Maj Holdings is a private conglomerate headquartered in Polograd, concentrated in eastern agro-trade, Novi Otonik metallurgy (Maj Steel), western lake steel via subsidiary Vokamet, logistics, and retail. Chaired by senator Bran Maj and founded by his grandfather Severtzi Maj, it extracts industrial rents from District VIII through local managers while remaining an eastern corporate and political machine — a peer, not a monopoly, of northern SeverMin, Sinj-centred STP Credit, and the Stov-era tech contractors of Kromine.
The company’s immense size and its founder’s political activities have made it the subject of numerous controversies and scandals, particularly concerning its market dominance, labor practices, and potential conflicts of interest.
Maj Holdings recruits heavily from the Otonik Institute of Applied Sciences for Novi Otonik Maj Steel and, through Vokamet bursaries, from MUV for the Cetingrad yards. Scholarship chairs train engineers on proprietary systems; plant leadership in the west remains deliberately local.
The conglomerate is headquartered in the Maj Tower in Polograd. The construction of this glass skyscraper in the heart of the historic city was controversial, symbolizing the dominance of Bran Maj’s corporate interests over the traditionalist aesthetics of the district capital.
Corporate History
Origins (1948–1985)
The roots of Maj Holdings lie in the immediate post-war era. In 1948, Severtzi Maj, the grandfather of current chairman Bran Maj, founded Pologradska Agro-Trade in the city of Polograd. Originally a modest agricultural logistics firm, the company focused on acquiring and consolidating struggling local cooperatives across District III.
Under Severtzi’s conservative stewardship, the company spent decades building a near-monopoly on grain distribution in eastern Kresimiria, accumulating significant capital reserves but remaining strictly within the agricultural sector. Following Severtzi’s death, control of the family enterprise eventually passed to his grandson, Bran Maj, who sought to leverage the company’s stable assets for aggressive expansion.
Expansion into Heavy Industry (1986–1994)
The pivotal moment in the company’s transformation came in 1986. Under the direction of the young Bran Maj, the company made a high-risk diversification into heavy industry. Utilizing the capital accumulated by his grandfather’s grain empire, Maj began acquiring several aging and inefficient state-run steel and ironworks in and around the industrial city of Novi Otonik (District II).
This aggressive entry into the industrial sector caused significant social friction. Maj’s attempts to modernize the plants and cut labor costs led to immediate and bitter conflict with the local trade unions, most notably SZNO, which was then organised by the rising political figure Ljubo Sanjakorin. The clash between Maj’s private capital and Sanjakorin’s labor movement would define the political economy of Kresimiria for the next two decades.
This period coincided with the leadership of Blue Dawn’s Ljubo Sanjakorin, whose government was struggling with the high costs of maintaining outdated industrial plants. Maj successfully argued that private ownership could revitalize the sector. He implemented aggressive modernization programs, cut down on labor costs, and invested heavily in new technology. By the early 1990s, his revitalized steel and iron divisions were outcompeting the remaining state-run enterprises.
Consolidation and Diversification (1995–Present)
In 1995, the company was formally restructured and renamed Maj Holdings to reflect its diversifying interests. After adding Cetingrad’s yards as Vokamet (1993) atop Novi Otonik Maj Steel, Maj expanded into adjacent industries. Maj Logistics was formed to manage the transport of raw materials and finished goods, while Maj Manufacturing began producing consumer goods. By the early 2000s, critics and tabloids often claimed Maj Holdings controlled a third or more of private business. Chamber and Council for Development statistical digests treat those figures as rhetorical: the firm’s documented dominance is in private steel output, lake freight, and discount retail, not a cross-sector majority of firms.
A key factor in the conglomerate’s dominance is its exemption from standard currency controls. While most businesses must trade exclusively in the Krejt, Maj Holdings possesses a “Level 1 Trade License” from the Bank of Zvonomir, allowing it to hold vast reserves of foreign currency. This hedges the company against domestic inflation and allows it to import raw materials more cheaply than its state-owned competitors.
In 2009, seeking to escape the high interest rates imposed by the Sinj establishment, the conglomerate launched Prosperity Trust Bank. This subsidiary allows Maj Holdings to self-finance its massive infrastructure projects and provides banking services to its vast workforce, closing the loop on Bran Maj’s “state within a state.”
Controversies and Scandals
Maj Holdings has been embroiled in numerous public controversies throughout its history.
