Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1477 - 1138 Proceeding Step by Step_2

Chapter 1477: Chapter 1138 Proceeding Step by Step_2

Wang Ye also personally attended and led this meeting, which was actually held at his suggestion.

At the meeting, Wang Ye proposed the concept of the "Eastern European Union."

The idea was to reference the model of the European Union, closely linking the economies of all member countries of the Economic Mutual Assistance Organization!

Members mutually exempt each other from visas and tariffs; nationals of each country can freely move within the Eastern European Union for employment, work, study, and business, and enjoy the local national policies.

By then, the distinction might just lie in the nationality listed on the passport, everything else would be the same...

Of course, in this union, Russian naturally becomes the official general language, as it is already the most widely used language in the region of Eastern Europe.

The reason Wang Ye proposed the concept of the "Eastern European Union" at this time was that he felt the "timing" was nearly right.

Over the years, through the Economic Mutual Assistance Organization, he had fostered a very harmonious relationship between Russia and its member countries!

After all, he dishes out thirty billion US dollars annually to support these "poor brothers;" how could he not be popular...

Furthermore, in recent years, Russia’s overall economy has begun to advance rapidly, while the other countries have also seen improvements; however, both in scale and growth rate, they lag far behind Russia!

Even if Wang Ye did not propose the idea of the Eastern European Union, many people in the neighboring countries already aspire to live in top international cities like Moscow and Petersburg, and many students have gone through layers of selection to earn the opportunity to study at universities in these major cities like Moscow and Petersburg.

It can be imagined that upon graduation, these students will naturally not return to their own countries but will try to stay and work in these big cities like Moscow and Petersburg.

Now, Wang Ye’s proposal to establish the Eastern European Union is essentially just piercing through the paper window, avoiding everyone’s awkwardness, and directly "integrating" would be better!

Moreover, it is still only a "union" now; the military and political power still belong to the government of each country, while only "unified" on an economic level, so leaders of the countries need not worry about having other ideas.

Besides, the successful example of the European Union is right there, with a "ready answer" to copy...

Honestly, joining this kind of union is practically a windfall for the poor and small countries!

Have you not seen how many small and poor European countries have longed to join the EU, aiming to receive the substantial subsidies provided by the EU every year?

After all, the EU essentially equates to rich countries like Germany and France subsidizing those poorer nations; which is a similar endeavor to Wang Ye annually disbursing thirty billion US dollars to support neighboring countries!

Therefore, although no Eastern European Union had been formally established before, in essence, Wang Ye was already undertaking similar actions; now it’s just about formalizing the nature of it.

Of course, in such a union, the rich countries have to disburse large sums of cash annually as subsidies to other member states, which seems like a big loss.

But in reality, the rich countries dispensing funds also gain considerable potential benefits.

For instance, they gain access to the member states’ open duty-free markets, can dump their industrial goods there, and also obtain cheap labor and various cheap, high-quality resources...

So in truth, through this union, everyone is essentially getting what they need.

Since those small and poor countries can’t become affluent through their own efforts, they might as well hand over their markets and economic policies to a capable "big brother" to manage, and then let the "big brother" provide them with some subsidies annually, making their lives a bit more comfortable...

...

During the meeting, when Wang Ye presented the proposal to establish the "Eastern European Union," it immediately received enthusiastic support from the heads of the member countries.

Yanukovych even stated right away that this was a beneficial proposal for the entire Eastern European region’s populace; he represented Ukraine in fully supporting Wang Ye’s proposal and would submit it to the parliament for voting and approval immediately upon returning.

Heads of states from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other countries also rushed to express their position, unanimously supporting the establishment of the Eastern European Union and stating the sooner the better!

In fact, compared to the European Union, the Eastern European Union that Wang Ye initiated is still not thorough enough.

Because there is one most crucial thing he hasn’t started to push forward yet, which is currency integration...

After the founding of the European Union, all member countries abolished their national currencies and switched to using the unified Euro!

Wang Ye mainly considered that his allied countries were relatively poor, and if they directly used a unified currency, it is estimated that the exchange rate could not withstand it, and it might even directly drag him down!

The European Union had the confidence to use a unified currency, and in the first few years after its launch, the value of the Euro even surpassed the US dollar!

During their meeting, the exchange rate of the Euro to the US dollar was still about 1.4...

That’s because the European Union is wealthy enough!

Although after two years of economic crisis, the momentum of economic development in the European Union has slowed down, and even began to regress, its GDP still reaches 17 trillion US dollars!

At the same time, the US’s GDP is only 14.5 trillion US dollars, so at that time, the European Union was indeed the world’s largest economy...

What could Wang Ye’s Eastern European Union compare with? Excluding Russia, the total GDP of all members of the Eastern European Union together was not even as high as Russia alone, and some countries’ GDP were almost "negligible," and Russia itself had just over a trillion US dollars.

That is to say, the total GDP of all the countries in the Eastern European Union combined is still less than two trillion US dollars, which is about one-eighth of the European Union...

So Wang Ye very rationally did not proceed with currency integration, everyone continued to use their own currencies, and waited for the right time in the future to push forward integrated currency.

While Wang Ye was busy with the Eastern European Union, far away thousands of miles in South Korea, a sensational event also happened...

...

On the evening of May 10th, Li Zairong, the Vice Chairman of Samsung Group, finished the work of the day and prepared to return home.

He has been working especially hard recently, arriving at the company very early each day, then working late before going home.

Actually, he wasn’t always like this, it was just recently that the old man had become seriously ill, and the group was about to officially select a successor, and he was the one with the loudest support, but there were still some disputes, with some shareholders questioning whether Li Zairong had enough capability to shoulder the entire burden of the Samsung Group.

Therefore, he had been working particularly hard recently, which was also an effort to gain the support of the group’s higher-ups...

Being a wealthy heir, Li Zairong certainly did not neglect his safety; each time he traveled, in addition to the Secretary Assistant, there was also a security car accompanying him, with several fully armed security personnel inside.

Previously in Xiangjiang, the children of the wealthy had been kidnapped and made the news, he certainly did not want to appear in similar news...

The car sped on the vacant streets at night, Li Zairong sat in the back seat with his eyes closed resting, his mind still thinking about tomorrow’s work schedule.

Suddenly, he heard a loud roar, followed by his driver’s cry of alarm.

Before he even had time to open his eyes to see what had happened, he felt a huge inertia coming, and being unbuckled, he flew towards the front row, felt a severe pain, and then lost consciousness.

Before losing consciousness, the last thought in Li Zairong’s mind was "remember to wear a seat belt next time in the car..."

The next day, all the front-page headlines in South Korea published the same news.

"Li family heir encounters a car accident, severely injured!"

"Samsung Vice Chairman encounters car accident on the way home, rushed to ICU ward, life hanging by a thread ..."

Yes, the car that Li Zairong was in encountered a head-on collision with an out-of-control truck on the way home, and because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, he suffered severe head injuries during the accident and was rushed to the hospital.

It is said that the situation is not very optimistic, maybe his life can be saved, but due to head trauma, his intelligence...