Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 697: Taxing the Oligarchs_1

Chapter 697: Chapter 697: Taxing the Oligarchs_1

The proposal, "A Plan to Increase the Birth Rate", put forth by Fiklorov, was approved at the Duma Congress.

But there is a big problem with implementing it on the ground.

That is, the various subsidies and support mentioned in it involve a lot of money. Where will this money come from?

Fiklorov might not worry about money, but Wang Ye and Grezlov and the other chairmen must consider it.

Without enough funding to support the policy, it’s like an empty document, and it won’t have any effect at all.

For this reason, Grezlov convened a small meeting with several vice speakers to discuss where to squeeze out enough money to implement this plan to increase the birth rate.

"I’ve had someone calculate it, if we want to actually implement all the policies in the plan, we’re looking at an estimate of one billion US dollars per year, and this will continue to increase. This is not a small amount of money and it’s hard to get it out of the national finance budget."

Grezlov spread his hands out helplessly and said.

As a maker, or at least a participant in the decision-making process of national policy, many policies are clearly beneficial to the nation and its people but are very difficult to introduce and even harder to implement.

Is it because they don’t want to?

Not at all, it’s just because they don’t have money!

An old saying goes, "Even the best cook can’t make food without any rice."

If possible, which country wouldn’t want to implement universal welfare - ideally, from birth to death, completely taken care of?!

Unfortunately, there are few countries in the world that have the ability to implement such welfare policies.

Even the United States, rich as they are, can’t do it!

Only a few small countries in Northern Europe, due to their pitifully small populations, are able to implement these welfare policies to a limited extent.

In large countries with large populations, they might be able to implement universal welfare in one aspect, but if they attempt to have comprehensive benefits, then no matter how rich the country is, they could still go bankrupt.

This time, it’s because Wang Ye, Grezlov and others have seen the long-term harm the population crisis could pose to the country, so they are toughing it out and trying to promote this welfare policy.

But they still have a headache figuring out where to get money from.

......

Looking at each other, the vice speakers were all silent.

In the end, by tacit agreement, all eyes were drawn to Wang Ye.

If it’s about spending money, everyone here is good at that.

But if it’s about making money, undoubtedly, no one tops Mikhail...

Therefore, everyone is now hoping that Wang Ye can come up with a way to make money. If even he can’t handle it, then this policy should not be launched at all – it’s better to leave it alone.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Wang Ye smiled helplessly, he of course knew what everyone was thinking.

However, since this proposal was put forth by his faction and approved by himself, he had no choice but to endorse it.

In fact, he had already thought about the question of where the funds would come from and had a mature and reasonable plan.

The only reason he hadn’t presented it before was because of his own considerations...

He pretended to be troubled, furrowed his brows, rubbed his face with his hand, and after a long time, finally said, "A billion US dollars..., that’s a huge amount of money! Are you sure the amount is correct, does it really need that much?"

Grezlov straightforwardly nodded his head and answered, "This is what a bunch of professionals from the finance department calculated. To achieve the expected results, a billion US dollars is the bare minimum. Of course, if there is more funding, that would be even better."

Wang Ye pondered for a moment, seemingly considering how to solve this difficult problem.

Just as Grezlov was getting anxious and wanted to urge him, Wang Ye suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling Grezlov.

"I’ve got it! We need to find a new way to solve this problem, we can’t keep relying on the limited national finance budget, otherwise it would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul. If one area gets funded, then another area becomes strapped for cash." Wang Ye started to speak.

Grezlov said with a bitter smile, "Everyone understands this principle, but to find a new source of money, we don’t have any ideas. Now everyone is waiting for you to suggest something."

"Which are the most profitable industries in our country?" Wang Ye asked, staring intensely at Grezlov.

Grezlov tentatively answered, "Oil?"

Wang Ye nodded, continued asking, "What else?"

"Natural gas? Finance? Communication...that’s all!" Grezlov counted on his fingers for a long while and only named three industries.

Among them, oil and natural gas both belong to the energy industry. In the end, Russia’s industries that can make a showing are only the energy and finance sectors.

Among these, finance is only dominant domestically and holds no influence internationally.

Wang Ye smiled and said, "Yes, this matters should definitely be paid by these monopolistic industries that make the most money!"

Their wealth, obtained from the people, should also be used for the common good. When a company grows large, it must not forget its sense of social responsibility.

This is also what I have been emphasizing within the Yukos Group since becoming the chairman.

For this reason, the Yukos Group sets aside money each year to support education in remote areas.

As for the other energy, finance, and communication titans, shouldn’t they also be taking on equivalent responsibilities, contribute to the national population growth?"

Wang Ye’s words silenced the meeting room.

What he said made sense and no one could really argue.

But, to make the energy tycoons, finance tycoons, and communication giants dip into their pockets to supplement the national finance, would they be willing to...

At the end of the day, these chairmen, and the oligopolistic enterprises, have myriad private connections.

To make them step forward and play the "villain", they undoubtedly would be unwilling. That’s why they chose to remain silent.

Although others can pretend not to hear, Grezlov can’t do that, he’s the organizer of the meeting.

Moreover, he wishes very much for the population proposal to be successfully introduced and implemented.

Mouthing a wry smile, Grezlov said reluctantly: "What... name should we use to collect this money?"

"Implement a new tax, specify that this tax only applies to the top three companies in terms of revenue in each of the three industries: energy, finance, and communication. Let them take out a percentage of their revenue, specifically and exclusively for the implementation of the population proposal." Wang Ye answered without hesitation.

Launching a new tax law that only targets a few monopolistic leading enterprises is not very difficult - the Duma has that power.

But, if this tax law is to be smoothly passed in the Duma and then executed, that will be very difficult.

As mentioned before, of the more than four hundred Duma members, the majority have all kinds of relationships with these giant companies. At key moments, these Duma members are expected to speak for those giant enterprises!