Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 820 - 811: Intensifying Competition

Chapter 820: Chapter 811: Intensifying Competition

Factional struggles again!

Wang Ye came to this conclusion about the matter.

Obviously, in recent times, his own Third Faction has been in the limelight, setting off alarms for the First and Second Factions.

As for the First Faction, it’s a bit easier to deal with.

He had a decent relationship with both the Kremlin and Grezlov’s group; even if they were cautious of him, as long as relations hadn’t worsened, they were unlikely to take ruthless actions against him.

But the Second Faction was different.

Its position was rather awkward, neither here nor there.

With the grand mountain of the First Faction pressing down from above, and the relentless pursuit of the Third Faction from behind.

In next year’s election, they might even lose to Wang Ye’s Third Faction and switch positions, the former Second becoming the Third...

Moreover, the relations between the two sides had always been rather poor.

Even though there were no overt confrontations, behind the scenes, there had been quite a few skirmishes!

For instance, behind the attempt on Wang Ye’s life, as well as the subsequent struggle for the oil pipeline, there were actually shadows of the Second Faction or some of its factional heavyweights.

It’s just that Wang Ye pretended to be oblivious, dealing only with those who were pushed into the spotlight and not delving too deep.

However, it was precisely because Wang Ye didn’t probe to the bottom of things that their relationship hadn’t deteriorated too severely; at least on the surface, they were still cordial to each other.

Even Krov, the Party leader of the Second Faction and also the Deputy Speaker of Duma, would always be all smiles when he met Wang Ye, making those who didn’t know any better think they were on good terms.

But all of this began to intensify as the election campaign heated up.

Wang Ye’s Third Faction and the New Faction established by Khodorkovsky, both financially robust, took initiative in the campaign by throwing huge sums of money, securing many of the media’s prime time slots and starting their faction’s publicity half a year in advance.

This forced other factions to follow suit and move up their publicity campaigns.

As the competition grew fiercer, the advantage of being financially strong became apparent. Recently, an organization conducted a poll.

It was to measure the support rates of the major factions among the public.

The results showed that the First Faction’s foundations were still solid, with its support rate firmly at first place!

However, compared to the last election, there was a slight decline, only 45%.

Most people weren’t surprised by this result, since everyone knew that times have changed. There are more and more competitive factions, so naturally, the First Faction couldn’t maintain an overwhelming advantage!

What truly surprised everyone was Wang Ye’s faction, with a support rate as high as 20%, jumping to second place!

Keep in mind, during the last Duma election, the Third Faction then led by Rilinov only had a 9% support rate!

After Wang Ye took over, the support rate had more than doubled, which was rather astonishing.

With Wang Ye’s faction rising to second place, the original Second Faction’s ranking naturally fell, with their support rate at only 16%, now in third place.

Remember, in the last Duma election, the support rate for the Second Faction was 20%!

Khodorkovsky’s New Faction had already reached a support rate of 6%!

This figure might not seem high, but don’t forget, this is a newly established faction. To achieve such a support rate is quite impressive.

If they can maintain this rate in next year’s election, then Khodorkovsky’s faction will become the Duma’s fourth-largest faction!

The top four factions occupied a total of 87%, with the remaining minor factions collectively having 13%...

Although this is only an initial poll and does not represent the true support rate during next year’s election, it does reveal certain trends.

One has to marvel, money really can do wonders!

The reason Wang Ye’s faction and Khodorkovsky’s faction were able to achieve unexpectedly high support rates was unmistakably linked to their substantial investments.

Frankly speaking, the principles between the various factions weren’t that different. It is just a matter of whose slogan was louder, who had more TV appearances, and who could get more voters familiar with their faction’s principles...

The massive funds Wang Ye and Khodorkovsky threw in had a very significant effect!

...

"It seems like Krov and his people are getting anxious, huh? With their support rate lagging behind ours, and relying solely on their own efforts doesn’t seem like they can catch up, so they start to engage in malicious competition by attacking our faction?" Wang Ye said with a smile, having figured out the connection.

Rossiyana also caught on immediately, and upon hearing Wang Ye, she quickly understood.

Biting her lip and frowning, she said, "That’s just them being bullies and cowards, afraid to trouble the First Faction, are they planning to use us as their chopping block?"

Wang Ye shook his head with profound meaning, "It’s not that they don’t dare to trouble the First Faction, it’s just not the right time yet. But their intention to use us as their chopping block is quite clear. Do they really think our faction is easy to bully?"

"So, what kind of response should we make? Shall we have our faction members strike back at them in the media?" asked Rossiyana immediately, her expression a bit excited.

There’s endless fun in contending with others.

She had been following Wang Ye for some time now, and having been in Duma for so long, she always felt as though it was stagnant water here. The congressmen were like "smiling tigers," lacking any passion, which was quite dull.