Chapter 172 Flying to Moscow: The oil field's equity must be acquired.
The state-owned oil company holds a significant share in the project, at 15%.
The total investment for this oil and gas field project is US$15 billion, which is US$2.25 billion.
Even if the initial investment before oil production only accounts for 10%, that's still a solid 225 million US dollars.
Honestly, even Wang Xiao himself doesn't believe in his own integrity.
When this number was presented to her, her first thought was to invest in real estate.
Heavens above, no one can resist the temptation to make quick money, especially when she has what's called a golden touch.
Others invest in trending projects without knowing whether they will make a profit or loss, so they are naturally less persistent.
She knows the trend of housing prices; she must be going through so much internal turmoil.
Ivanov, however, did not have such worries. He was now in high spirits, his eyes fixed on the 15% stake, and eagerly asked Wang Xiao, "Wang, should we buy in?"
This is a rare opportunity.
As is well known, Russia is rich in oil and natural gas resources, which can be called the treasure of the country's wealth.
However, the more abundant and unique the resources, the more monopolistic the business model becomes, making it difficult for outsiders to enter the market.
This is a rare opportunity; if they don't take it now, they might not get another chance like this.
Wang Xiao paced around the room like a trapped beast, muttering incessantly, "Two hundred and twenty-five million US dollars."
Ivanov also felt overwhelmed; adding the $150 million they had previously agreed to invest, that brought the total to $375 million.
Good heavens, that's no small number.
All their working capital combined couldn't withstand such an investment.
How do the larger Japanese and American companies operate? They all have large conglomerates behind them.
Ivanov looked very disappointed, his voice lowering: "Maybe we should just forget about it?"
"No." Wang Xiao finally finished pacing around and made up her mind. "We'll take this one. We have to take it."
There are many types of businesses. Some investments can be made at any time, such as the well-known quick money industries, real estate and the stock market, which have no barriers to entry.
However, for some projects, it's not like you can just jump in whenever you have money.
She took a deep breath and emphasized again, "This is a rare opportunity."
Ivanov smiled contentedly, his voice lightening: "That's right, we've gotten a bargain. So, my dear king, we need to discuss how to allocate the funds."
Wang Xiao made an OK sign: "I'll make a phone call first."
Was she making the call to mobilize various forces to send her money?
Is there some mysterious big shot hiding behind her?
Not only Ivanov, but even the bodyguards pricked up their ears with curiosity.
As it turned out, the person Wang Xiao contacted on this phone call was Tang Yicheng.
Moreover, the purpose of her phone call was not to get the other party to hand over the money quickly so as to gather funds, but to get people to continue investing in real estate.
As for the source of the investment funds, she set her sights on taxi companies.
People who sit around collecting money every day shouldn't waste their money. They should invest it in Hong Kong real estate; at least they can collect rent in the future.
Tang Yicheng initially listened with "oh, oh, oh," but ever since Wang Xiao called him and asked him to buy a courtyard house in Beijing and a house in Hong Kong, he had been working on this project.
Among them, courtyard houses in Beijing are faster to find information. After all, because they do business, they have a base in Beijing and send people to be stationed there for a long time, so it is easy for them to find channels to understand the housing market.
But in Hong Kong, buying a house is not so easy.
Firstly, due to identity restrictions, they have to register a company in Hong Kong before they can purchase property in the company's name.
Secondly, although Hong Kong's property market is very developed, if you are an outsider, you must be careful not to be taken advantage of and ripped off.
Before Tang Yicheng could even report on the progress of his work, he was suddenly instructed to use the taxi company's profits to buy a house. He was immediately taken aback: "Do we need to use this money? What I was thinking was that we could expand the scale of the taxi company."
Currently, the taxi company's business is concentrated in Xiaozhou and Jinning, and business is booming.
But other places also need taxis, so they should take this opportunity to expand their market and make more money.
Even though cars are hard to come by in Russia now, there are still other cars available for sale on the market.
Even with a large initial investment, given the booming taxi market, this investment can be recouped quickly.
Wang Xiao sighed and immediately poured cold water on his idea: "Don't even think about it. It's too late to buy it now."
The taxi market is booming; anyone with eyes can see that.
Since everyone else has seen it, it naturally means it's none of your business.
Don't regret not getting in earlier.
Even if you enter someone else's territory early and your business thrives, the money may not necessarily end up in your pocket.
Is the taxi company able to operate steadily in Jinning and Xiaozhou because she had a unique vision and entered the local taxi market early on?
No, no, the real reason is that she has a very good relationship with the governments of both places.
This positive relationship ensured the company could operate normally.
