Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 234 Last Negotiation_1

Chapter 234: Chapter 234 Last Negotiation_1

After leaving the National Tourism Building, Liu Mei returned to her car and didn’t rush to start the engine. Instead, she sat there for a while.

She was feeling very downcast because her collaboration with National Travel Group had fallen through completely!

No matter how she tried to explain the situation, Vice President Li stubbornly refused to agree to cooperate.

Liu Mei had tried to gauge whether Vice President Li was seeking some form of pay-off. However, Vice President Li made it clear that it had nothing to do with that and adamantly emphasized his refusal due to government policy.

Cooperating with Xiao Ying Hotel perhaps could have helped National Travel Group increase its profits, but the risks involved were disproportionate.

Especially when these risks could threaten their "official hat", no one was willing to take such a risk...

After a good while, Liu Mei took out her mobile phone, checked the time, and dialed Wang Ye’s number.

The call was quickly connected. Liu Mei recounted the events to Wang Ye and finally asked what she should do next — whether she should seek cooperation with private tourism companies. However, to her understand, there were no large-scale private tourism companies in the country.

After Liu Mei finished speaking, Wang Ye’s brows furrowed.

Indeed, the issue of gambling was a sensitive one domestically, especially for state-owned enterprises — a point he had overlooked before.

If this were the case, he reasoned that a collaboration with companies like National Travel Group was highly unlikely, and he needed to consider alternate avenues.

Seeing that gambling in Macao was also not permitted for promotion domestically, he wondered how they managed this issue and thought that he could possibly learn from them.

He decided to consult this matter with He Chaoying when he has the time.

Thereby, Wang Ye told Liu Mei to temporarily set aside the idea of seeking cooperation and begin by registering a branch office and handle matters like office space and staff recruitment. As for attracting customers and promotion, she could wait for his directions.

After ending the call, Wang Ye felt somewhat frustrated too.

Initially, he thought that leveraging on his "advanced" experience of more than twenty years ahead of his time, whatever task he carried out should be achievable with ease. Yet this matter had proven itself a lesson.

It had made Wang Ye realize that many things were not entirely within his control...

But there was no rush. After all, the renovation of the three hotels would take at least around six months. So, there was ample time.

His most important task at the moment was to settle the acquisition of Siberian Oil Company!

...

On June 30th, Wang Ye got on a call with Ivan, instructing him to launch an acquisition proposal to the headquarters of Siberian Oil Company on behalf of Polar Bear Investment company, and set up a time for another high-level dialogue.

Wang Ye himself, then made a call to A Bu.

This was the first time Wang Ye had communicated with A Bu by phone since his visit to A Bu’s mansion.

"Uncle A Bu, it’s Mikhail. May I know if you’re currently in Moscow or in Chukotka?" As soon as the call connected, Wang Ye asked courteously.

There was a moment’s pause from A Bu’s end, probably because he didn’t immediately recognize who "Mikhail" was.

After two seconds, he replied laughing, "Misha, hello, I’m in Chukotka. What’s up? You need me for something?"

"Since my uncle has entrusted me with the responsibility of acquiring the Siberian Oil Company, I thought I would meet you, Uncle A Bu, to finalize the matter. It has been dragged on for too long," Wang Ye said with a smile.

"Well..., about that matter, Misha, you may not realize how complicated it is. Even your uncle and I have discussed it for this long and haven’t been able to finalize it," A Bu, while sounding very amiable, seemed to think Wang Ye was a little naïve and oversimplifying things.

Wang Ye promptly replied, "No, it won’t be complicated anymore. How about you, Uncle A Bu, give Uncle Gavriil a call for some advice? He should be able to give you some suggestions."

Obviously, this remark surprised A Bu.

He asked tentatively, "What... does this issue have to do with Gavriil? Isn’t your uncle always in contact with Berezov?"

"This is a major acquisition affecting the development of the national oil industry. Naturally, it must be approved at the national level. You should understand this, Uncle A Bu. As for Berezov, he’s not the issue anymore," Wang Ye calmly explained.

But what he said was not fully understood by A Bu.

Especially his last sentence...

With the conversation reaching this point, A Bu couldn’t decline any further and agreed readily, "Fine, I’ll be back in Moscow the day after tomorrow. We can discuss this at the company headquarters then. As for Gavriil, I’ll give him a call in a short while to understand the situation."

...

After Wang Ye hung up, A Bu’s mood became rather unpredictable.

For so long, the reason why Khodorkovsky had not managed to complete the acquisition of Siberian Oil Company was partly due to issues on the government level, and partly because A Bu himself was hesitant.

The shares he administrated for Berezov, how they were to be treated, was a big question!

Well of course, if they were to proceed according to Khodorkovsky’s plan, since Berezov had already agreed, A Bu should just hand over the shares of the company swiftly. Then, find a way to transfer the money into Berezov’s account, and the matter would be settled.

But the question was, what benefits could A Bu gain from doing so?

He was the proxy holder for Berezov’s shares and coupled with his own shares, he could have entirely controlled the Siberian Oil Company!

Being the owner of the second-largest oil company in Russia (just after Khodorkovsky), would have given him many tangible and intangible benefits.

But after the sale, he would lose all these perks.

When the time comes, not only would he not gain anything, but he would have also offended the faction supporting the Emperor!

So deep down, he also did not want to agree to this acquisition deal.

Now, hearing from Wang Ye that Gavriil has changed his mind, agreeing to advance with this acquisition has left A Bu a little startled.

Indeed, this wasn’t something that Gavriil could unilaterally decide. Only if the Emperor gave his approval would there be changes to the matter!

Very soon, he called Gavriil to repeat the discussion he had with Wang Ye and asked for an explanation.

"Yes, after comprehensive consideration, we’ve decided to approve this acquisition. You can cooperate according to the normal process," Gavriil responded simply.

A Bu asked in bewilderment, "But, wouldn’t this let Berezov and Khodorkovsky profit? One person will have a large sum of money, while the other one will monopolize the national oil resources. What would we gain?"

"You can decide whether or not to sell your own shares. If you do decide to sell, I believe Misha would give you a good offer. That’s about it. You’ll have a clearer picture once you meet and formally discuss it," Gavriil candidly replied.

At this point, if A Bu continued asking questions, he would be showing his distrust towards Gavriil.

Therefore, he had no choice but to agree and prepare for a formal meeting with Wang Ye.