1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 534 Widespread Plunder
If that man were in power in the Russian Federation today, Zhai Yuan would guarantee to get as far away as possible without saying a word.

But now it's Ye Liqing's era.

Although the Soviet people were willing to spend a lot of money to import fireworks from China to celebrate after Yeltsin stepped down,

But in the eyes of European and American capitalists, Ye is comparable to a living saint.

Just as he later said in a speech in America:

"The Soviet Union has collapsed. Please feel free to invest. As long as the Soviet Union doesn't return, you can sell as much state-owned asset as you want at a bargain price. We will never rob the rich."

Of course, Viktor Chernomyrdin is an exception.

Old Qie simply saw himself as Hu Weiyong after Ye Shi rose to power.

In reality, whether it was Chernomyrdin or the Seven Oligarchs, during the reigns of Ye Liqing or the last Tsar, they all thought they could manipulate each other at will, but without exception, they all ended up being shot in the back and committing suicide.

Zhai Yuan was very shrewd in this regard, consistently demonstrating an attitude of only wanting to make money and not getting involved in politics.

They even deliberately set extremely high prices, further highlighting their profit-driven nature.

"7000 million US dollars in exchange for 30% of the export quota of the Karabashi copper smelter, including priority export rights and mining and procurement rights."

Alexander is feeling immense pressure right now.

At 10 p.m., after saying goodbye to Zhai Yuan at the hotel, I hurriedly took Shatalin back to the city hall and listed out Zhai Yuan's requests one by one.

"Ural Electric Machinery Plant, Far Eastern Bank provides supply chain joint production, loan debt controls 20% of the production capacity for foreign trade orders."

“Establish mining and jewelry finishing plants in the Marinsco mines, and repay debts with the gemstones from the mines.”

"Also, the 1% natural pipeline quota for the West Siberian oil and gas fields..."

The office was brightly lit. Shatalin dialed the special line for the Lenin Hills cadre residential area in Moscow, contacted his new boss, and reported Zhai Yuan's requirements one by one according to the list provided by Alexander.

The call ended.

Alexander couldn't wait to ask, "What did Chairman Ye say?"

Shatalin rubbed his bald head, a helpless smile on his face: "Apart from the operating rights of the state television station and the controlling stake in newspapers and radio media, everything else is acceptable."

Alexander's eyes widened: "What do you mean by 'all acceptable'?"

“Literally, General,” Shatalin said. “As long as Zhai Yuan can provide financial support, we can talk to him about these substantial hard resources. Of course, we will continue to bargain, but if the other party is very firm, we can make concessions.”

Alexander paused for a few seconds, then muttered, "Is it because our army isn't tough enough to allow a Chinese man to plunder national resources in the Russian Federation?"

Shatalin shrugged noncommittally, showing no interest in answering such a stupid question.

It is obvious that Lithuania would not have made such a high-profile declaration of independence if the Soviet Union still possessed military power.

"The Soviet Union today is not what it was twenty years ago, General."

Shatalin said sarcastically, “I know you look down on us economists, but the Soviet Union needs the economy more than guns and cannons right now… The KGB is eyeing Comrade Yeltsin covetously, and Nikolai Ryzhkov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers) is threatening Gorbachev with his resignation to halt the 500-day plan. So let’s have a referendum. The Russian Federation needs a strong and powerful political leader, independent of the Central Group, to drive reforms.”

The 500-day plan, on the surface, is an economic reform.

But in reality, it is more like a political reform. To push this plan forward, a position with more real power than the Supreme Chairman of the Soviet is needed to grant the constituent republics of the Russian Federation more autonomy and give the reform more legitimacy.

Therefore, after this plan was proposed, the new position of President of the Russian Federation Soviet was put into discussion by the State Council for the first time.

There are currently two candidates: Yeltsin, the non-partisan Supreme Chairman, and Ryzhkov, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

The newly elected president of the Russian Federation has greater political authority than the Supreme Chairman, and can truly exercise the core powers of appointing the prime minister, leading local governments and the military, and signing economic reform policies, thus directly checking and balancing Gorbachev, the head of the Central Group.

At this point, everything was still in the stage of discussing whether or not to establish this new position.

Although the member states have overwhelmingly pressured Gorbachev to make a choice,

But it is still an internal secret.

So when Zhai Yuan mentioned at the dinner table that "Ye Liqing will definitely move into the Kremlin," both Alexander and Shatalin were quite surprised.

"Whether the information was provided to Zhai Yuan by Mayor Popov or other Moscow officials."

Shatalin subconsciously believed that Zhai Yuan had obtained intelligence from Moscow regarding the establishment of the presidential position.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Now that our trump card has been seen through by the other side, Zhai Yuan must also know that behind the 500-day plan lies the key to whether Comrade Ye Liqing can be elected president, which is why he dared to ask for a high price."

