Chapter 218 Now we need them: Would you like to be an industrial consultant?

Ivanov didn't have a moment's rest; he was having a very difficult time.

He was scolded as soon as he met Vladimir Punonin.

He had just opened his arms to give his childhood friend a hug when Major General Punonin made no attempt to hide his disgust: "Ivanov, it seems Yura didn't lie at all. Look at you, how bewitched you've become by that Chinese woman! What are you doing? Are you still the honest and kind Ivanov? You've become a parasite on the country, evading taxes yourself and helping so many Chinese evade taxes. You're sucking the blood of us Russians!"

Ivanov was thoroughly berated and completely overwhelmed, so he had no choice but to raise the white flag and surrender: "Hey, my dear brother, let me explain."

“What are you explaining?” Major General Punonin said, heartbroken. “It’s because of unscrupulous businessmen like you that the national treasury is empty, and the government is simply unable to carry out the next step of economic reform. You have become a terrible flea, a blood-sucking flea.”

Ivanov had no choice but to point to the Russian grandmothers who were cleaning the market: "But I gave them all jobs, ensuring they could support themselves despite their low pensions."

The reason why the cleaners in the market are all grandmothers and not grandfathers is partly because grandmothers are more meticulous in cleaning the house, and partly because Russian women generally have a longer life expectancy than men.

Major General Punonin dismissed the concern: "If you pay your taxes properly, then the government will have enough money to give retired seniors more pensions!"

"Will the money collected actually reach them?" Ivanov retorted. "No! How much oil and gas did they secretly sell, how much raw material did they export? Did the money even go into the state's accounts?"

Major General Punonin frowned: "The parliament has been overthrown, the shadow of socialism is rapidly disappearing, and we will be facing an open, transparent and fair government from now on, not the old one."

“God!” Ivanov groaned. “My dear brother, such words are not for you. You are a calm and rational person; you shouldn’t harbor such unrealistic fantasies. Yes, that’s right, I look down on Parliament, and I don’t trust the president. So far, they haven’t shown anything I can trust. Okay, Parliament was fed up and you ousted them. Now the president, who’s starving, has been put in power, and then what? Then they’ll only eat even more. Really, my brother, I know their true colors all too well. I’ll only trust them when they no longer have overseas accounts, when they stop secretly transferring money to Europe and America.”

He excitedly pulled Punoning to see the vegetable market next to the container market, saying, "Look, I'd rather spend my money where I can see it."

“Every day, 1,000 tons of fresh vegetables are supplied here at half the price of those in stores. This is because they are sold at an internal price under the guise of meeting the needs of the vendors in the market.”

“At my farm in the suburbs, I also have a market that supplies 2,000 tons of vegetables every day, and the prices are cheaper than here, only one-third of the store prices.”

"You know how difficult it is to do agriculture in our country, especially building greenhouses in such a cold season. It's impossible to make money there; I even have to put money out of my pocket."

“I have been doing my best to ensure that even the lowest-income people can eat fresh vegetables at least every few days. Families that eat only a kilogram of sausage a week can also eat two pieces of duck when their children are craving it.”

Major General Punonin remained unmoved: "Ivanov, you're downplaying the issue. The taxes you evaded, and the taxes you helped so many foreigners evade, far exceed these investments."

“But I invested,” Ivanov said without a hint of guilt. “I used at least one-tenth of my profits to do these things. Could our government do that? Does even one percent of the raw materials they export go into the national account? Besides, I didn’t enjoy the rest of the money. God is my witness, how simple my life has been. Did I live a life of extravagance and waste? No, I tried every means to raise funds to undertake oil and gas field projects. Every day when I opened my eyes, I had to find a way to earn the $3 billion needed for the oil and gas field expenses. If we didn’t have enough money for even one day, the whole project had to stop.”

