Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1221 - 1010: The Newly Ascended Richest Man_2

Chapter 1221: Chapter 1010: The Newly Ascended Richest Man_2

By the time Wang Ye reached his father-in-law’s office, Gavriil was also present.

"Let Gavriil fill you in on the situation," said his father-in-law as soon as Wang Ye sat down.

Gavriil began to explain seriously,

"There’s trouble in Pikalevo. A large number of alumina factory workers have gone on strike, not only halting the factory’s operations but also affecting the heating system in Petersburg."

Wang Ye looked confused. He had never even heard of Pikalevo.

And what did a strike there have to do with Petersburg?

Seeing Wang Ye’s confusion, Gavriil further explained, "Pikalevo is located in the suburbs of Petersburg, a small town with a rather large alumina factory.

Besides producing aluminum, it also supplies hot water and heating to Petersburg, so when the alumina factory shut down, most of Petersburg’s heating was affected.

It’s now the coldest time of the year. If we don’t handle this quickly, there will be serious consequences!"

That’s when Wang Ye finally understood.

Indeed, it was January, with temperatures around minus thirty degrees Celsius. If the heating and hot water were cut off...

It was really unthinkable!

Of course, some institutions and the wealthy area could use electricity for heating, so their lives wouldn’t be greatly affected, but the ordinary people would suffer.

Plus, Petersburg was his father-in-law’s place of origin and a rise to prominence, as well as the second largest central city in all of Russia, which is why the Kremlin was so urgently wanting to solve the problem.

However, Wang Ye still had a doubt. Why didn’t the Kremlin deal with it directly?

Or why didn’t they send a presidential envoy or let the government coordinate it? Why send him?

Strictly speaking, he belonged to the Duma System, and under normal circumstances, it was not suitable for him to deal with such issues.

Wang Ye didn’t hold back and directly asked, "Can’t someone just be sent to handle it? Is there a bigger mystery behind this?"

His father-in-law and Gavriil exchanged glances. His father-in-law nodded, signaling Gavriil to explain to Wang Ye.

Gavriil coughed, obviously taking the opportunity to think about how to explain the matter.

After a moment’s thought, he spoke, "This isn’t so simple. You should know who Drepaska is, right?"

Wang Ye smiled upon hearing this, nodded, and said, "Of course, he’s our new richest man! The famous aluminum magnate. So, this alumina factory belongs to him?"

This so-called "richest man" was announced at the end of last year by Forbes Magazine. Drepaska topped the list with a fortune of 14 billion US dollars, becoming the richest man in all of Russia!

The second was A Bu, with 12 billion US dollars behind him.

As for Wang Ye, he didn’t appear on the list...

His situation was quite special. Firstly, he had a political identity, which was sensitive.

Secondly, the groups he controlled mostly hadn’t gone public, and the equity structure was complex and concealed. Wang Ye also controlled the shares of these companies through various funds and asset management companies.

Although many people knew he was a major shareholder of these groups, it was indeed hard to verify on the surface.

At that time, Forbes even contacted Wang Ye’s assistant, wanting to personally verify with Wang Ye the total amount of his assets, but clearly, Wang Ye had rejected them outright.

Perhaps many businessmen take pride in appearing on the Forbes list, which also serves as advertising for their company.

But why would Wang Ye care about that? He would rather keep a low profile and not have his wealth truly exposed to the public.

Although his wealth was legitimately earned, there was no helping it, when you are too rich, people will always be envious of you.

Thus, Forbes Magazine did not include his name among the ranked.

Drepaska had met Wang Ye a few times before, but they weren’t very familiar with each other.

Because Wang Ye’s industries mainly involved crude oil, natural gas, coal, etc., while Drepaska and A Bu were engaged in the aluminum and steel businesses. Of course, they also had other business ventures, but those weren’t their main focus.

The last time Wang Ye led the initiative for the super CBD Center in Moscow, the Aluminium Group was quite supportive, stating they would contribute four billion US dollars!

However, it seemed that Drepaska and A Bu were inseparable—as they jointly held shares in the Aluminium Group, making them the major shareholders and second largest shareholders, respectively.

But that said, didn’t the Pikalevo incident also implicate A Bu?

Regarding Wang Ye’s question, Gavriil explained,

"You might not have paid much attention to this, but A Bu has completely disassociated himself from the management of the Russian Aluminium Group. He has even cashed out many of his shares, so the real boss of the Russian Aluminium Group now is Drepaska, who is also the largest shareholder, directly and indirectly controlling about 57% of the shares!"

Wang Ye was a bit astounded. It seemed he had been too busy with governmental affairs over the past two years to pay much attention to the business world. Drepaska seemed to be an emerging "new force in the field"!

His good friend A Bu’s Aluminium Group had simply "yielded" to him, indicating that this man was far from simple. There must be some insider information that he was unaware of.

He then pressed, "Even if he is the new richest man, what does that matter? Just figure out why the workers are striking and directly resolve the problem."

True, Gavriil had been beating around the bush for a long time and still had not clearly explained why neither the Kremlin nor the government was handling this; instead, they wanted him to deal with it!

Gavriil had no choice but to lay it all out. After all, Wang Ye was no outsider, and they were relying on him to resolve this matter. If he didn’t clarify the underlying issues, it might complicate matters if Wang Ye took too strong an approach...

"Hehe, it’s like this...

Drepaska’s wife, she is that... the former Kremlin leader’s granddaughter, you understand?

Of course, she is not his biological granddaughter but the daughter of his daughter’s second husband, so she is technically a step-granddaughter..."

This explanation almost made Wang Ye dizzy, but he immediately caught the key point.

Whether she was a biological or step-granddaughter wasn’t important, the important thing was the former Kremlin...

That was none other than the famous Yeltsin!

No wonder his father-in-law and Gavriil were being so cautious. It turned out it involved a real Big Shot...

Moreover, this person had been a benefactor to his father-in-law. For his family, the Kremlin would definitely show some respect, which is why his father-in-law found the situation so tricky after this incident arose.

He wasn’t suitable to appear in person, nor was it appropriate for the government to send someone. After much consideration, Wang Ye was the most suitable choice!

Because Wang Ye had no relations with the former Kremlin, had never interacted with them, and had no entangled interests. Moreover, his current status and position were high enough, empowering him to handle such a significant affair.

Moreover, even if he took action against Drepaska, there would likely be no complaints from that side.

Of course, if Wang Ye acted too harshly, his father-in-law would step in to smooth things over.

By doing so, he wouldn’t offend the "former superior" and would instead be doing them a favor, killing two birds with one stone...

......

After understanding all these intricate details, Wang Ye thought for a while, then nodded under their expectant gazes, and said,

"No problem, I will handle this matter!"

His father-in-law immediately smiled and praised, "As expected, Misha is responsible when it matters, haha..."

Gavriil also hurriedly agreed, "Of course, so whenever there is a major problem that seems unsolvable, I think of Misha first. In front of him, no difficulty is insurmountable!"

Wang Ye gave a wry smile helplessly. If there had been a choice, he wouldn’t have always wanted to deal with these troublesome issues.

But there was no choice; such matters often indeed required his personal involvement.

After all, if he was unwilling to step up, it would be like putting his father-in-law on the spot...

In the end, he and the Kremlin were in this together, to share weal and woe!