Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 905 - 853 Partners_2

Chapter 905: Chapter 853 Partners_2

After all, the fewer people who knew about the topic of their upcoming discussion, the better!

...

Not one to beat around the bush, Wang Ye sat down and got straight to the point, "The situation is very grim; the forces behind our competitor are formidable."

Yanukovych must have also been in continuous contact with the people in Moscow, so he wasn’t surprised by Wang Ye’s words.

His expression somewhat bitter, he helplessly shook his head and said, "I’m aware, their campaign momentum is fierce, and I don’t know where they’re getting so many election contributions. Moreover, their election team is very professional. They’ve reportedly hired an international team, and in this respect, my team truly isn’t a match for his."

Wang Ye cracked a smile, certain that Yanukovych must also know who his "real opponent" was this time.

The reason he hadn’t spoken openly about it was obviously that he still didn’t want to face it.

He casually mentioned, "Money is not an issue; I’ll take care of that for you."

Yanukovych’s face lit up as he quickly asked, "Really?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he must have realized his question was a bit impolite and chuckled awkwardly, explaining, "Of course, I don’t doubt your strength; it’s just that I’m a bit worried. If someone were to leak our relationship, the public opinion... there might be problems."

He had a point.

Even though the origins of his competitor’s election funds were questionable, neither he nor his opponent could afford to leave any traces.

Receiving election funds from abroad is not something to boast about!

That’s because voters would become skeptical—if you’re using a foreigner’s money to run for office, after you’re elected, won’t you have to give something back in return?

This sort of thing can be done, but absolutely must not be spoken of and certainly cannot be known by the competition!

Wang Ye waved his hand, smiling confidently, "Don’t worry; the money will come from within your own country. No matter how much your opponents investigate, there will be no problem with the source of the funds—it will be completely clean!"

Yanukovych’s eyes widened in disbelief.

If Wang Ye said the money was coming through some secret channel from abroad or even Crimea, he wouldn’t have any doubts.

But claiming it was coming from "within the country" and was clean, that was something he found hard to believe because Mikhail clearly had no investments or enterprises within Ukraine!

Crimes aside...

Wang Ye knew his thought process but didn’t rush to explain. Instead, he said with a smile, "I’ll introduce you to a friend. Once she arrives, you’ll understand."

After saying so, he took out his mobile phone, made a call, and briefly spoke, "Come on up."

Then he hung up the phone.

While waiting for the person to arrive, Wang Ye simply lifted his coffee and slowly savored it.

Yanukovych also remained silent, guessing who it might be that was coming up...

...

The security personnel guarding the door opened it, and a woman walked in.

Yanukovych abruptly stood up, his face full of surprise as he blurted out at the woman, "Kimoshenko!"

"Please, call me Yulia, thank you," Yulia said with a smile.

Wang Ye patted the sofa next to him, and Yulia obediently sat down.

Yanukovych also sat down, stunned. He looked at Yulia and then Wang Ye, seemingly confused about Wang Ye’s intentions.

"You must recognize Yulia. From today on, she is your election partner. You’ll be the lead, she’ll be the deputy; together you’ll form a team and run in the election. Once successful, you’ll take the presidency, and she’ll handle the government’s work," Wang Ye announced cheerily.

Yanukovych was momentarily stunned, his mind in a whirl.

He used to consider Yulia as a rival!

How suddenly she was to become an election partner...

Wang Ye didn’t give him much time to think and continued, "Yulia here will be responsible for arranging the election funds. The money will come directly from her company’s accounts. This shouldn’t pose any problem, as it can withstand scrutiny from anyone."

Yanukovych blurted out, "She’s taking care of everything? That’s a significant amount of money!"

He was right, with the election campaign becoming tense, everyone was desperately pouring money into advertising. If this continued until the election officially began next year, the funding needed would be astronomical!

Originally, Yanukovych had also prepared a sizable amount of election funds, but as the opposition strengthened their campaign, it started to become overwhelming.

He knew Yulia was very wealthy, and the Natural Gas company backing her was one of the energy giants.

However, the problem was that Yulia’s Natural Gas company, while formidable locally, was nothing compared to the influence it had in Europe or the whole world!

It simply couldn’t compare with true energy giants like the Russian Gas Industry Group.

Otherwise, why would Yulia need to cooperate with anyone at all? She could just run for the election by herself...

Yulia’s face bore an elegant smile, and she didn’t get angry at Yanukovych’s questioning of her financial strength. She explained calmly,

"Although my Natural Gas company isn’t the richest, it just so happens that we have just signed a super big contract with the Russian Gas Industry Group and the Yukos Group. They intend to entrust us with the task of planning and managing the pipeline that transports energy to Western Europe.

Therefore, they plan to prepay our company an investment of up to fifty billion US dollars, and from this project alone, my company will be able to make a profit of over ten billion US dollars each year!"

The super big contract she mentioned was one of the results of her "all-night-long talk" with Wang Ye last night!

Faced with such a huge temptation and the various assurances given by Wang Ye, Yulia wholeheartedly "surrendered" to Wang Ye without a second thought!

Making it this far was evidence enough that Yulia was an extremely smart woman.

It was because she was smart enough that Wang Ye chose her as the breakthrough to turn the tide.

As Gu Qima had put it, even though Yulia seemed to have a high support rate on the surface and had a grand momentum, in reality, she lacked genuine competitive force and was merely a supporting runner.

This was something Yulia, too, had obviously realized.

Perhaps she hadn’t realized it when she first announced her candidacy, but as the election campaign intensified, she must have sensed something was off.

The two strongest opponents each had massive support behind them. What did she have in support of herself?

Just her family’s Natural Gas company and the diminishing funds in the company’s accounts?

Clearly, that was not enough to last all the way to the end!

So, when Wang Ye extended an olive branch, inviting her to his room, Yulia hesitated for just a second or two before agreeing decisively.

Of course, when she accepted Wang Ye’s invitation, she did so tentatively, uncertain of the final outcome.

Maybe, she would only suffer a "small loss," which was tolerable.

What she hadn’t anticipated was that Wang Ye would give her an enormous surprise!

A super big contract, as well as assurances about her political future and personal safety.

All she had to do was follow Wang Ye’s instructions and cooperate with Yanukovych’s campaign team.

The price to pay was small, but the reward she got was beyond expectation!

Yulia didn’t hesitate at all and immediately agreed, and to prove her sincerity and loyalty, she also made some considerable sacrifices last night...

...

After his initial shock, Yanukovych gradually understood the machinations.

He felt a bit inferior to the shrewd maneuvers of the young Director Mikhail.

Having been in the game for half his life and facing difficult predicaments, someone else came along in just one day and solved everything seamlessly.

Not only had his financial issues been resolved, but he also gained a powerful campaign partner!

As a solo candidate, Yulia realistically couldn’t make it to the end, but at least she had significant appeal among female voters and a considerable influence.

As a campaign partner, she was simply perfect!

Still, even so, this didn’t guarantee a sure victory in next year’s election.

Because the competitors also had financial strength and personnel...