Major General Punonin shook his head: "Ivanov, stop making excuses. What you're doing is not only damaging the national treasury, but you're also undermining Russian industry. The existence of these grey-market goods makes our Russian factories even less competitive. If goods can't be sold, factories will close down, and workers will lose their jobs."

"They can't produce!" Ivanov exclaimed agitatedly. "Didn't I try to find ways to help our factories export? I helped connect them with suppliers for cars, motorcycles, and trucks. But now, cars are short of parts and have already stopped production. Motorcycles and trucks are also on the verge of collapse. Not to mention the other factories, they're all lacking this or that. How many more factories have shut down this year compared to last year? You should know better than I do."

As he spoke, a sadness crept into his voice. "Modern Russia can no longer raise funds to develop its industry through the industrial-agricultural price scissors mechanism, as it did in the Soviet era. Our only way out is, as Stalin said, to export raw materials. I know you don't like him. But to be fair, no matter how cruel his methods were, did he transform the Soviet Union into an industrial powerhouse in just two short Five-Year Plans?"

He emphasized, "In the history of Russia's development, is there a better example than this? No! When it comes to developing the economy, all of you combined cannot compare to him."

He let out a long sigh. "So how were we Russians supposed to survive before our government accumulated enough wealth through exporting raw materials to develop industry? Prices were skyrocketing, but 70% of Russians' real income was still lower than it was during the Soviet era. Apart from these cheap daily necessities that came in through grey market channels, the poorest people couldn't afford any goods at all."

He stared into Punonin's eyes. "My dear brother, please tell me, by what right are they being deprived of their right to live? Our President promised that all Russians should be patient, that the crisis would soon pass. But two years have passed, and things haven't improved; in fact, they're getting worse. Tell me, how long are we going to make the people wait?"

Punonin looked back at him, his gaze sharp: "Ivanov, what exactly are you trying to say?"

“Give up that tax revenue, stop relying on it,” Ivanov said earnestly. “Because only through grey market trade can goods be cheap enough that even the poorest Russians can make a living. This is more effective than inefficient government relief subsidies. This is the way to ensure that the broadest range of Russians enjoys real benefits.”

He pointed towards the airport ahead, "Besides, grey market customs clearance also ensures the survival of our Russian civil aviation industry. Do you know how bad the air transport industry was after the collapse of the Soviet Union? Airfares went up, transportation costs went up, but everyone's incomes went down. Fewer people flew, and fewer people used airplanes to transport goods. Without the charter and tax-inclusive model, merchants couldn't guarantee profits when buying and reselling goods. They would abandon air freight."

Ivanov took another deep breath and continued in one go, "You don't serve in the Air Force, so you probably don't feel this much. But just like a house will collapse if people don't live there for a long time, if airplanes can't be kept running and pilots can't maintain normal working conditions, then the airline is finished."

Punonin looked at him strangely: "So, your air transport company is making a fortune, Ivanov. One shouldn't be too greedy."

"Then my dear brother, hasn't the government benefited from this?" Ivanov gestured to the crowds coming and going in the market. "Every Russian knows perfectly well how badly the government's economic reforms have been done. Why haven't they rebelled? Is it because we Russians have only submissive blood flowing in our veins?"

"No, it's because we haven't reached the point of desperation yet!"

"Dacha ensured our basic food needs, and cheap Chinese goods maintained our basic living needs."

"It is the existence of these things that makes ordinary people feel that they can still live without having to rebel."

"The Soviet Union was willing to provide the people with dachas to ensure they had food back then. Does the government now intend to deprive the people of their dachas?"

Ivanov, who considered himself on the side of justice, spoke with particular righteous indignation: "The reason I only started operating this container market in the summer is because the government's foolish policy of abolishing the ruble has completely destroyed our industrial system. We can no longer repair it; we can only wait until we obtain funds through the export of enough raw materials before rebuilding it."

"The gray-area customs clearance model can help the government maintain public morale and help people protect their wealth to the greatest extent. It can also help the Russian aviation industry maintain basic survival and earn development funds. Why not do it?"

