Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1205 - 1002 New Fiscal Year Budget_2

Chapter 1205: Chapter 1002 New Fiscal Year Budget_2

Indeed, the economic development of Irkutsk State in the future might rely on this commercial large aircraft project, and he would certainly attach great importance to it.

Wang Ye smiled and waved his hand,

"Now it’s just the initial stage of negotiations, and even if both parties are sincere, it’s not until next year that it would be finalized.

I am telling you in advance so you can be prepared mentally—plan the land around the existing aircraft manufacturing plant well, make sure to reserve enough space, and start training workers in advance.

Once the project is agreed upon and implemented, it will have to be pushed forward at the fastest speed, after all, with cooperation with the China side, having technology, funds, market, and orders, development is bound to be promising."

It wasn’t that Wang Ye was all talk and no action; at that time, launching a large aircraft project jointly with Russia was not a difficult task.

Russia already had a reserve of technology, and they had been producing commercial large aircraft, although the technology was a bit outdated and slightly lagging.

The main reason was that the produced aircraft could only be "internally digested," unable to seize market share in Europe and the United States, which of course did not provide sufficient funds for updating.

But with that huge market in China, the biggest problem was thus solved.

As for technological upgrades, for some problems that are difficult to resolve in the short term, simply purchase them from other countries initially, and later gradually replace all with indigenously owned parts.

At that time, the relationship between China, Russia, and Europe and the United States was still good, wanting to purchase some high-end technology products parts, as long as it didn’t involve sensitive areas, wasn’t strangulated.

In over a decade, if relationships worsened, by then they would have already developed their substitutes.

So Wang Ye believed that as long as the terms were agreed upon, this large aircraft project should go very smoothly.

...

After a brief conversation with Vasily, Wang Ye didn’t even stay for lunch but rushed straight to the Airport and boarded the plane back to Moscow.

Because there was a heap of things waiting for him to handle.

For regular public affairs, Bakova and Nova could help handle them, but some significant matters, they didn’t have the authority to deal with and had to wait for Wang Ye to return.

Now it was December, the end of the year, other matters could be temporarily set aside, but there was one very important thing that had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

That is, the "Financial Report of 2005 & Financial Budget Proposal of 2006" submitted by the government.

This is also one of the most critical responsibilities of Wang Ye as the Director of the National Economic Committee, perhaps the most critical of all...

After all, this concerns next year’s finance expenditure budget, involving countless departments, industries, institutions, and personnel!

If he keeps delaying and it doesn’t get passed, then next year’s government would directly have to shut down, so Wang Ye must hurry back to review this budget proposal.

The proposal should have been submitted to the Duma earlier, but there seemed to have been some disputes on the government side. Medvedev had expended a lot of effort and energy to resolve the internal disputes and reached a consensus.

Therefore, the budget proposal has just been submitted.

As for why there was debate on the government side, Medvedev also called Wang Ye and hinted at it.

The gist was that some departments, especially the Finance Department, proposed a significant increase in next year’s finance expenditure budget, and the scale of the increase was quite shocking.

Medvedev and some conservatives thought this was too risky and would be difficult to pass in the Duma; since it was certain to be rejected, it was better not to propose it.

After talking with Medvedev over the phone, Wang Ye also considered the underlying reasons for this internal dispute in the government.

He roughly guessed it—it was just some people coveting the huge funds he controlled, wanting to redirect the industrial fund’s money to the government’s control, or even find an excuse to take away the authority to issue new national bonds...

Speaking of which, the authority to issue debt was indeed originally on the government side, but it was directly "stripped away" by Wang Ye, so it was reasonable for others to want to take it back.

But Wang Ye did not plan to compromise in this regard!

He was well aware that with this money in his own hands, he could accomplish some practical things, facilitating the development of several key industries.

If it were handed over to the government, who knows what kind of mess they would create.

...

After returning to Moscow, it was already the afternoon, Wang Ye didn’t even go back to rest, and from the Airport, he directly went to the Duma Building office.

Because the financial budget proposal was already on his desk.

A hefty document, divided into two parts, the first half was the summary report of the domestic economic data for 2005, most of which Wang Ye already knew, so he just skimmed through it.

It could be said that 2005 was almost over, and in this year, the economic development speed of Russia was quite astonishing.

The nationwide GDP had reached $765.8 billion!

Whereas in 2004, this figure was only $648 billion.

In just one year, it had increased by $120 billion, with a growth rate of 18%.

This growth rate was truly amazing!

Of course, this was mainly because, during this fiscal year, the international prices for crude oil and natural gas began to rise, and both the Yukos Group and the Russian Gas Industry Group had developed many new markets and increased production.

In other words, the growth mainly came from the energy industry...

However, industries like the internet industry and the automobile industry were also starting to make significant strides, and the foundations that Wang Ye had laid down in the previous years were not in vain.

Therefore, the forecast for the GDP of the following year, namely 2006, was around $900 billion, which is an estimated growth rate of about 15%.

At the same time, in 2006, government finance revenue was also expected to reach $240 billion!

Of course, this figure was also an estimate...

Finance expenditure budgets were made based on estimates of finance revenue, so the government had based the financial expenditure budget proposal for 2006 on this "$240 billion finance revenue"...

...

As Wang Ye read, his eyebrows began to furrow.

Because the total amount of the budget provided by the government was unexpectedly high.

"Eight trillion rubles"!

With the real-time exchange rate of approximately 27 rubles to one US dollar, these eight trillion rubles amounted to about $300 billion.

Yet the government’s estimated finance revenue for 2006 was only $240 billion, resulting in a gap as high as $60 billion!

In the past, it was customary for the government to have finance expenditures lower than finance revenue.

First, there was a fear of not meeting economic targets, needing to leave some room for maneuver.

Second, the country still had foreign debts to pay, so it definitely couldn’t spend all the money.

Take the year 2005, for example, the total finance revenue was over $180 billion, and the finance expenditure was $150 billion.

This was after Wang Ye had adjusted the amount during last year’s audit of the government’s budget.

The budget proposal submitted by the government this year was completely different from the previous style; it truly was a case of "asking for the moon," doubling what it was in 2005!

It was indeed a bit outrageous...

Moreover, according to what Medvedev implied, this amount was even after he had made cuts, the originally proposed budget was even more exaggerated!

Wang Ye certainly knew what those people were thinking.

Furthermore, despite the agreeable way Medvedev spoke over the phone, he likely hoped to increase the budget amount as well.

After all, who wouldn’t want to have more money at their disposal?

That is human nature and understandable.

...

After reviewing the budget proposal, Wang Ye pondered for a long time. He did not rush to reject it but calmly instructed Bakova to make dozens of copies of this budget proposal, and then sent them to each member of the Economic Committee and several other vice speakers of the Duma.

He then notified the relevant individuals that a special meeting would be held the day after tomorrow morning to discuss this finance budget proposal.