The Cetingrad Steelworks Incident (1998)
In November 1998, Blast Furnace No. 4 at Vokamet (then often still branded “Maj Steel” in national press) in Cetingrad catastrophically failed, killing seven workers and injuring over twenty. The Council for Development found that local Works Director Ante Bilic and municipal proxy Mayor Said Klopje had deferred valve maintenance while Maj Tower pushed output targets. In The State v. Maj Holdings (1999), the District VIII Court found the parent corporation guilty of criminal negligence by a 5–2 vote but imposed only a â‚4.2 million fine — no jail terms; Bran Maj was never personally charged and did not attend the hearings. Critics, including Chair Ljubo Sanjakorin, blamed Vjetrusa patronage under Senator Misko Maretic. The incident cemented Vokamet’s reputation in the Foundry District as an eastern extraction mill with local faces.
Corruption Scandal with Kaskiv and Luppino (2001–2002, 2018)
In late 2001, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kaskiv, Vulpiano Luppino, was embroiled in scandals alleging he had taken bribes from Maj Holdings to ensure favourable contracts with the large natural gas reserves discovered in Kaskiv in the late 1970s. The revelations forced Luppino from office in early 2002, ahead of that year’s general election, but Maj Holdings deny any wrongdoing, and no criminal charges were ever filed.
In 2018, revelations emerged that Maj Holdings had received secret preferential gas tariffs from the administration of Kaskivian Prime Minister Elena Fiori. These below-market rates for the Novi Otonik steelworks were a major contributing factor to Fiori’s electoral defeat later that year.
Insider Trading Allegations (2004)
Two years after Bran Maj was elected to the Assembly, Maj Holdings acquired a smaller, state-run agricultural firm, “Ravna Skrad Grains,” for a price well below its market valuation. It was later revealed in a leaked document that Maj, in his capacity as a Senator, had attended a closed-door briefing with the Council for Growth and Agriculture three weeks before the sale, where the state’s intention to privatize the struggling firm at a discount was discussed.
The opposition CRF, under leader Boj Volansky, called for an official inquiry, alleging that Maj had used privileged information for personal gain. In CRF v. Maj, the Superior Tribunal declined to hear the case, citing insufficient evidence of direct wrongdoing, but the affair damaged Maj’s public image and led to accusations that he was using his political office to enrich his company.
The “Iron Triangle” Monopoly Lawsuit (2015)
In 2015, a coalition of smaller manufacturing companies filed a landmark lawsuit with the Superior Tribunal, accusing Maj Holdings of engaging in anti-competitive practices. The suit alleged that Maj Holdings was using its three largest divisions: Maj Steel, Maj Logistics, and Maj Manufacturing, to create a “closed loop” or “Iron Triangle.” The claim was that Maj Steel would sell raw materials to Maj Manufacturing at a preferential rate, while Maj Logistics would refuse to transport goods for any competing manufacturer, effectively strangling any potential rivals.
After a lengthy legal battle, the Superior Tribunal ruled in 2017 that while Maj Holdings’ practices were “aggressive,” they did not technically violate Kresimirian monopoly laws. The verdict was a victory for the company, but it confirmed its public perception as a ruthless corporate behemoth that stifled competition. The case remains a key point of reference in debates about economic regulation in Kresimiria.
Rivalry with YakaSys (2016)
YakaSys has a tense relationship with Maj Holdings. Bran Maj has frequently criticized the government for granting YakaSys a total monopoly on software, arguing that his own logistics division could develop better solutions. In 2016, Maj Holdings attempted to sue YakaSys over “exorbitant licensing fees” for using KresiX on Maj Logistics’ fleet management terminals, but the case was dismissed by the District II Court.
Kambelquell
Vokamet and Novi Otonik Maj Steel smelters buy Alandir hydroelectric power via the Kambel cascade, so the conglomerate lobbies quietly for export-friendly councils in Kambelquell. Day-to-day alpine interference, however, is more often attributed to SeverMin and CEO Enej Palmstruch, whose northern mines and smog diplomacy dominate Pragmatist Guild funding fights; Maj usually appears as a secondary industrial buyer rather than the sole foreign oligarch on the lodges.
Northfocus
Maj Holdings has engaged in a protracted legal war with the regional media group Northfocus. Following the release of the Northfocus documentary series Red Shore, which implicated Vokamet (parent: Maj Holdings) in dumping toxic heavy metals into Lake Vokavovic, the conglomerate and its subsidiary filed high-profile libel suits culminating in Vokamet v. Northfocus (2012). Temporary terrestrial injunctions were obtained in District VIII and later vacated on appeal; attempts to bankrupt the outlet failed, and the litigation drew further attention to the Red Shore allegations.