Punonin glanced at him and said nothing kind: "It has allowed businessmen like you to amass wealth that doesn't belong to you."

Ivanov retorted, "But this is the best way for Russia to survive right now. We have to survive first before we can talk about development, right?"

Punonin stared at him: "Is this your so-called 'saving the country through industry,' directly abandoning Russia's industry?"

Ivanov, however, would not admit it: "I am trying to preserve the industrial spark of Russia. I don't run banks, I run many factories."

Punonin's tone was almost contemptuous: "Are you referring to those down jacket factories that import down jacket shells from China and then blow duck down into them in Moscow, or those shoe factories that import shoe uppers and soles and assemble them in Moscow, and those food processing factories?"

Ivanov said earnestly, "But these are the only remaining industries in Russia that can guarantee continuous production."

"Alright," Punonin suddenly changed his tone, "Ivanov, now I'm asking you, are you willing to serve as the government's industrial policy advisor?"

Ivanov's eyes widened, somewhat unable to keep up with his pace: "What do you mean?"

So, all this fuss about was actually an interview?

As darkness fell, Wang Xiao finally walked wearily out of the container market.

Major General Punonin seemed to be trying to give Ivanov a hard time.

He took the people to a meeting at the Kremlin, but he didn't withdraw the tax police; so much cargo is still being held.

Later on, many people lost their composure and went to Wang Xiao to emphasize that they would be satisfied as long as they could get back 70% of the goods.

When Ivanov returned to the market after attending the so-called industrial development planning meeting, he was also greatly surprised by the scene.

He thought the show was over when Punonin took him away.

"I'm sorry," Major General Punonin smiled slightly, "I can't possibly be perfect in every way."

Each of the merchants whose goods were seized paid a fine of 100,000 rubles before they were able to retrieve their goods.

No one dared to complain at this point; getting their things back was the most important thing.

Ivanov smiled and nodded at Punonin, then waved goodbye.

Once he got in the car, his face fell.

Fuck! This is a warning to him to figure out who the king and queen really are.

Wang Xiao patted his back reassuringly: "That's a good thing. At least it proves that your friend has mastered the secret to surviving in the new government."

Ivanov paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "That's right, an honest and kind person cannot survive among wolves."

Look, they will all become people they don't recognize.

Wang Xiao didn't continue the topic, but only asked the key question: "What do you talk about in your meetings? Is it confidential?"

"What's there to keep secret?" Ivanov bent his knuckles and touched his forehead, looking somewhat tired. "The same old thing, accelerate the privatization process."

Privatization has been a practice that the Moscow government has been pursuing since before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Or rather, some brilliant minds had already taken action before the government even started doing it.

Those factory directors, managers, and so-called party elites took advantage of the weakening of central power to abuse their power for personal gain and line their own pockets.

Any state-owned enterprise can internally establish a "pocket bank," which in turn can spawn a trading company. This trading company sells the company's products, and the profits are then channeled through the pocket bank into the overseas accounts of the company's executives and associates.

The essence of this was theft of state property, but absurdly, it did not violate any explicit Soviet laws. This was because the law did not provide clear guidelines on how to transfer assets from the state to private hands.

From this perspective, the radicals' demand for the implementation of universal privatization at that time cannot be called absurd.

After all, privatization that belongs to all employees of the enterprise is much better than the party and government leaders dividing up the spoils.

The privatization movement in the late Soviet Union began against this social backdrop.

Their Huaxia Commercial Street is a product of this movement.

The Russian federal government then distributed privatization securities to the public, promising that Russians could become the true owners of state property through these securities.

However, almost no one believed it.

The privatization process, which has lasted for more than two years, has not progressed very smoothly.

The government says that the Communist Party is interfering, and the shadow of socialism is preventing the Russian people from receiving their share of property.

Now that parliament has fallen and the president has absolute power, he can finally rule with his own voice, so he is pushing forward the privatization process with great force.

