Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1327 - 1063 New Finance Budget_2

Chapter 1327: Chapter 1063 New Finance Budget_2

Looking at the construction workers who were still toiling hard in the harsh winter, Wang Ye felt a myriad of emotions.

Life isn’t easy for anyone, especially those workers with Chinese faces.

To earn a bit more money, they traveled all the way to a foreign land, enduring the bitter cold of minus twenty to thirty degrees while doing heavy manual labor.

The income of construction workers in Moscow was considered pretty decent. Like these on the worksite, Chinese workers should be able to make six to seven hundred US dollars, and the Russians might even earn more.

It wasn’t that the architectural company was shortchanging the Chinese workers’ wages, but rather because they were dispatched from abroad, so they were paid according to their own company’s compensation standards.

Additionally, the company would cover their round-trip airfare, accommodation, visa, and other expenses.

However, back in 2006, earning a net six to seven hundred US dollars a month was already considered a high salary for ordinary Chinese workers, which would convert to around six thousand CNY.

Therefore, everyone was scrambling to get such overseas assignments.

Wang Ye initially wanted to get out of the car and chat with those Chinese workers, to ask if they faced any difficulties or inconveniences while working in Moscow.

But in the end, he did not get out. After watching, he instructed the driver to turn back and headed to work at the Duma Building.

Because what he needed to do now was not about solving small problems for certain small groups or individuals, that scope would be too limited.

But rather, he aimed to change the destiny of the whole society and country, and ultimately, even the world order!

When the day came that he actually accomplished this, the destiny of the majority of people would also change accordingly...

...

As the year drew to a close, Wang Ye became busy again.

Being the Director of the National Economic Committee, it was time to review the national economic development data for the year to see if the anticipated outcomes were achieved.

He also had to audit the government’s proposed financial expenditure budget for the upcoming year, which was a major task.

Every year, there were several rounds of bargaining and tug-of-war over the financial expenditure budget proposal between both parties.

The government, naturally, wanted to ask for more money to alleviate some of the financial pressures for the next year, but the Economic Committee had to consider the overall picture and strive to maintain a balanced budget or sustainable development.

Although the exact figure for the 2006 National GDP had not been calculated yet, it was estimated to reach the target of 900 billion US dollars.

This figure, compared to 2005’s 765.8 billion US dollars, meant an increase of 17.5%!

Achieving double-digit GDP growth rates for three consecutive years was no small feat.

The international community took notice of this, and some globally renowned economic media outlets listed Russia and a certain Asian country as "twin stars," acknowledging that the robust economic growth of these two countries was driving the global economic recovery.

Russia’s finance revenue for the year also reached around 250 billion, accounting for 27.8% of the GDP.

This was a very ideal figure, indicating that the GDP growth was solid and not inflated.

Normally, a developing country’s finance revenue accounts for 20%-30% of its GDP to be considered healthy. For instance, China’s is generally around 24%.

However, some developed countries have this proportion at over 30%!

For example, the United States, where finance revenue accounts for about 35% of the national GDP.

And some touted economies, like India, where finance revenue is less than 10% of the GDP, indicate a highly questionable figure, revealing a high level of inflation within their GDP data, making it unreliable.

Russia managing 27.8% this year, with the proportion increasing every year, showed that the national economy was indeed developing healthily, with taxes being properly collected and Moscow’s overall control over the country improving.

Perhaps in another year or two, this country would truly step into the ranks of the world’s developed nations!

What was even more valuable was that this year, Russia’s economic growth was not solely driven by an increase in energy prices as it had been before.

After years of different industry economic arrangements, this year, at last, bore fruit.

Besides the traditional energy industry pillar, Russia’s military, Internet, automobile, commerce, and retail industries started to exert effort, achieving remarkable results. Hence, the GDP saw a nearly 20% substantial increase this year!

It fulfilled Wang Ye’s initial promise of all-around development, not depending solely on one path.

After reviewing this year’s financial report, Wang Ye nodded satisfactorily because everything proceeded according to his plan. Having the economic development of such a major power within his control brought an indescribable sense of satisfaction!

Looking at the 2007 expenditure budget, the government didn’t engage in any antics like last year, keeping things standard.

They only set a budget of two hundred eighty billion US dollars, only a slight increase from this year.

Combined with next year’s GDP expectations of breaking one trillion, this budget isn’t exaggerated but quite reasonable.

After reviewing it all, Wang Ye closed the folder, pondered for a moment, and then picked up the phone to call Nova.

He instructed, "Copy this document and send it to the members of the Economic Committee, as well as to Chairman Grezlov and Deputy Speaker Rilinov. Also, please ask Minister Shao Yigu to come to my office this afternoon. I want to discuss next year’s military expenditure with him."

In this government budget, next year’s military budget was already included, yet Shao Yigu had privately discussed with Wang Ye his plan to apply for a special budget under the Ministry of Defense’s name.

This budget would solely be used for purchasing advanced military equipment, primarily warships and fighter jets.

And the producers of the warships and fighter jets were none other than the United Aviation Group and the Black Sea Shipyard, both controlled by Wang Ye.

Wang Ye understood Shao Yigu’s thinking. After all, he had just become a minister—new officials have a way of making their mark.

Especially as an "outsider" who wasn’t from a military background, if he wanted to impress his troops up and down the ranks, he needed to show some real skills!

These skills weren’t Shao Yigu’s "individual combat capabilities" or military sophistication...

After reaching his position, even in the army, personal combat abilities weren’t a concern anymore; more valued were his strategic vision, leadership, and "money-making capabilities"!

Particularly, the last "money-making capabilities" were incredibly crucial...

Modern military power relies on high-tech equipment. And where does this equipment come from?

Obviously, it must be produced with massive amounts of capital!

Without money, everything is just empty talk!

As for combat spirit and military personnel professionalism, they are still important but clearly not as crucial as before.

Especially in "strong vs. strong" conflicts, wars are fought with technology, fought with logistics!

Perhaps in combat, both sides’ soldiers scarcely face each other, separated by hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, engaging through fighter confrontations, missile bombings, drone swarms, and electronic warfare...

In such scenarios, what good is individual soldier combat capability when it can’t withstand an enemy’s missile strike?

So, the so-called "military reform" led by Shao Yigu these past years fundamentally involved staff cuts and equipment updates!

Reducing personnel could save a large amount of military budget to enhance the treatment and living conditions of active soldiers and to recruit more highly educated and capable talents.

But the money for purchasing equipment is no small figure, relying on "self-reliance" is clearly impossible, and national-level support is essential!

Over the past two or three years, after Wang Ye gained control over the budget review authority, he also provided appropriate attention, adding an extra hundred or two hundred billion US dollars each year, which significantly eased Shao Yigu’s hands and made the military reform he led proceed smoothly.

The reason he was on such good terms with Wang Ye was not without reason.

On the surface, the smooth progress of the military reforms was his capability, and it was because of his contributions to the military reforms that he was promoted to his current position.

But he knew in his heart that without Wang Ye’s silent support behind him, how could the military reforms have been so successful!