Economy of Prizyetsa
| This page is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final. |
The economy of The United Federation of Prizyetsa is one of the strongest in the Ixnay region, and together with that of the Imperium of Kauvara makes up the strongest economy in the Darklands subregion.
Contents
History
Overview
Employment
Unemployment
Research and development
Income and wealth
Property and home ownership
Poverty
Energy, transportation, and telecommunications
Petroleum and Natural Gas
Offshore Drilling
As Prizyetsa was undergoing vast reforms of energy policy following the fall of the socialist regime in the late sixties and early seventies, vast hydrocarbon reserves were discovered both on the many islands as well as in the seas of the far north of the country. While there was a drive to capitalize on these discoveries, the decision was made to postpone the exploitation of these reserves for political, environmental and technological reasons, given that there was a negative attitude towards offshore drilling, especially in remote areas of the north, and the technology to drill in extremely deep waters was not available at the time. Instead, the government opted to bar drilling in the north of the nation, and instead to open up drilling in the East of the country and to fund the development of alternative fuel sources, such as Prizyetsa's fusion energy program which would come online in the late eighties and be perfected a decade later.
As the technology of offshore drilling ans subsea services advanced, the state started to loosen it's offshore regulations, allowing companies to survey the fields in the far north. Following a 2001 survey, four major fields and dozens of minor pockets were mapped for the first time using three-dimensional models showing that there was an abundance of petroleum and natural gas at depths ranging from as shallow as thirty meters to as deep as four-hundred meters.
The first wells to be sunk in the far north were in the Elttävn field off the coast of the Salttöy, an island in the north east of the Federation by a joint state-private venture ensuring the state had final say in anything the company planned. The wells were operated safely and up to extremely high standards set by the Prizyetsi Ministry of Environment and was regularly inspected to ensure that this was truly the case by the Kystävakt (Eng: Coast Guard). As of 2014, the north has been opened up to foreign companies, although the same strict guidelines apply now as they did when drilling started, and checks on platforms by the Kystävakt are commonplace.
As technology improved, the first seabed drilling rigs were introduced to medium to deep water to capitalize on natural gas fields in the North Entas Ocean. Pionered by the Prizyetsi state majority-owned firm Stattäoll (State Oil), there now more than eight-hundred subsea drilling platforms in medium depth waters, and four-hundred in waters which were once considered to be too deep to drill in exceeding five-hundred meters, most of which are operated by the firm.
The first foreign firm to capitalize on the opening of the northern fields was the Palmerian FUOA (Font Union Oil Agency), which currently produce around 20,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the Entafisk field. Whether this deal will be expanded in the future still remains to be seen, as talks are still ongoing.
Fossil Fuel Exports
While much of the natural gas drilled in Prizyetsa, both from onshore and offshore operation, is kept for internal use in more rural areas and for transportation needs such as buses, cars and ships, a high percentage of what little petroleum is drilled is exported. Recently, the Prizyetsi government has opened up the northern fields to foreign companies, many of which export the oil almost right after it is recovered.
Agriculture
Tourism
Finance
Prizyetsa boasts a strong financial market and is an international contender in the fields of investment and banking, and many firms also sponsor sports teams throughout Prizyetsa and abroad. Many foreign companies have also established offices in the Federation due to the relatively low corporate tax compared to the rest of the northern nations. Prizyetsa is an attractive destination for businesses due to the high degree of education in the country.
Prizyetsi investment firms support projects all across the Greater Ixnay region, ranging from university co-ops to development projects in third world countries. Due to many firms' close association with educational institutions, several prominent Prizyetsi universities also have campuses outside of the country, such as Den Fryä Universitetä Vosto'n (Eng: The University of Vosto) campus of economics and politics located in the Absurranian capital, Absur City. Another major investment project in Absurrania is the construction of the Harfa District near the capital. The district is now the financial hub of Absurrania, and came at a cost of around 40 billion Odar.
Financial firms also help to support military development contracts at home and abroad, such as the joint naval base in Palmeria, a state of the art naval hub designed to be able to arm, refit, and even repair destryer-sized ships and submarines. This development project was undertaken by the most experienced firm in Prizyetsa, the Sverd Group's Vos Shipyards.