"Chairman Ye has already stated in the phone call that making money is no problem, but he must not be allowed to interfere in politics. Therefore, the operation of the state television station or other media channels must not be allowed to be controlled by a foreigner."

"General, for the future of the Soviet Union, the Ye Group needs this $7000 million or even more."

Shatalin looked at Alexander, who was still unconvinced, and slowly said, "Jewish capital can't offer more political donations, and compared to the Western financial groups led by the United States, Zhai Yuan and his Far East Bank's offer isn't too high..."

…………

1990 year 8 month 12 day,
The Far Eastern Bank branch underwent simple renovations and officially opened in Yekaterinburg.

Shatalin and Alexander both attended to offer their congratulations.

On the opening day, however, someone else cut the ribbon alongside Zhai Yuan.

Naina Josephina Yeltsinna,

The First Lady of the Russian Federation attended the event in person, accompanied by her eldest daughter, Elena, and her second daughter, Tatyana.

From any perspective, this showed considerable respect to Zhai Yuan and Far East Bank.

"Mr. Zhai."

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the nearly 50-year-old First Lady, accompanied by her eldest daughter, took her leave first.

The second daughter, arm in arm with her husband, took the initiative to approach Zhai Yuan.

Thirty-year-old Tatiana smiled warmly and said, "I heard from General Alexander that you founded a club. Could you tell me about it?"

Far East Club.

Even though Ye Zhiming believed that Ye Liqing was already protecting him, Zhai Yuan still carried out the plan.

The first member was General Alexander, who had been frequently visiting the area in the past two days.

At this point, a second heavyweight figure clearly showed interest in the club.

Zhai Yuan looked at Tatiana, who was smiling at him, and nodded in response: "Yes, Miss Tatiana. As a Chinese who came to the Soviet Union from Hong Kong to do business, frankly speaking, my original intention in establishing the Far East Club was to gain the support of influential people like you. At the same time, the Far East Club will also provide members with opportunities for investment exchange and networking, giving everyone a platform for cooperation."

When facing Alexander or Shattalin, Zhai Yuan would try to conceal the club's original intentions and make them sound more prestigious. But at this moment, he made no attempt to hide anything and directly revealed the Far East Club's original intentions.

What kind of person is the woman in front of me?

She single-handedly helped the last Tsar ascend to the throne, the future richest woman in the Russian Federation, and the queen of oligarchs.
If she were a man, she wouldn't even dare to imagine what path the Russian Federation would take in the future...

Therefore, there's no need to go through too much trouble when dealing with this kind of woman.

"I really admire Mr. Zhai's honesty."

Tatiana covered her mouth and laughed, then pulled her second husband, who was a few years younger than her, and said, "Diachenko, perhaps you should join this club."

After saying that, she turned her face and smiled at Zhai Yuan: "Let me introduce you. This is my husband, Diachenko, the executive director of Ural Energy Company and assistant designer at the National Space Research and Production Center."

Zhai Yuan shook hands with the prince consort, who was about the same age as him, feeling somewhat regretful.

If Tatiana were to join the Far East Club, its prestige would be greatly enhanced. However, it seems that although this woman is interested in the club, she only intends to promote her husband to maintain its prestige.

The young Diachenko did not immediately make a statement.

Tatiana glanced at him and asked gently, "What's wrong, Diachenko? Aren't you interested in the Far East Club?"

“Of course not.” The prince consort immediately responded to the princess’s hint and smiled at Zhai Yuan, “Mr. Zhai, it would be my honor to join the Far East Club.”

The three looked at each other and smiled, a delicate balance filling the air.

"Ye Liqing's daughter?"

After Tatiana left with her husband, Ye Zhiming, who was in charge of the translation, looked at Zhai Yuandao with a flicker in his eyes and asked, "It's no different for her to join the club than for her to join herself. Once you've won over those officials from Moscow, will I be able to continue running my own business?"

It's clear that Ye Zhiming has grown extremely tired of serving as Zhai Yuan's full-time translator since his release from prison.

If it weren't for his shady arms smuggling business, he would have returned to Hong Kong long ago to run a gambling ship.

“Wait a little longer, Ming-ge.” Zhai Yuan gave Ye Zhiming a helpless look, pointed to the surging tide of customers around them, and said, “We have banks, and in the future, factories and mines. Why do we have to keep focusing on arms? Fine, even if you insist on doing it, at least wait until after this year, until the situation in the Soviet Union stabilizes, and until Ye Liqing truly takes power…”

Just like the head office at No. 13 Negrinnaya Street in Moscow,
Using the same promotional methods, they attracted depositors by using materials provided by the Hong's Trading Group.

