Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1040 - 919 Precise Sniping_2

Chapter 1040: Chapter 919 Precise Sniping_2

However, since the CBD Project is led and managed by the Economic Committee, including the demolition compensation and other matters, the city wasn’t clear about it, so they could only assist. The actual finalization of the compensation standards and payment of compensation still required Tovesky’s involvement.

It was a reasonable request, so Tovesky agreed happily to it.

He thought that as long as the city was willing to step in, and since he wouldn’t be stingy about the compensation standards on his end either, the demolition work would surely be easy to accomplish.

If things went smoothly, he estimated that in less than a month, the entire planned region could be cleared, and subsequent work could begin.

Such work efficiency!

Tsk, tsk, he guessed that at the next Economic Committee meeting, when he reported on the progress, Director Mikhail would surely not stint his praise...

......

This Government Residential District consisted of eighteen residential buildings, all of which were seven-story old-style tube buildings without elevators and had seen many years.

However, because the residents here were more or less wealthy, the community environment and the buildings themselves were well-maintained and looked tidy.

Eighteen buildings, according to statistics, currently housed about a thousand households.

This number of households wasn’t too many, but it was certainly not few either; it constituted a moderately-sized community.

According to Tovesky’s plan, in a new region, a new residential community would be built, and all property owners here would be compensated with 1:1 square footage!

Although the location here was slightly better, the problem was that the houses here were very old.

Trading these "old and dilapidated small apartments" for slightly out-of-the-way new apartments with elevators was a gain no matter how you looked at it.

Of course, it would still take a year or two before the new houses were ready, and during this time, the relocated residents would have to find their own place to live.

But Tovesky would also provide rent subsidies, which would range from five hundred to eight hundred US dollars per month, based on the area of each relocated household’s property!

This price couldn’t be considered unfair.

Bear in mind, these days, the majority of people in Moscow didn’t even earn this much each month!

These compensation terms were naturally negotiated by Tovesky, his assistant, and the project team, setting a precedent in Moscow!

Originally, according to some project personnel, this neighborhood was government property!

It was housing allocated by the government to enterprise personnel to live in, but the ownership still lay with the original enterprise, even though the original enterprise had "vanished," but the country was still there.

The existing state organs surely had "inheritance rights," right?

The residents could have just been driven out without any compensation needed.

However, this suggestion was rejected by Tovesky.

While this approach had some logic and could be justified legally, the problem was, would those residents be willing?

They were bound to make trouble!

If things blew up over this minor issue, not only would it cause delays, but it might also bring him endless trouble—what for...

After all, the CBD Project really was full of money, were the billions of US dollars forecasted by major enterprises to be invested just a joke?!

Therefore, he wouldn’t pinch pennies on some details, if money could buy time and efficiency, it was still worthwhile.

......

The demolition work team, composed of personnel from the Economic Committee and the city sent to assist, entered the residential community and began by distributing demolition notices door to door.

The notice stated that the land would be used for a vital national project and required all residents to cooperate and relocate elsewhere.

Of course, the country would not leave everyone homeless. Not only would new upscale apartment buildings be allocated, but a certain amount of cash compensation would also be given!

At face value, the offered terms were extremely generous!

Many of the residents indeed were tempted, and within a short period, a good number of them had signed letters of intent, agreeing to the compensation plan and to move to the new apartments.

Just when Tovesky was feeling triumphant, thinking everything was going well, an unexpected problem arose...

"Commissioner, there’s been trouble! Several dozens of property owners have banded together, written an open letter, and published it in the Moscow Evening News. They’re publicly accusing our work team of barbaric demolition, of wanting to drive them out of their homes, and leave them homeless on the streets..."

A staff member rushed into Tovesky’s office and reported to him.

Tovesky stood up abruptly on the spot, his face a picture of astonishment.

What is going on here...

Not to mention that I’ve absolutely not engaged in barbaric demolition or driven out homeowners. On the contrary, the conditions I offered for relocation were extremely generous.

Besides, even if those homeowners had any dissatisfaction or wanted to propose any conditions, they could have come directly to the work team to discuss.

But now no one has come to talk to me at all; they’ve gone straight to the newspapers?

This is a sign of ill intentions!

With Tovesky’s experience, he knew this matter was not so simple!

It’s possible that the other party isn’t just seeking more compensation, but rather has no intention of negotiating at all; their goal might be to escalate the situation.

Which faction is pulling the strings in the background...

At this thought, Tovesky got a jolt; he definitely didn’t want to be unwittingly caught in some factional struggle.

With his "small stature," he didn’t have the standing to be caught in the middle.

So he immediately scurried off to Wang Ye’s office with a copy of the Moscow Evening News.

Joking aside, even if there’s someone behind the scenes stirring trouble, it wouldn’t be targeting himself; he guessed it wasn’t even about this project, but aimed at Chairman Mikhail!

Because everyone knows that the CBD Project is Chairman Mikhail’s initiative, and the major enterprises involved are more or less related to him.

If they could strike at this project, causing it to miscarry or to be delayed indefinitely,

then Mikhail would suffer a great loss of face!

It could even damage his reputation...

......

Tovesky wasn’t wrong in his considerations; upon hearing his report, Wang Ye’s first reaction was also that someone was targeting him.

Because from inside out, there was a hint of strangeness in this situation.

If they were really holdouts, even if they demanded sky-high compensation, they would at least first make contact with the demolition team to negotiate terms, right?

Who would stay silent and go straight to the media, and that too, a very influential newspaper!

Wang Ye immediately instructed his assistants to collect relevant data and information, as well as identify who amongst the protesting homeowners was leading the charge, who was the mastermind!

It must be said, the efficiency of Wang Ye’s assistant team was exceptionally high.

In less than one day, before the matter could ferment any further, they had put together a complete file in front of Wang Ye.

Yelena reported gravely,

"Boss, there’s definitely something abnormal about this situation, because on Facebook, forced demolitions have already become a hot topic.

Many influential big V’s are reposting about it!

Under their influence, the entire narrative of the incident is criticizing the Government, saying that it’s undertaking vanity projects, wasting national funds, and causing a large number of citizens to lose their homes, becoming destitute and homeless..."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ye furrowed his brows.

As someone who had experienced the "storms" of the future Internet, he understood all too well the harmfulness of this kind of online momentum.

In any issue, regardless of who’s right or wrong, if the party that holds the power of online discourse guides public opinion extensively and quickly in the early stages, causing it to ferment and lean towards their side,

then countless netizens would be involuntarily swayed by the emotion and join in.

Even if the truth is later revealed, not many would pay attention anymore, because their sentiments would have already faded, and new online hotspots would have attracted their focus.

Simply put, this is a situation of "spreading rumors is easy, dispelling them is hard"!

I had never expected that as early as 2005, someone would begin to harness the power of online public opinion on the Internet, and against me at that!

You see, once this wave of public opinion started to erupt, the entire Moscow CBD project would be completely discredited.

And as the main orchestrator, I would also be labeled as someone "pursuing grand achievements at the expense of the people’s well-being."

This, for me, was a precise strike!