However, if she wants to use this relationship to further expand her territory, it means she's encroaching on other people's interests, which could easily make her hated and cause a lot of trouble.
Their current cadre training is still in its initial stage. Branch managers who can take charge independently cannot grow without a certain amount of experience.
If a company lacks sufficient talent, no matter how prestigious it is, it is tantamount to throwing its head away if it rashly goes to compete with local powerhouses.
Instead of that, it's better to keep it simple and invest in real estate.
This is why people with spare cash tend to invest in finance and real estate.
The risk factor is high, but because it's high enough that you can't control it, it's actually easy and simple, relying mainly on luck.
Tang Yicheng's face flushed with embarrassment upon hearing her sighs.
He suspected that his boss was giving him a warning.
Because of his selfishness, he failed to cultivate capable subordinates while working at the taxi company.
So much so that now, even though they know that expanding the taxi market could make money, they can only look on with envy.
Even now, when it comes to using the taxi company's profits, the boss doesn't contact the taxi company's manager directly, but instead calls him directly.
He felt his face burning hot, as if he were being roasted over a fire.
He had to clear his throat to pretend nothing was wrong and say, "Alright then, I'll speed things up in Hong Kong."
After hanging up the phone, he subconsciously picked up the advertising leaflet on the photocopier and used it as a fan to cool himself.
Actually, it's quite cold in Suifenhe in April; summer is still a long way off.
However, he always felt like there was a pair of eyes watching him, so much so that it made him feel feverish.
A shout came from downstairs: "Brother Tang, dinner's ready!"
He responded and went downstairs. As he picked up his rice bowl, he glanced around suspiciously.
The person who met his gaze inexplicably touched their face, wondering if they had food stuck to it.
"It's alright, it's alright." Tang Yicheng finally made up his mind. "I'm going to fly to Hong Kong in the next couple of days. You guys keep a close eye on things here and don't cause any trouble."
The subordinates who were gathered around perked up, each one full of enthusiasm, and one even volunteered: "Brother Tang, can you take me with you? I can speak Cantonese."
A chorus of boos erupted around him. "Hey, what a load of rubbish!"
What's wrong with your Cantonese? Don't we all know that?
We all watched the videotape of Futaba's dominance together.
"You all have a chance to go," Tang Yicheng said. "Maybe in the future, when we ask you to go, you'll all make excuses and refuse to go."
The crowd burst into laughter again. How could that be? They had been dreaming of seeing such a sight.
They've witnessed the bustling activity in Suifenhe for over a year, and Russia has made countless trips there, but they've yet to experience the true capitalist world.
Tang Yicheng glanced at his enthusiastic subordinates without showing any emotion, and finally gave up in dejection.
Well, if KGB could be easily identified, it wouldn't be a globally renowned entity.
He felt that as long as he had a clear conscience, that was enough.
Regardless of the uproar Wang Xiao's phone call caused in the heart of her capable subordinate, after hanging up, she still had to discuss the next steps with Ivanov.
“Let’s go back to Moscow first,” Wang Xiao suggested. “We have to go and see for ourselves what’s going on.”
Ivanov breathed a sigh of relief; he knew he had to return home to resolve the issue.
However, when they left at the beginning of the year, they were practically like stray dogs.
Wang Xiao wouldn't have dared to suggest flying back to Moscow unless Wang Xiao took the initiative.
Even if he nods in agreement now, his next words will be: "Let me ask and see how it goes."
What's going on? It's the security situation in Moscow, of course.
He couldn't possibly be so delusional as to think that Moscow could achieve political clarity and social harmony and stability in just a few months.
What he wanted to know was whether the Mafia's attitude was still to use him as a target, ready to shoot him at any time as a warning to others.
He called a friend who owns a security company, only to be met with a merciless rebuke: "Weren't you quite tough back then?"
“Hey! My buddy!” Ivanov jumped up and down. “I’m doing this because I trust you to keep me safe.”
His friend didn't give him any face at all: "Well, I didn't tell you to let yourself go. I'm keeping a low profile myself."
Ivanov, not wanting to listen to his boring lectures, said impatiently, "Just tell me if I can go back."
"As long as you pay on time, I can guarantee your safety."
But his friend warned him, "You have to cooperate and stop thinking about romantic opportunities, or you'll fall into Yanzi's trap, and then there'll be nothing I can do."
Ivanov roared, "I am now very disciplined."
It wasn't that his moral standards suddenly improved, but rather that he was limited by circumstances.
Jin Ning wasn't his territory, and he was afraid of having a romantic encounter there, only to fall into a honey trap and have to ask Wang Xiao to use his connections to get him out.
