Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 849 - 825 Finance Budget_2

Chapter 849: Chapter 825 Finance Budget_2

For instance, there are quite a few vacant lots right next to Xiao Ying Hotel.

If a top luxury mall were built here, it would even create a synergetic effect with Xiao Ying Hotel.

The customers who come to Xiao Ying Hotel for gambling are all potential consumers of top luxury brands!

After reading the report, Wang Ye found it quite reasonable and immediately forwarded the approved report to Xiao Ying Group.

He tasked Xiao Ying Group with handling the specifics of this venture: investment, land acquisition, and mall construction.

The venture could be considered a subsidiary of Xiao Ying Group, managed by Nalan Yaqi.

If the mall in Moscow turns out to be a success, they could even expand to branches in Petersburg or Yalta...

Although investing in a new mall is just a small business affair, it fully reflects the current strength of Wang Ye.

Investments worth hundreds of millions of US dollars require just a command from him, and a professional team immediately sees to the execution.

He doesn’t need to worry about a thing, as everything is handled smoothly!

......

Being so busy with these matters, Wang Ye had no time to attend the official opening ceremony of the cruise liner in Petersburg.

By the time he finished his pressing engagements, the cruise liner had already been operating normally for a while.

According to a report by Song Xiaogang, the cruise business was doing exceptionally well!

The interior of the cruise ship was the epitome of luxury, mainly attracting customers from Western and Northern Europe, as those folks are wealthy.

Of course, there were also many Russian local wealthy individuals who came aboard to enjoy themselves, as the cruise ship directly headed for open seas where it didn’t have to comply with Russian law, and therefore gambling restrictions didn’t apply.

Other cruise ships might worry about pirates when sailing to open seas, but Xiao Ying Group definitely didn’t have this concern.

That’s because their "brother unit" Wagner Security Company could have a fleet at their disposal!

There wasn’t even a need to deploy a mega-tonnage patrol ship; a destroyer of a few thousand tonnes following behind the cruise ship was enough to deter all the pirates in the world...

This also made the cruise ship extremely popular in Europe due to its overwhelming sense of security!

To some extent, it also helped to draw in a wave of passengers for the cruise ship.

......

Time imperceptibly moved into December, which is the busiest time of the year for the Duma.

For the Duma, there was only one task in this month: to review the Government’s work for the year and approve the finance budget for the next year!

And as Chairman of the Economic Committee, Wang Ye’s role in approving the national finance budget for the next year was the biggest demonstration of his power...

Old friends started to reach out to Wang Ye openly or subtly, hoping that he would show a slight bias toward their departments during the budget approval meeting and allocate a little more budget to them...

For example, Shao Yigu and Korokolli—the departments they oversaw were major consumers of the finance budget!

The amount of budget they could get was directly related to whether their work for the next year could proceed smoothly.

It also reflected their "influence"!

So, naturally, they were very concerned.

The Government’s annual financial report and budget plan had also been handed over, currently sitting on Wang Ye’s desk.

These past few days, Wang Ye had been diligently studying these two thick documents.

Even though they were just dry numbers, Wang Ye still found them utterly absorbing and fascinating!

Because these figures reflected the overall economy of a country, affecting not just the various governmental institutions but also profoundly impacting the work and lives of millions upon millions of common citizens!

Perhaps, with just an offhand remark, he could make the upcoming year somewhat less "pleasant" for thousands of employees within certain institutions.

A single stroke of his pen could potentially set an institution or even an entire industry on track for rapid development in the following year!

This is power...

......

After reviewing this year’s financial report, Wang Ye felt somewhat relieved.

According to the statistics, in the year 2003, Russia’s Gross Domestic Product was 13.05 trillion rubles (exchange rate: 1 US dollar is approximately 32 rubles), with a GDP growth rate of 7%!

The inflation rate was 10-12%, lower than the 14% of 2002.

The total fiscal revenue for the year was 2.417 trillion rubles, and the total expenditure was 2.345 trillion rubles.

Of this, government spending was 345.7 billion rubles, spending on social security was 244.7 billion rubles, industrial investment was 63.9 billion rubles, agricultural investment was 31.3 billion rubles, education investment was 97.6 billion rubles...

From this set of data, one can see that Russia’s foundation is really weak.

The total fiscal revenue for the year was just over 700 billion US dollars!

Living tightly, they haven’t saved much money, and they also owe a lot of foreign debt.

According to Wang Ye’s knowledge, in the next year, that is, in 2004, there is an international debt of up to 160 billion US dollars due for repayment.

However, Wang Ye wasn’t worried about this because with the rise in international energy prices, next year’s energy export business would earn a large sum of cash!

In the middle of 2003, the energy industry still had the largest share, with energy exports generating up to 130 billion US dollars in foreign exchange!

Crude oil, natural gas, and gold accounted for the bulk.

Coincidentally, Wang Ye was the major shareholder in the leading companies of these three industries: Yukos Group, Russian Gas Industry Group, and Siberian Gold...

Thus, it could be said that Wang Ye made a significant contribution to the nation’s overall economic growth this year!

Not to mention his investments in companies such as Russian Auto Group and United Aviation Group.

If one were to carefully calculate it, perhaps the contribution of enterprises related to him could account for over twenty or thirty percent of the country’s overall GDP.

To put it exaggeratedly, a sneeze from Wang Ye now, and Russia’s economy would catch a cold!

......

Wang Ye set aside past achievements.

What’s more important now is next year’s finance budget, which, at the end of every year, undergoes sustained "entanglement" between the Duma and the government.

Both sides argue on the basis of reason, sometimes even resorting to heated shouting matches. One side wants more money, while the other naturally prefers to spend less.

After repeated back-and-forth, a balance is eventually found that both sides can accept.

Then the Duma votes to approve, and the government proceeds with its plan for the budget...

What Wang Ye needs to do now is to review whether this finance budget is reasonable, or if he thinks that some industry needs increased investment and a higher budget allocation, something the government side may not have fully considered.

Simply put, he has the power to suggest and veto!

This is why the position of Chairman of the Economic Committee is highly sought after.

Wherever you are, units that manage money and personnel are always half a level above the rest...

"Next year’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.2%, reaching a total value of 14 trillion rubles, with the inflation rate further controlled within 10%," Wang Ye read aloud, without realizing it.

Rossiyana, who was evidently reviewing the same document, heard him and spoke up, "Misha, what do you think of this target? I feel the target they have set is still too low!"

Wang Ye smiled and didn’t say a word.

This matter concerned a nation’s economy!

It’s not something that can be decided by a mere sentence, not even a single decimal place can be easily modified because 0.1% corresponds to an astonishing amount!

The target set by the government is indeed on the conservative side.

Because of the recovery of the global economy, some countries have already begun to surge forward!

Others might be aiming for double-digit GDP growth rates, whereas Russia dares only to set a single-digit growth rate, which is evidently conservative.

One should know that Russia’s economic growth is much simpler than others’.

As long as the energy prices are high enough, theoretically, the GDP growth rate could be limitless...

Clearly, they failed to understand that next year’s energy market was about to experience a major boom, or maybe they had grown too accustomed to hardship to dare to be bold.

But the target is just that, a target; it’s not important. What’s important is next year’s finance expenditure budget!

This involves "dividing the money" and is where the greatest divergence lies. The focus of the debate each year is right here.

"For the fiscal year 2004, the total fiscal revenue will be 2.6 trillion rubles, and the total expenditure will be 2.5 trillion rubles..."

This is the government’s finance budget plan.