Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 652 Setting the Tone High_1

Chapter 652: Chapter 652 Setting the Tone High_1

In the evening, Rossiyana and I drove to the Kremlin.

For the two of us, we were like frequent visitors, not needing anyone to lead us. We went directly to Gavriil’s office upstairs.

We had a casual chat with Gavriil first, before he guided us to Puding’s office.

We were in the same small restaurant, with just the four of us.

The food was simple but delicious, the conversation atmosphere was relaxed.

Naturally, for Wang Ye, it was not going to be so relaxed, as Puding had already started asking about Yukos Group’s matters.

"Misha, I heard that after Yukos Group underwent a restructuring, you’ve become the chairman and also the biggest shareholder."

Puding put down the fork and knife in his hands, gently wiped his mouth with a napkin, and looked at Wang Ye with a smile as he asked.

The expression on his face was very kind, like an elder looking at their outstanding junior...

Still, Wang Ye felt a jump in his heart. He furrowed his brows, put down the fork and knife in his hand and pondered before responding:

"Yes, indeed there was such a matter.

Having developed to its current size, Yukos Group’s previous ownership structure and model no longer seems suitable for the company’s expansion.

Therefore, it was necessary to restructure the ownership.

After the communication and consultation among all shareholders, they largely agreed with me, and hence, elected me the new chairman of the Group.

As for the shares, well, that was Uncle Khodorkovsky’s idea. He did not want his children to take over Yukos Group, and he also did not want to maintain control of the Group in his own hands forever.

Uncle often said to me that the success of Yukos cannot be replicated. Of course, it thrived due to his and the employees’ efforts, alongside the support and help from government and the opportunities of the era.

Therefore, Yukos Group must give back to society and the country after its success.

The stock ownership must gradually decentralize, the company has to go public, expand its scale, and create more tax revenue and jobs for the country.

As for my role as the chairman, the thing I really want to do is to pay attention to the company’s social responsibility, not just making profits. I want to start to give back to society, to benefit the people..."

Goodness gracious, Puding casually asked a question and Wang Ye went on to give a "speech"!

And set the tone very high.

In his words, both Khodorkovsky and he were full of social responsibility, completely disregarding personal gains. What they thought about was how to return favor to society, and benefit the public.

The future Yukos Group would not seem like an oligarchic company anymore, but a charity organization!

His speech left everyone else stunned. Even Puding forgot to eat and was listening attentively to Wang Ye.

After Wang Ye finished speaking, Gavriil, with a bewildered face, asked before Puding could, "Is this really what you have in mind? Will the other shareholders agree? I hear you have brought in new shareholders from China, America, and Germany. Even if you are willing to do charity, will they follow suit, and are they not interested in making money?"

Apparently, the Kremlin had a firm grasp of what had happened in Yukos Group.

Gavriil would have had a clear understanding of the newly added shareholders.

It could be because of the powerful backgrounds of the new shareholders that led to today’s dinner. This might be a way to know Wang Ye’s intentions and plans before deciding how to treat Yukos Group.

Wang Ye smiled shyly, "Uncle Gavriil, it is indeed what I have in my mind.

Because there’s no end to making money. As an entrepreneur, if all one cares for is making money, I find such a life meaningless!

’Take from the people, use on the people.’ The success of Yukos is not only due to the efforts of the company founder and employees. In a way, it’s also due to the benefits of that historic period.

Now that the company has grown in size and has strong profitability.

Therefore, it should not just focus on making money, it must take up its original social responsibility.

In fact, in any country, large companies have similar practices. They establish charities and carry out public welfare activities.

It’s just that our Yukos Group would do it more intensely, committing more resources to it.

Actually, I have already made a preliminary plan. I intend to establish an education fund with at least 300 million US dollars this year to improve difficult situations in less-developed rural schools."

In fact, this was something that Wang Ye came up with on a whim in the afternoon.

But the matter was not merely lip service in front of Puding. Wang Ye was really going to follow through.

In the past years, most industries in Russia were having a hard time.

But the areas that stood out the most, and deeply felt by the citizens, were the education and medical fields.

After all, these two sectors are closely related to every family.

The main issue is the lack of funds. The budget provided by the state is small, but teachers and nurses need to eat too, they are not immortals. Everyone is human and need to make ends meet.

As far as Wang Ye knew, teachers from different places had come to Moscow a few times to protest against low salaries, demanding the state to provide for higher wages.

They even had face-to-face talks with Puding, directly demanding a salary increase.

However, Puding didn’t give in at the time. He understood that the floodgates couldn’t be opened like that.

The salaries of teachers are indeed low, but isn’t it true for all other industries?

If you raise salaries because teachers protest, then what will people in other industries think, what will they do?

Wouldn’t everyone start making a scene!

However, no matter what, Puding was well aware that education is a big problem. If it continues to be put off without a good solution, it will post an endless problem!

But today, Wang Ye surprised him.

Wang Ye was essentially using his own money to help the country resolve its difficulties.

This so-called education fund, of course, wouldn’t be able to raise salaries for all the teachers, but at least it could help a considerable number of teachers who are really in need.

Particularly, the significance and influence of doing this are very critical!

This is pioneering in Russia!

Yukos Group is a very representative oligarchic energy company. Not only in the energy industry, it is very influential in the entire business sector of the country.

If Yukos Group starts to place importance on this so-called sense of social responsibility, and start to be willing to pay back the country and the people.

It would have a great impact.

Would other oligarchic companies follow?

Would they also want to take out money to run some charity or public welfare activities, should they also help some poor people?

Honestly, if Yukos Group had done this earlier, why would Puding have wanted to touch this company?

The reason for wanting to make a move against it, wasn’t it because Yukos Group was only "sucking blood", and unwilling to give back some of its profits...