He already lacked confidence in front of his partners because he had lost his home-field advantage.
The more insecure a person is, the more afraid they are of losing face.
Compared to dignity, those little personal desires are nothing.
Anyway, when he's really feeling pent up, he can always use a lifelike doll to relieve his frustration.
The security company owner burst into laughter, joking, "Your Bazan must be ecstatic!"
This was a sarcastic remark from an intellectual, but Ivanov's playboy nature was exposed: "Who is Bazin?"
His friend said irritably, "You idiot, you're the one who ruined the reputation of Soviet higher education. Alright, come back now, so you don't embarrass us Russians abroad."
After hanging up the phone, Ivanov was still completely bewildered: "Who exactly is Bazan?"
Wang Xiao was also completely baffled and guessed, "Aramis's servant in 'The Three Musketeers'?"
This guy was a devout Catholic and desperately wanted his master to become a true priest.
However, Aramis never truly broke off her relationship with her married lover who lived on Bear Street.
Ivanov first realized what was going on, then complained, "I never thought of becoming a priest either."
They even laughed at him for being uncultured. Does knowing a world classic and randomly applying it make someone cultured?
Despite his complaints, with his friend's assurance, Ivanov dared to embark on his journey back home.
Before leaving, he warmly invited the members of the Doll Club to come back with him.
However, his friends lacked sufficient understanding of his personality and unanimously suspected that he wanted to use them as cannon fodder to attract the attention of the Mafia.
So everyone unanimously refused.
The group unanimously agreed: "You go first, go back to China and explore the way, then we'll follow."
Even after boarding the plane, Ivanov complained to Wang Xiao, "These guys are useless when it really matters."
His intention in bringing people back to China was primarily to attract more investment funds.
225 million is not a small amount; bringing in more people can help spread the risk.
Unfortunately, people don't seem to have much interest in investing in their own country.
Wang Xiao comforted him, "Don't think about it anymore, let's go back and check the situation first."
To be honest, she wasn't very confident about investing in Russia.
The flight took eight hours to finally arrive at Moscow Airport.
As soon as he got off the plane, Wang Xiao felt like he had become a real big shot.
Of course, unless you're a big shot, who would get to be greeted at the airport by a bunch of burly men dressed in all black?
This row of burly men, very much in the Russian style, were wearing leather jackets.
Perhaps because this country experiences winter for half the year, they are different from other people in the world who walk the line between the legitimate and criminal worlds.
They wore black leather jackets instead of black suits.
But it is equally imposing.
Ivan was already waiting at the airport.
Upon seeing the person, Wang Xiao couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Time is not a butcher's knife, but rather pig feed.
Thinking back to when she first saw Ivan two years ago, he was truly a beautiful young man, like a daffodil.
In just over 700 days, he had grown as big and thick as an inflated balloon, losing all his former good looks.
He took photos three months ago and was able to edit them professionally.
Now even retouching can't salvage it.
Fortunately, Ivan's competence did not diminish along with his good looks; he remained at headquarters and did his job diligently.
How is Moscow now? Certainly not any better than when they left.
In fact, it's even more chaotic.
This chaos stems from political chaos.
Although it is now widely said that Russia is in a state of anarchy, with gangs acting as the maintainers of order.
But as is well known, the government has not gone into exile, and the president is still in office.
Wherever there is politics, there will inevitably be struggle.
The current struggle in Russia, simply put, is a power struggle between the executive and legislative branches.
In a proper capitalist country, "府" refers to the presidential palace and "院" refers to the parliament.
Russia's situation is rather unique, as it still retains the system of people's congresses, and the Supreme Soviet is still in operation.
Before the Soviet Union was strangled, the President and the Supreme Soviet faced a common enemy, cooperated closely and with remarkable tacit understanding, and together they won the final victory.
But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the enemy of my enemy became my friend, and it could no longer play a role.
Faced with immense power, the conflict between the president and the Supreme Soviet quickly intensified.
Especially after more than a year of implementing shock therapy, the Russian economy not only failed to improve but instead began to collapse, and this contradiction was in a state of volcanic eruption.
Last December, at the seventh session of the Russian People's Congress, delegates proposed a constitutional amendment concerning the government, which stipulated that the appointment and removal of the prime minister and principal ministers must be approved by the Supreme Soviet.
This means that the Supreme Soviet would have the final say on government personnel appointments.
What then is the president? Wouldn't he just be a figurehead?
The president, of course, disagreed.
Unable to reach an agreement, the two sides ultimately decided to decide Russia's fate through a national referendum.