The Far Eastern Bank's Yekaterinburg branch was packed with people as soon as it opened.

Even though Yekaterinburg's population is several times smaller than Moscow's, it doesn't dampen the depositors' enthusiasm in the slightest.

Canned goods, bread, coffee, and sausages were delivered by the ton, while depositors' rubles were deposited into the banks in stacks.

On the opening day, Secretary Li tallied the deposit amount, which was over 32 million rubles.

The next day,

When news of the First Lady and two princesses cutting the ribbon for the Far Eastern Bank appeared on television, radio, and in newspapers, the number of depositors at the Far Eastern Bank was even greater than the day before.

During this period, the "Ye" in Yekaterinburg referred to Ye Liqing.

The people raised this politician from their hometown with their own hands, and then, years later, they themselves brought him down from his pedestal...

…………

On August 20, the 500-day plan developed by the Shatalin group was officially presented at a meeting of the National Committee.

Serious disagreements arose among the senior executives at the meeting that day, and Ryzhkov once again threatened to resign, bringing the conflict with the Ye Group to a climax.

Zhai Yuan was not concerned about what was happening in Moscow.

The US dollars from Hong Kong were transferred to Switzerland from offshore accounts, with the first five million being deposited into the Yip Group's account.

Immediately afterwards, a loan claim for the Karabash copper smelter entered into the Far Eastern Bank.

This smelter, which was built at the beginning of the century during the Russian Tsarist era, is located in Karabash, a city under the jurisdiction of Yekaterinburg Oblast. At that time, Karabash was known as one of the most polluted cities on Earth because of the existence of this smelter.

One of the five major copper smelters in the Soviet Union, it was world-renowned for its copper ingots, copper concentrates, sulfuric acid and other products.

For countless local patients suffering from pneumoconiosis, the Karabash copper smelter was a cancer, but for speculators it was a gold mine.

With a 30% export quota and priority mining rights, all that's left is to secure export channels, which will provide a steady stream of cash flow.

The second sum of five million US dollars was deposited into the Yip Group's account in September.

Far Eastern Bank secured another loan from Ural Electric Machinery Plant and controlled 20% of the plant's export orders.

The large factory area, covering tens of hectares and equipped with a dedicated railway line, was a combined military and civilian motor factory. However, due to budget cuts, orders plummeted.

But as long as we can weather this difficult period and wait for Ye Liqing's economic reforms to begin, whether we sell it to Western speculative capital for profit or operate it ourselves, the value of the Ural Electric Machinery Plant will far exceed the five million US dollars invested today.

Following the Ural Electric Machinery Plant, it was also acquired by the Far Eastern Bank.
It is the Mariinsk mine (Mariinshev mine) located outside Yekaterinburg, one of the largest emerald and beryl deposits in the Soviet Union, which also produces rare minerals such as rutile, tantalum, and niobium.

"Ten million US dollars is a bit too expensive."

Holding a Chinese version of the Marinsco mine's mortgage debt document, Zhai Yuan made a boastful comment.

As a strategic resource directly managed by the former Ministry of the Interior, businessmen had no right to get involved in the mine, let alone a foreigner.

However, at this time, Zhai Yuan obtained the mining rights and the qualification to establish a jewelry processing plant.

Zhai Yuan casually locked the debt documents into the safe, thinking, "Oh well, I still owe Sister Hong tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars to open a jewelry store. I'll just consider this mine as providing her with production resources."

In the following days, neither Shatalin nor Alexander contacted Zhai Yuan.

On October 7, the Far East Bank's hotline rang again. After answering the call, Zhai Yuan mobilized the largest sum of money to date.

The $3000 million was injected into multiple overseas accounts of the Yip Group via Switzerland.

A few days later, on October 19th,
The State Committee convened another meeting, and in order to mediate the conflict between Yeltsin and Ryzhkov, Gorbachev adopted the proposals put forward by both factions and temporarily issued a basic policy of stabilizing the economy and transitioning to a market economy.

Meanwhile, the Russian presidential election was officially concluded at this meeting.

In short, whether it's Ye Liqing or Ryzhkov who beats me to a pulp, I, Gorbachev, don't care.

You can choose yourselves. Whoever gets elected president of the Russian Federation will have their policies implemented accordingly...

There's no time to comment on Gorbachev's actions.
With the largest single loan of US$3000 million being spent, Far Eastern Bank has added another new loan claim.

The West Siberian oil and gas fields, with a 1% natural pipeline quota, were the lifeline and lifeline of the Soviet Union's foreign exchange reserves. Even just collecting a 1% transit fee would have been enough to make a fortune, truly a long-term source of profit!

(End of this chapter)