Today's so-called industrial development conference is about how to ensure that privatization can proceed smoothly.

Large enterprises, in particular, must be privatized on a large scale.

Wang Xiao smiled, filled with emotion: "Russia's true new elite is finally about to be born. Let's wait and see who our richest man is."

Farming can never compare to harvesting ready-made crops.

She didn't know about Russia, but she did know about China's state-owned enterprise reforms. Tsk, how many of the earliest billionaires weren't former CEOs of state-owned enterprises?

However, this is also an opportunity for them.

Wang Xiao asked Ivanov directly, "What kind of factory do you want? My personal suggestion is that we should avoid oil and gas companies for now. Even if we do, we shouldn't try to take it all for ourselves, because it's too conspicuous and attracts too much attention."

Even a fool knows that exporting oil and natural gas is a sure way to make money, and those outside the core interest group can't even get close to it.

Ivanov rubbed his face, trying to lighten the mood: "They wouldn't consider me anyway. I guess they mean they want me to take over the manufacturing plant."

Anyone who's worked in Russia knows just how bad its manufacturing sector is right now.

Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have thought of him.

Instead of joining him in criticizing the government's lack of morality, Wang Xiao directly made a demand: "I want the Kamaz car factory."

Their transport fleet now needs a large number of trucks to move goods.

By the end of the 20th century, when Russia changed presidents and began to crack down on grey market customs clearance, China's first wave of real estate boom also began.

Infrastructure projects also require a large number of trucks.

In other words, by taking over this car factory, they won't have to worry about product sales for at least 20 years.

Moreover, she had visited the Kamaz automobile factory and was deeply impressed by the high quality of its employees and its modern production model.

This is quite rare in Russian factories.

How to put it? The problems that old Chinese state-owned enterprises had were basically the same as those of Soviet state-owned enterprises, just to varying degrees.

What are the problems with China's old state-owned enterprises? Don't look at them with a biased perspective. When Zhang Ruimin took office at Haier, one of the 13 rules he set was that people were not allowed to urinate or defecate in the workshop.

Ivanov readily stopped cursing and smoothly replied, "Oh, of course, it's a lovely little darling."

He admired the resilience of the Marcus automobile plant.

This year's fire destroyed its diesel engine plant, but by the end of the year, it had tenaciously restored its production capacity.

This factory inspired him to place his hopes for Russia's future.

He longed for his homeland to survive, just like the Kamaz automobile factory after the fire, no matter how difficult things got.

"And a steel mill," Wang Xiao made his second request. "We need to produce specialty steel. Otherwise, I'm not happy about always having to ask Japanese manufacturers for specialty steel when repairing pipelines."

Ivanov was equally unhappy.

The No. 1 oil and gas field project on Sakhalin Island was no longer related to the Japanese.

After construction began, the two bosses who were paying for the project realized that Japanese companies controlled 90% of the global specialty steel market. Whether it was for oil pipelines or natural gas pipelines, they would definitely have to buy specialty steel from Japan.

Wang Xiao emphasized, "If I can't get it, then I'll go back to my dad's factory."

She didn't prioritize Jinning Steel Plant because state-owned enterprises have too many procedures and endless meetings when it comes to implementing new technologies and production lines.

Moreover, to be fair, in terms of professional talent reserves, the foundation left by Soviet education in Russia is clearly much stronger than that of China's current steel industry.

Moreover, from the perspective of maintaining relations, their exploration of Sakhalin's oil and gas fields, and their intention to use Russian steel as much as possible, would also improve the perception of Russians.

Ivanov immediately retorted, "How could that be! Nobody wants them."

This is the situation in most machine tool factories, forging plants, automobile factories, and shipyards in Russia: because of product upgrades, old equipment is no longer needed and remains idle; and since no one is buying the products, production has to be reduced, and some equipment has to be shut down. Large equipment breaks down, and there's no money to repair it, so it just sits there waiting to be scrapped.

