Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1231 - 1015: The Tricky Big Trouble_2

Chapter 1231: Chapter 1015: The Tricky Big Trouble_2

As for offending Drepaska and the like, Wang Ye did not care at all. After all, Drepaska was just a businessman, even if he was the richest man, he still didn’t carry any weight in front of him!

......

The outcome of the meeting at the hotel, due to the live TV broadcast, quickly spread.

The residents of Petersburg City District naturally were elated. They had suffered through several days of cold, and now they were finally able to have their heating restored.

Previously, having heating and hot water was taken for granted by everyone.

It was only after it was suddenly cut off a few days ago that everyone realized the pain of losing heating...

Initially, seeing the media full of reports about how troublesome this incident was and how sharp the conflicts between the labor and management were, everyone thought that it would drag on for a long time and were mentally prepared for a "long-term battle."

But after Chairman Mikhail arrived, he resolved it in no time at all!

This was somewhat beyond everyone’s expectations.

Of course, everyone was very happy with the outcome, and they genuinely supported Mikhail who had solved the problem. Unknowingly, this also boosted Wang Ye’s reputation once again!

As for the various factions within the political arena paying attention to this incident, there naturally were those who felt relieved, those who were happy, and those who were disappointed...

Some had hoped to see Wang Ye embarrass himself in this conflict, but unfortunately, they were not successful. They could only blame Drepaska for being too "incompetent," unable to withstand Mikhail’s pressure and so easily bowing his head...

......

No matter how the outside world reacted, Wang Ye had successfully completed his mission and planned to return to Moscow.

He had quite a few important tasks to handle recently.

He came quietly and left silently, not venturing into Petersburg City District but directly traveling from Pikalevo to Petersburg Airport in a car, boarding his private jet, and waving goodbye to the crowd from the Petersburg City Government who had come to see him off.

Once back in Moscow, Wang Ye naturally went straight to the Kremlin to report on his work.

Although the Kremlin had already received advance news and knew Wang Ye had resolved the matter smoothly, some details still needed to be reported by Wang Ye in person to be clarified.

As soon as he arrived at the office, his father-in-law greeted him with a beaming smile.

"Misha, you’ve done a splendid job!

When dealing with some people who don’t comply with the regulations, we must be tough when necessary. It’s a pity that many of us can’t even manage that,"

His father-in-law did not blame Wang Ye for offending Drepaska; instead, he greatly praised the way he handled it.

Clearly, what Wang Ye did was to his "taste."

If he had taken matters into his own hands, he would probably have dealt with it just like Wang Ye had...

Although he had offended Drepaska, he hadn’t gone too far, after all, the document to distribute the wages had been signed by Drepaska himself.

In doing so, he had still left him a bit of dignity.

As for whether Drepaska would fire some of the management or workers at the aluminum factory afterward, that would be an internal matter for their group, and the government would not interfere.

As long as there are no more incidents like this one...

......

Wang Ye smiled shyly and said modestly, "It’s good that Drepaska and the worker representatives were quite reasonable; they both agreed with the solution I proposed. That’s why the issue was resolved, and it’s not just my credit alone."

If Drepaska and Kima had been there to hear Wang Ye say such things, they probably would have been furious enough to spit blood.

They didn’t want to be "reasonable" at all!

But at that time, Wang Ye had been indicating various threats ...

For Drepaska, if he didn’t sign on the spot, then the entire Pikalevo Alumina Plant would have been taken over!

And for Kima and the management of the aluminum factory, if they did not cooperate to return to the factory and resume normal work, the Safety Bureau people would be coming to have coffee and a chat with them...

So, the reason they were willing to cooperate was purely because they were forced!

However, the thoughts of these "minor figures" were doomed to be ignored, Wang Ye didn’t care, and of course, his father-in-law didn’t care either.

He was very satisfied with Wang Ye’s handling, though it seemed on the surface that Drepaska had suffered a minor loss and had made some concessions, it hadn’t caused Drepaska significant damage, nor had it made the relationship very rigid.

In this way, it also gave Drepaska’s backer, that old master, some face. Otherwise, given his father-in-law’s character, with the big trouble Drepaska had caused this time, this matter wouldn’t have ended so easily.

After a few words about the Pikalevo matter, the two of them didn’t discuss it further, but moved on to other topics.

His father-in-law casually picked up a thick folder from the desk and handed it to Wang Ye, smiling, "You have things to be busy with again, and this time it’s not a small matter, but a very important one for our country, and it’s within the scope of your responsibilities, so I can only trouble you."

Wang Ye smiled, took the folder, and flipped it open to see what it was.

Just as his father-in-law had said, it was indeed a very important issue that he had to lead...

The documents in the folder were about the Russian accession negotiations for the WTO!

Accession, that is, joining the World Trade Organization, also known as WTO!

Russia had been applying to join the World Trade Organization since 1994, and twelve years had passed, yet it still hadn’t succeeded, the whole process was filled with difficulties and obstacles.

When it comes to accession, many might think it’s a great thing because it allows the national economy to integrate into the global economy, and opens up foreign communication.

But things are obviously not that simple, for many countries, WTO membership is both an opportunity and a challenge!

The reason Russia had dragged on for so long without successful membership was because it couldn’t reach agreement with WTO member countries on certain critical conditions.

Even many industries within Russia did not support the country’s accession, but rather opposed it.

Because once Russia joined the WTO, many domestic industries would face severe impacts and could potentially collapse instantly...

In fact, the Kremlin had already sent a negotiation team to hold comprehensive negotiations with the WTO in 2000, wanting to join as quickly as possible.

However, on four major issues, there was significant disagreement, and no consensus was reached.

1: Total tariff issues.

2: Agricultural subsidies.

3: Service market access issues.

4: Opening up the financial industry.

These four major issues were very significant, and neither side was willing to compromise, so the negotiations had dragged on for so long without success.

WTO was asking Russia to lower tariffs, meaning a large number of foreign goods would enter the Russian domestic market at low tariffs. Most Russian industries were underdeveloped, and facing "dumping" of foreign goods at low prices would obviously directly destroy related industries.

No one wants to engage in a business that is unprofitable or even loss-making!

Regarding agricultural subsidies, that issue was even more serious. Although Russia had fertile land abundant in good fields, the production costs were relatively high, making grain prices uncompetitive internationally.

Facing the advanced large-scale farm economies of countries like the United States and Australia, Russia had no competitive edge.

If agriculture markets were opened and domestic agricultural subsidies reduced as per WTO demands, who would want to grow crops in the future?

This issue was indeed severe; if the grain lifeline were controlled by others, what would the consequences be...

As for the service and financial industries, compared to the others, these were lighter problems, merely resulting in cheap foreign labor flooding in, reducing jobs for nationals, and domestic banks being weak, getting crushed and bought out by foreign financial capital...

In any case, WTO membership brought both opportunities and risks, and it was not as simple as some people thought.

Therefore, inside Russia, there was actually significant resistance to joining the WTO.

If a voting decision were held in Duma without any pressure or influence, the estimates showed nearly equal support and opposition, about fifty-fifty...

These were the difficulties faced by Russia in joining the WTO; it was truly a tricky major problem!

Now, his father-in-law handing this matter to Wang Ye really showed great "confidence" in Wang Ye’s abilities!

Because even he himself couldn’t settle the matter...