I just finished a run with Rurik and Yuriy as designed successor. It was an fun and entertaining ride and I Rurik definitely ranks pretty high on my list of unifiers candidates to build a strong Russia. The Far East was stuck in permanent war between Yagoda and Mikhail by the time I swept in in 1969. The Aryan Brotherhood unified the West and took over shattered Omsk.
The final war was my easiest one so far and won in only 5 weeks. I supposed that having 40widths fully upgraded APCs backed by helicopters, CASs and near up to date equipment helped.
Pros for Kemerovo:
- Strong military and can reach Spartan Discipline by mid-1971
- Siberian Plan and industrial advances so in a strong position to build a solid economy and industrial base. I had a whooping 67.5% extra construction speed from Sib plan alone.
- Strong economy in game (reached 12.3% GDP growth) and good mixture of social policies and economic development
- Social development advances across the board.
Cons for Kemerovo:
- Not too great on research & development. I lagged somewhat behind in terms of infantry tech, doctrines and aircraft.
- No easy way to obtain army experience other than via training exercises and manoeuvres.
- Not many buffs for education and research
Overall I would say that it would be a strong contender to take on Germany during the 1970s but not as strong as others like Tomsk, Batov's Sverdlovsk or Novosibirsk.
I haven't tried the Lydia route yet but I imagine it would lead to a stronger army.