The referendum was held on April 11th.
On the surface, the argument should have stopped at this point, and everyone should just wait patiently for the referendum results.
Whether they live or die, it's the Russians' own decision, so there's nothing to complain about later.
The problem lies in the direction of the economy; the situation is truly dire.
At the seventh session of the Russian People's Congress, delegates demanded the resignation of the prime minister who was in charge of shock therapy.
The president tried his best to protect him, but ultimately failed and had to put forward other candidates.
However, the economic plan announced by the new prime minister in the new year is still the same old policy as the previous prime minister, just a change in name but not in substance.
This thoroughly enraged the Supreme Soviet.
On the one hand, they abolished the government and organized their own team to formulate new economic development plans; on the other hand, they convened an extraordinary session of the Supreme People's Congress to limit presidential power and emphasize that the Congress of People's Deputies remains the highest organ of state power in Russia. Any decision made by the president must be approved by the Supreme People's Congress to have legal effect.
The president, not to be outdone, emphasized his power through presidential legislation.
In this back-and-forth struggle, the referendum was postponed to April 25.
Both sides are now desperately vying for greater support, which has made the already paralyzed government agencies even more paralyzed.
Ivan shrugged. "Fortunately, we Russians never dare to rely on them, otherwise we'd all be doomed. I've never seen a more chaotic world."
They were being escorted out by bodyguards and security guards as they spoke.
Just as they were leaving the airport, they brushed past a group of Chinese people.
This wouldn't normally attract any special attention. There are so many Chinese people going in and out of Moscow airports now that Russians don't even give an extra glance to people of East Asian descent.
But the Chinese man leading the group was clearly a leader. As he walked, he turned to instruct his assistant (or perhaps secretary): "You need to pay attention. This time, we need to write a good report on our trip to Russia. I want to emphasize one point: the Russian market today is no longer in the chaotic state of the late Soviet era. Don't even think about the days when a few leather jackets could be exchanged for a car."
Well, what you're saying makes a lot of sense.
As the volume of trade between the two sides has increased and the exchange of goods has deepened, the phenomenon of exorbitant profits has basically disappeared, and the profit per unit price has also declined.
However, because of the large total transaction volume, the overall profit is still quite substantial.
However, what the leader said next made everyone take notice.
"The Russian market has become increasingly formalized, and we must conduct business with them through formal means. The methods used by small vendors are outdated. Anyone who still does business that way is simply a joke."
Ivanov and Ivan both looked astonished.
Wait a minute, bro, who gave you that confidence?
Russia engages in legitimate trade? Are you kidding me?
We Russians ourselves don't dare to engage in formal trade, let alone letters of credit.
We ourselves have to pay money and receive goods on the same hand. How dare you, a foreigner, come to engage in legitimate trade?
It's important to understand that credit debt is rampant among Russian companies these days, and the problem of triangular debt is no less serious than in China.
We can argue among ourselves, but how can you foreigners argue?
How much does it cost you to fly to Russia? And if you stay in Russia to collect debts, the expenses for food and lodging won't be a small amount.
The government official in charge of trade would probably laugh themselves to death after hearing your naive and innocent remarks.
Do you still think you're living in the Soviet era?
Ivanov was puzzled: "Why is he still so confident in Russia's legitimate trade after his inspection?"
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes and complained inwardly, because this kind of official inspection was not much different from publicly funded tourism.
To put it bluntly, these people generally spend more time in nightclubs than in museums and memorial halls, and they spend far more time in museums and memorial halls than in factories.
What can you expect them to find out?
They might even be able to name a few popular dance songs at nightclubs.
But who is Wang Xiao? She has a very sharp tongue.
She smiled and said, "It's probably because the Soviet Union did such a great job back then, creating a miracle in human society. So even today, Chinese people still view Russia through a Soviet lens. After all, like father, like son, and Russia inherited the vast majority of the Soviet Union's wealth."
Come on, come on, let's hurt each other!
We have a bunch of incompetent cadres, but you are even more incompetent.
————————
Have a great weekend!
To reiterate, this is not meant to be offensive, but rather to point out that the political situation in Russia was indeed very turbulent in the first half of 1993, with significant contradictions and various forms of mutual attacks between the two sides.
Besides, in the 1990s, overseas study tours were often considered a perk, a form of tourism, or a chance to experience foreign cultures; they weren't uncommon. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2024-03-08 07:14:37 and 2024-03-09 07:10:31!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Flying Little Pink Pig (60 bottles); Qiyue (20 bottles); Little P (6 bottles); Affirmation (5 bottles); Class Class Class Class (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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