Vladamir-Shivan Combine, A Dystopian Corporation

The world and the businesses within it are constantly shifting, those on top one day are cast down.  Each of the megacorporations is looking for a way to climb over their rivals and take a piece of the prize.  Equally, they are always looking over their shoulder, watch out for others trying to pull them down.  This is one of the lesser corporations, looking for its chance to climb to the top.

The Vladamir-Shivan Combine emerged in the 2030s as a fusion of various Indian and Russian interests.  Its origin and strength was in the agriculture sector and that remains a core component in the Combine‘s portfolio though they have since expanded into biotechnology and other higher

STRUCTURE SUMMARY

Primary Operations: Agricultural production and procession, biochemical, finance, heavy industry
Worth (Assets): Solid, with a cushion
Total Employees: 41,000
Main HQ: Kolkata
Principle Branches: Moscow; Mumbai; Sofia, Rumania.
Chief Executives: Argus Sighn, Chairman, and President Viktoria Petrograd-Mariz.
Major Stockholder(s): Indian Union Holdings (5.3%), Russian Federation Investment Fund (5.1%), Evo Corporation (2.1%).
Owned Corporations of Note: Agni Armaments, All India Bank, FoxNut Farms, Nexus Industrial Biochemical, Vladamir Heavy Industries and Construction.

CYBERSPACE DATA

Icon: A sheaf of wheat with a sickle floating above.
Defenses: Heavy and obvious, most of the jurisdictions they work in have no complaints about the use of Black ICE and so the Combine is happy to do so.  It relies on brute force and redundancies over complexity in its systems.
Additional information: Most of the V-SC‘s research and production facilities are physically isolated from the Matrix, relying on courier-delivered updates and onsite programmers.

CORPORATE HISTORY

Following the economic damage of the Eurowars in the late 2030s,  Russian industry turned to its old friends, such as the Indian Union for markets and support.  The Vladamir Heavy Industry Unit opened new factories in India and entered into contracts with the Shivan Agricultural Bank, there is some debate over who absorbed who, but the end result was the Vladamir-Shivan Combine.  A vertically integrated producer of agricultural products from farmland to seed crops, farm machinery to bank loans, the V-SC provides it all.

By the 2050s, the V-SC had pivoted to heavy investments in biotechnology and plant-based products.  Many of its innovations were kept in-house for as long as possible to reap the best reward and encourage farmers to sign on the the VS-C.  It was more successful in India than in Russia and Eastern Europe but did open some of the African market to Vladamir-Shivan interests as well.  To their annoyance Western Europe, North and South America have remained resistant to the charms of V-SC offers with the exception of Quebec where they have recently opened a farm equipment plant and export considerable seed grain to.

In Shadowrun, they also work to isolate, harvest, and refine parabotanical input for use in alchemy, enchanting, and other maghical operations.  Their research and development in this area has been a consistent money spinner for the Combine and they bring several new products to market each quarter.  One of their most successful products is NovAmrt, a beer brewed from awakened barley that provides limited astral sight (V-SC provides the awakened barley and technical advice; local brewers produce it).

Campaign uses:

While the Combine is not as vicious as some of the other major corporate players, they are willing to use violence to achieve their ends, providing that the cost (monetary, PR, and so in) is justified.  However, in general, they prefer to play defense, playing up the aid they provide to farming communities and the damages caused to such groups when they are attacked.

V-SC occasionally hires “outside specialists” to protect some of their more valuable shipments when they are going places that V-SC cannot send its security detachments to (V-SC security’s emphasis on mass makes this more common in certain areas).

The Combine is always on the hunt for information about what their competitors are up to, especially in the biotechnology field.  (In Shadowrun, their top two targets would be Aztechnology and Wuxing.)

Notes: The Vladamir-Shivan Combine made an appearance very early in my Shadowrun campaign and has always been lurking in the background, waiting for a chance to emerge again, and so they have.  May go back and try and fillin some more campaign uses and plot seeds but this is already late.

Basic corporation template adopted from Sprawlgangs and Megacorporations.

Images Wheat Threster from PublicDomainPictures.net and is in the Public Domain.