The President
President · Nikita I · 1993–2014
Nikita Marshunok
Founder and permanent president of Republic Z. The windsurfer who discovered Cape Kazantip in 1984 and turned race afterparties into a state of happiness. He signed decrees, issued viZas and personally made sure the Constitution — to seek Happiness and believe in miracles — was upheld.
Prime Ministers
Prime Minister · from 2000
Denis Oding
Appointed Prime Minister of the Republic in 2000 — in the era when Z was turning from an atomic party into a fully-fledged state on the beach.
Prime Minister · 2011–2014
Artem Kharchenko (DJ R-Tem)
DJ and Prime Minister of Popovka's golden final years — including the record-breaking Z-21 (2013) and the Republic's emigration to Anaklia.
Ministers of Culture
Minister of Culture · 1998–2004
Anatoly Satonin (DJ Grad)
The first Minister of Culture: the era of the Reactor and the move to Popovka. He laid the musical foundation of the Republic. He passed away in 2016 — the Republic remembers him.
Minister of Culture · 2004–2006
Andrey Ondrik (DJ Ondrik)
Curated the lineups in the years when all of Europe came to Z — Germans, Dutch and French among the paradiZers.
Minister of Culture · from 2009
Mikhail Chersky (DJ Mike Spirit)
Minister of Culture at the Republic's peak: 300+ DJs per season, Carl Cox and Armin van Buuren on the dancefloors of Z.
Anyone could become a minister
The most beautiful part of how the Republic worked: any citizen could become a minister in one minute. You logged into your personal account and appointed yourself — but you had to invent the name of your ministry and its programme. That's how the Ministry of Hugs, the Ministry of Sunrises and hundreds of others were born. A state where power was handed out for imagination.
The Yellow Suitcase — pride of the nation
How it was born
In the sixth year of the Kazantip era, Nikita Marshunok urgently needed a photo of a suitcase for PTYUCH magazine under the headline "TIME TO PACK YOUR SUITCASES". An old suitcase full of children's toys was found and painted yellow — the colour of summer and sun — overnight in a stairwell on Kamergersky Lane. Since then thousands of people have built their own suitcases, and the Yellow Suitcase became the main symbol of the Republic.
It was never a "free pass": a true suitcase is handed down through generations, never sold or traded, and building one costs more than a multi-viZa. Suitcase-builders were a caste of their own — with flags, viZa designs and the grand tradition of the annual Yellow Suitcase Parade.
The Republic's official suitcase standard
- 1.A classic 1950s–70s travel suitcase with chromed corners.
- 2.Factory yellow or neatly painted — no paint on the corners.
- 3.Any size. Inscriptions allowed, as long as they don't compromise you.
- 4.The owner's photo inside: the suitcase serves as an identity document.
- 5.Registration at the viZa department on arrival; keep it with you at all times, like a Z viZa.
- 6.Handing your suitcase to someone else is punished by customs — up to burning it at the stake. Fakes are confiscated.
The Republic's Marriage Office
You could get married at KaZantip
The Republic ran its own marriage office: couples registered a Z-marriage right on the beach — barefoot, at sunset, to the applause of paradiZers. Newlyweds received a Republic Z certificate, and the wedding march was the same techno beat. The marriage was valid under the laws of Happiness — and some couples later made it official for real.