansk has no coking coal, but has substantial reserves of lignite. Coal production peaked at 12 million tons in 1970 and seems to have peaked at that point due to outdated mining technology. As coal is used mainly for industry and electricity generation, decrease in coal production causes serious problems in industrial production and electricity generation. Coal production may not necessarily increase significantly until Vyarmansk develops newer mining technology. Coal is Vyarmansk's largest source of electricity generation, producing about 47.3% of its power. 20.2% of the power was produced from nuclear, with Vyarmansk having 4 nuclear power stations with an indigenous graphite moderated light-water reactor called the WNR-8. Each WNR-8 reactor produces 500 MW_e. The Ministry of Atomic Energy is currently planning the construction of 2 more reactors, to continue the push to decrease reliance on coal reserves. 18.4% of electricity comes from hydroelectric dams. Vyarmansk has very little petroleum and natural gas reserves. There are sizable reserves of lignite coal in areas of the Vulpes Mountains that remain untapped.

State-run farms in eastern Vyarmansk.

Industry

Vyarmansk hosts a number of heavy, medium and light industries. Due to the abundance of forests, lumber processing plants and paper mills provide thousands of jobs nationwide. Along with iron mines, the forest product industry provides Vyarmansk with crucial building materials. Molybdenum, coal, manganese, tin mines make up the majority of mineral output for processing plants in Vyarmansk.

The Chelyamovsk Tractor Factory is the largest manufacturer of tractors, bulldozers, and other agricultural equipment in Vyarmansk. Employing around 10,000 workers, the factory has a floor area of 142,000 m2 (1,530,000 sq ft) on a total area of 400,000 m2 (4,300,000 sq ft). Peak production capacity is 10,000 tractors per year.

The Vsevongrad Heavy Machine Complex produces a wide array of electric machinery for industrial and household use. Products include electric motors, transformers, power generation equipment such as hydro and thermal power generators, machinery for use in metallurgical and chemical factories, coal mining equipment, etc. Employing approximately 14,000 workers, the complex can produce up to 1,000 electric motors of 75 kW (101 hp) to 320 kW (430 hp), 100-200 560kWA ~ 125,000VA transformers and 100 hydraulic turbine generators of 300 kW (400 hp) to 125,000 kW (168,000 hp) annually.

The Voskreversk Steel Works is one of Vyarmansk's largest steel mills with an annual production capacity in the millions of tons. Currently, there are facilities for the production of steel and other alloys, steel rods, pipes and other metal products, and a facility for the production of large forgings and castings, along with a test and analysis centre. The production facility is equipped with electric furnaces, crushing and rolling mills, 6- and 10,000 tonne presses, oxygen separators and continuous mills. The complex also features metallurgical academies, cultural centres, childcare facilities, clinics, nightclubs and nursing homes.

Agriculture

Farming is concentrated in the flatlands and deforested areas on better soil away from swamplands. A longer growing season, level land, adequate rainfall, and good irrigated soil permit the most intensive cultivation of crops, as compared to the dry shrublands on the eastern most part of the Vulpes Mountains. The regions to the west are far too mountainous and dry to allow much farming. The mountains contain the bulk of Vyarmansk's mineral reserves while the foothills within and between the major agricultural regions provide lands for livestock grazing and crop cultivation.

Since self-sufficiency remains an important pillar of Vyarmanskan ideology, self-sufficiency in food production is deemed a worthy goal. Another aim of government policies—to reduce the gap between urban and rural living standards—requires continued investment in the agricultural sector. The stability of the country depends on steady, if not rapid, increases in the availability of food items at reasonable prices.

A passenger steam locomotive passing through rural Vyarmansk.

State Food Distribution

Since the beginning of the People's Republic, a majority of Vyarmanskans have received their food through the public distribution system (PDS). The PDS requires farmers in agricultural regions to hand over their production to the government and then reallocates the surplus to the greater population, specifically which cannot grow their own foods.

Transport

Transport infrastructure includes railways, highways, water and air routes, but rail transport is by far the most widespread. The Vyarmansk State Railway carries 80% of annual passenger traffic and 86% of freight. Steam locomotives are still used in regular service, using the abundant lignite coal as fuel, alongside a smaller fleet of diesel-electric locomotives which are less common due to lack of petroleum products. Road transport is very limited. The only road networks that are paved are mostly in cities and major roadways connecting large cities. As very few citizens own road vehicles, the demand for expanding paved roadways is low. Only 2% of the freight capacity is supported by river and sea transport, and air traffic is negligible from the state-run airline, Air Vyarmansk. Cars are relatively rare, but bicycles are common.

Culture and Life

Control

Rumors have stated that the working population have very little true privacy. Reports state that all city apartments are tapped or have hidden cameras so that citizens may be watched or listened to at any time, though this is unconfirmed. All apartments do come with a wall-mounted radio that citizens use to listen to state broadcasts, and listen to daily party directives. On telescreens, radios and loudspeakers, daily production statistics and party directives are broadcasted, and it is also believed that almost all figures of production are grossly exaggerated or simply fabricated to indicate an ever-growing economy.

Workers enjoying their daily meal at a workplace canteen.

Daily Routine

Society in Vyarmansk is highly regimented and controlled and citizens follow a strict daily routine. Each morning, workers are awoken by their telescreens or loudspeakers (in rural areas) with music that praises the party and is intended to encourage workers to start their day off with more vigor. The day starts with a 30-minute reading session and exercises before work begins. The reading includes receiving instructions and studying the daily editorial in the party papers or listening to radio broadcasts. This is followed by directives on daily tasks and official announcements. For children, the school day starts with exercises to a medley of songs before a session of marching on the spot. The curriculum is based the party's Thesis on Socialist Education, emphasising the political role of education in developing revolutionary spirit. All children study party doctrine and ideology closely. Learning to read means learning to read about party doctrine. After graduation, the state decides where graduates will work.

At mid-day, factories, offices and workplaces break for lunch for an hour. Large workplaces have a canteen serving lunches, such as potato soup, corn bread and porridge. Work ends at aroung 17:00, but most people are required to remain in the office or factory for the daily Community Session and Learning Session. At the Community Sessions there is a discussion of the day's work, an evaluation of progress and an anticipation of the next day. The Learning Session, conducted by a Party Commissar, is more overtly political and can include a Political Ideology Learning Session to disseminate party policy. Self-criticism is still popular, as are so-called "colleague criticising sessions". Criticisms can range from being late for work to wasting national resources. All criticism is based on party doctrine.

By 20:00, most citizens are already home, and by 22:00, most people are in bed. The scarcity of cars, the early nights, the absence of entertainment venues, and the electricity shortages, mean that by midnight the nation is effectively a ghost city, and remains so until 6am the next day.

A view of workers in their state-issued uniform.

State Provisions

Citizens are provided housing, usually in the form of an apartment. Clothing is provided by the state, with each citizen being given 2 blue boilersuits, which are brought to a clothing refurbishment facility and exchanged for a new set every other week. Food is provided by the state in the form of the State Food Distribution Program. The typical weekly food distribution for two people is; 300g of processed ham, 400g of bread, 10 potatoes, 6 pickled eggs, 200g of powdered milk and gin (1 litre per month). Most workplaces have a cafateria where workers can recieve a daily meal. Money in the form of "labor-returns" (paychecks) can be used to purchase quality of life items or additional food items. Frequently seen quality of life items that can be purchased are cigarettes, alcohol, chocolate (candy), approved books and common household items.

Citizens addressing eachother formally and informally start with "comrade" followed by the individuals last name.