Sail across the sea

Chapter 345 Who is more impatient
Gao Fan breathed a sigh of relief. Zheng Linong was able to joke with him, which meant that he really had no intention of beating up a local tyrant like him. He asked Zheng Linong:

"Minister Zheng, the country is not really short of 40 billion, right? Converting ammonium to urine is a big project, and a mere 40 billion investment is not too much."

Zheng Linong glared at Gao Fan with a look of disappointment and said, "A mere 40 billion yuan, only a playboy like you can say such a thing. Last year, the total investment in all chemical infrastructure in the country was less than 20 billion yuan. You want to spend 40 billion yuan just on ammonium to urine conversion, and not on other products, right?"

"The national chemical infrastructure is less than 20 billion?" Gao Fan felt very disappointed, but after recalling the information he had read, he knew that this was indeed the fact.

In 1984, the national fiscal revenue was 1600 billion, which was allocated to various sectors of the national economy, and the funds that eventually fell into the Ministry of Chemical Industry were very limited. The 20 billion chemical infrastructure investment mentioned by Zheng Linong was the total of the entire industry, and only a small part was actually spent by the Ministry of Chemical Industry.

Under such circumstances, it is completely unrealistic to ask the Ministry of Chemical Industry to undertake the 40 billion investment in converting small-scale ammonium fertilizers into urine fertilizers across the country.

Seeing Gao Fan's expression change from surprise to frustration, Zheng Linong changed his tone and said, "The issue of converting ammonium to urine is one of the key tasks that the ministry will promote in the next few years. Even if the funds are tight, we have to squeeze out some money to do it.

"The traditional process uses too much coal, which wastes resources and affects the economic benefits of nitrogen fertilizer plants. Currently, more than half of the small nitrogen fertilizer plants in the country are losing money, and technological transformation is not feasible without it.

"The one-time investment in ammonium-to-urine conversion is indeed very high, but if we change our way of thinking and consider the economic benefits brought about by ammonium-to-urine conversion and the benefits brought about by increased grain income in rural areas, this investment is very cost-effective."

"That's right." Gao Fan said, "I heard from my father that in the past, our factory produced ammonium carbonate, with an annual output value of more than 300 million. It was a great achievement to be able to maintain no loss. Now we produce 4 tons of urea a year, with an output value of more than 2000 million, and a profit and tax of more than 500 million. It will take about 4 years to recover the entire investment in converting ammonium to urine."

Zheng Linong nodded: "We have also calculated this. According to the most pessimistic scenario, a company's investment in converting ammonium into urine can be fully recovered in 6 years. The benefits brought to agricultural production by providing urea in this process are not taken into account."

"Then why are you hesitating? The sooner you renovate, the sooner you can make money." Gao Fan said.

Zheng Linong said: "Didn't I just say where the money comes from?"

Gao Fan said, "Didn't you just say that we have to squeeze out the money to do this even if the funds are tight?"

Zheng Linong said: "Yes, we did squeeze out some money. In the next three years, the Ministry of Chemical Industry will invest 6 million yuan in the nationwide ammonium-to-urine conversion project."

"6 million, that's only 2 million a year." Gao Fan curled his lips.

Zheng Linong added: "There is no other way. Even if it is the 6 million yuan, 4 million of it is a low-interest loan specially approved by the finance department, which needs to be repaid from the income from the ammonium-to-urine conversion in the future."

"In other words, based on the calculation of 2000 million per plant, we can complete the transformation of 30 small nitrogen fertilizer plants in the next three years," Gao Fan asked.

Zheng Linong said: "It is definitely not enough to transform only 30 small nitrogen fertilizer plants in three years. Our plan is to complete the transformation of at least 90 plants. Therefore, we require that for all ammonium-to-urine projects, enterprises and local governments need to bear 2/3 of the investment, and the Ministry of Chemical Industry will provide the other 1/3 of the investment. "In addition, after the project is completed, the enterprise must return all the investment provided by the Ministry of Chemical Industry from its profits within three years. This part of the money does not go into the account of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, but is used to repay the loan and interest from the finance department. "

"I guess people in other places are not very interested in this matter." Gao Fan said with a grin.

At this moment, he began to understand what Zheng Linong had said before. The work of ammonium-to-urine conversion was not going well, and Zheng Linong was desperate to try all kinds of methods, and now he placed his hope of solving the problem on himself.

Of course, Gao Fan was not so narcissistic as to think that Zheng Linong would place all his hopes on a little kid like him. He probably just had the mentality of trying his best.

As expected, Zheng Linong sighed and said, "It's not that all places are not interested in this matter. Your Maolin Provincial Chemical Industry Department is quite interested. However, the Maolin Chemical Industry Department said that they can't come up with the other 2/3 of the funds, and the prefecture and county governments are also taking a wait-and-see attitude, so it is very difficult to promote this project."

Gao Fan thought for a moment and said, "It's true that the Maolin Provincial Chemical Industry Department said there's no money. Maolin has always been a poor province. As for the wait-and-see attitude of the county and prefecture governments, I guess everyone thinks this is a matter for the country. As long as they drag their feet and refuse to cooperate, the country will get anxious and then they might increase the agreed 1/3 of the supporting funds to 1/2 or 2/3."

"Isn't this an open secret!" Zheng Linong said coldly.

The game between the central government and local governments is actually no different from buying vegetables at the market. Although everyone wants to reach a deal, the anxious party will definitely pay a higher price.

The conversion of ammonium to urine is of strategic significance at the national level. Whether it can save a lot of energy or reduce urea imports, thereby saving foreign exchange expenditure, it is extremely attractive to the country.

For local governments, this is also valuable. Traditional small nitrogen fertilizer plants are suffering from heavy losses, which is a heavy burden for local governments. How can local governments not be willing to change ammonium to urine, which can turn small nitrogen fertilizer plants from losses to profits? In addition, urea is much more effective than ammonium carbonate and is very popular among farmers. Who among the local governments does not want to have a urea production enterprise under their jurisdiction?

However, although it is beneficial to both parties, whoever loses patience will let the other party take more initiative. For example, if the local government shows a stronger desire, the central government may reduce the originally promised 1/3 investment to 1/4 or even less, and let the local government bear more investment.

On the contrary, if local governments act as if they are not in a hurry, the central government will not be able to bear it and will have to agree to pay more money.

So, who is more impatient?

Sitting in front of Zheng Linong, Gao Fan could already sense that the Ministry of Chemical Industry was the one that was losing its patience.

The reason is simple: the ministries have a more global perspective and it is impossible for them to watch a good project being delayed just to get angry with the local government.

Local governments can do things that will only ruin the situation, but ministries and commissions cannot.

(End of this chapter)