Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1303 - 1051 Bilateral Negotiations_2

Chapter 1303: Chapter 1051 Bilateral Negotiations_2

For example, which sectors can be opened up and how tariffs should be reduced, these need to be discussed specifically, and opened up step by step over different time periods.

Of course, after a certain amount of time, once our domestic Agriculture reached modernization and was able to keep up with the international development trend of Agriculture, it would then be feasible to open up entirely...

Wang Ye said so much, essentially conveying one point, that this matter was open for discussion and could be liberalized, but it could not be achieved all at once; a certain buffering period was still needed!

This was, compared to before, a certain concession made.

After all, previously when the Government led the negotiations, they had been utterly uncompromising and extremely firm in their stance.

It wasn’t that Wang Ye’s stance was weaker, but rather because he had a plan in mind.

Just give him another five to ten years to integrate the Agriculture of both Russia and Ukraine comprehensively and with the injection of substantial supporting funds, his country’s agricultural strength would definitely not be much weaker than that of the United States!

By that time, there would no longer be any need to fear direct competition.

It could even be said that on the international grain market, it was not certain that the United States would remain the largest exporter.

After all, when it came to the amount of fertile land, Russia and Ukraine definitely had no less than the United States!

Currently, it was merely a matter of the production capacity being relatively backward, agricultural technology not being developed enough, and a lot of land being left fallow.

...

Hearing Wang Ye speak like this, Gutierrez was quite surprised.

He hadn’t expected Wang Ye to be so easy to talk to, even agreeing to make a certain concession.

Before the negotiation, the best outcome he had envisioned was that the Russian side might make a minor concession in some non-critical areas, such as lowering tariffs to a certain extent.

But now, Wang Ye had expressed that he could accept a complete liberalization, and tariffs could even potentially be reduced to zero in the future!

Of course, such a significant reduction wouldn’t happen immediately but would be implemented over different periods.

This wasn’t anything exceptional since quite a few countries, upon joining the WTO, had made similar promises for some of their industries, which existing member countries could both accept and understand.

Negotiations are about discussing and arriving at terms.

The worst-case scenario is when both parties are resolute and unwilling to make concessions; then, no progress can be made.

Now that Wang Ye had first expressed his stance and made some concessions, it was like returning a favor for a favor, and Gutierrez wouldn’t be overly demanding.

He smiled broadly and said cheerfully,

"Of course, protecting our country’s farmers is necessary, and we wouldn’t intentionally harm the interests of your people for our own benefit.

If Director Mikhail could provide a clear timeline to convince us of your sincerity,

then we can accept this condition!"

Wang Ye gestured with his hand, and Nova immediately handed a document to the American personnel.

Gutierrez and a few assistants gathered around to thoroughly review the document.

In the document, it outlined the scale and timeline of how Russia would liberalize the Agricultural sector and planned to reduce agriculture product import tariffs to zero gradually over twenty years.

Looking at these items, even for Gutierrez, they showed considerable sincerity...

Other than the timeline being a bit long, there really wasn’t much else to criticize.

After examining it, he thought for a moment, apparently wanting to bargain for a bit more benefit, and then said solemnly, "I’ve looked over the promises your side has made, and there are no major issues, but is twenty years really necessary to reduce tariffs? I believe ten years would be a more appropriate timeframe."

Wang Ye shook his head firmly and stated unequivocally,

"This is already the biggest concession we can make, and even with such terms, I will still need to do a lot of work when I go back, to persuade the Duma Members, so that this bilateral agreement can be passed by the Duma.

You should understand the difficulty of this, Minister Gutierrez.

If I were to make further concessions, then even if we sign the bilateral agreement now, if it doesn’t pass in the Duma when I go back, it would all be meaningless!"

Upon hearing this, Gutierrez felt empathetic.

Because the situation was much the same in the United States, where any significant matter had to be discussed in Congress...

Congressmen might not be able to help much, but they excel at dragging their feet!

Thinking about this, he even felt a bit of sympathy for Wang Ye...

Of course, this was because he truly did not understand Wang Ye’s real strength and influence.

After all, Wang Ye’s official title was just a "Vice Speaker" and a few "Directors," which didn’t sound like much power.

And having been the world’s foremost superpower for so long, especially since he was not in intelligence, naturally, he did not pay much attention to a severely "poor country," thus he was also not very familiar with Wang Ye’s "actual situation."

Don’t think that Wang Ye is so formidable now that worldwide political leaders all understand him.

The fact was entirely the opposite.

After all, most foreign political leaders had nothing to do with Wang Ye nor had they dealt with him. Everyone was busy with their own overwhelming work, who would have the time and energy to care about a so-called rising star in the foreign political arena...

Minister Gutierrez was clearly in this situation.

In fact, he hadn’t done much homework for these WTO accession bilateral negotiations, since the conditions from his side were fixed, pushing the Russians to make some concessions was essentially meeting his psychological bottom line.

As for who the other party sent for negotiations, did that matter?

The initiative was in his own hands!

Therefore, Minister Gutierrez believed that Wang Ye had made certain concessions on the spot according to the actual situation, which might really be the bottom line of the other party. He might indeed need to face the questioning from the Duma Members afterward.

If he pushed too harshly, then when Wang Ye went back and couldn’t deliver, and the Duma failed to approve, this broken affair would drag on for a long time.

Since he had nearly reached his own side’s conditions, might as well sign it then, especially since Russia’s joining the WTO had been delayed for far too long...

...

Having thought through these links, he then cracked a smile and said,

"Well then, time is precious, and the formal meeting is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. We all hope to complete your country’s accession process before the meeting begins.

So...

Director Mikhail, welcome to your country’s entry into the WTO!"

Both stood up, hands tightly clasped together across the conference table.

All accompanying personnel from both sides stood up, and thunderous applause erupted; the United States personnel wore smiles, while many on the Russian side were still quite emotional.

After so many years of dragging on WTO accession, they had finally overcome the most challenging hurdle.

With the United States handled, the remaining negotiations with the European Union shouldn’t be any problem!

It was truly a historic moment!

...

After signing the official bilateral agreement with Minister Gutierrez, Wang Ye breathed a sigh of relief; WTO accession should be no problem now.

Tomorrow’s negotiations with Germany and the European Union were not difficult!

Especially compared to the indifference of the United States, Germany urgently needed Russia’s affordable and stable energy!

The early construction and operation of the North Stream Pipeline would undoubtedly be a great thing for Germany; they should be more anxious than he was.

Indeed, as Wang Ye had anticipated, in the negotiations with the German delegation the next day, Wang Ye was very firm.

He insisted that Germany had to bear at least sixty percent of the pipeline’s preliminary construction costs, or there was no point in discussing further matters!

Even when the German delegates threatened to walk out of the negotiations, Wang Ye remained relaxed and unswayed...

Sure enough, after confirming that Wang Ye genuinely wouldn’t make further concessions, the attitude of the German delegates noticeably weakened.

In fact, Wang Ye agreeing to bear forty percent of the construction costs was already a concession, since according to the previous proposal, all the costs were supposed to be borne by Germany...

Now that Wang Ye had sufficient funds, he was willing to contribute forty percent.

As long as Germany bore the lion’s share, there was no worry they might suddenly renege, because if that happened, Germany’s loss would be bigger than his...