The cruelty of having the supply chain disrupted is like that of the fragmented Soviet Union; things can never go back to the way they were before.

Ivanov perked up and began discussing with Wang Xiao which factories they could take over.

To be honest, Wang Xiao was reluctant to take over too many factories because the cost of formal labor in Russia was higher than in China.

Furthermore, there is a Russian proverb that says people would rather go logging than work in a factory.

The factories they invested in in Moscow, such as down jacket factories, shoe factories, and food processing plants, were able to operate normally because the workers they hired were either retired farm workers with meager pensions or unfortunate Russians who had returned from various former Soviet republics.

These people just want to survive; they don't care about being picky about their jobs.

But if it's a large factory, you definitely can't do it this way; you need to have a stable workforce.

Frankly speaking, Russia's business environment is terrible, it struggles with raw material supply, it doesn't even have an ice-free port, and it doesn't have an advantage in terms of labor; it's really not a good place to develop industry.

So she tactfully suggested, "Let's see if we can take over the paper mill first."

"Huh?" Ivanov was a little confused and couldn't understand why she specifically asked for a paper mill.

Wang Xiao explained, "After we take over the paper mill, we can specialize in producing various packaging boxes and paper bags. According to the current trend, more and more manufacturers like us will import semi-finished products from China to Russia for final assembly."

Why? Of course, it's to avoid taxes.

Russia's taxes can bankrupt any legitimate businessperson.

“It would be too much trouble for these factories to specialize in packaging. By taking these orders, we are essentially solving a major problem for them,” Wang Xiao emphasized. “This is a business where we can guarantee the raw materials—timber, transportation, and sales channels. Ivanov, you can’t act impulsively. Otherwise, if we can’t deliver, we’ll end up ruining those businesses.”

Ivanov slowly exhaled, rubbed his face again, and turned to look at her: "Wang, I think you're wrong. Russia can't repeat the path of the Soviet Union's 1525 plan, no matter how much energy we sell or how much money we make. Even if we experience another Great Depression, the United States and Europe won't transfer their industries to Moscow."

He shook his head, his voice low, "Unless they've gone mad, they would never create another powerful enemy for themselves."

Wang Xiao paused for a moment, thinking to himself that Russia's lack of industrial development really had little to do with ideology.

When it comes to technological blockades, China's predicament is definitely no easier than Russia's.

But they had discussed this before, so there was really no need to keep repeating the same old story.

So she simply took a different approach: "So what? If we set up an LCD screen factory in China, would Japan agree to let us import the production line? No. But did we give up on setting up the factory?"

Ivanov's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Engineers! We can hire engineers at high salaries. With engineers, we'll have the technology."

He opened his arms and hugged Wang Xiao tightly. "Wang, I really love you so much. I can't live without you."

Without her, who could bear his occasional melancholy and pain?

Without her, who could always offer him the most practical and effective comfort when he was vulnerable, lonely, and helpless?

My God, every Russian truly needs a king. Because every Russian is lonely and melancholic.

Those painters and artists who, when drunk, pleaded, "I'm going to die, comfort me!" were expressing the heartfelt sentiments of the Russian people.

Only a king can provide sufficient emotional value.

Wang Xiao was almost suffocated by the stench because this guy took off his outer coat because he felt hot after getting on the bus, and then he started sweating.

"Alright!" She turned her head to look out the car window, avoiding the direction of travel. "Let's not waste any more time. Let's get to the steel plant as soon as possible, bring the people from the research institute, and see how to make the special steel we need."

Who knows when Project No. 1 will be able to extract oil and gas? The sooner they produce the finished product, the more options they will have.

Besides, the low international oil prices in the 1990s weren't necessarily bad news.

Prolonged low oil prices and Russia's poor business environment mean that many investors are deterred.

If there's a Project 1, why can't there be a Project 2?

As for funding, don't forget that she's someone who can earn $1 billion selling fleece for just one winter.