Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 970 - 885 Watching a Fight from a Hill

Chapter 970: Chapter 885 Watching a Fight from a Hill

Wang Ye, of course, received the news about such a significant event as soon as it happened.

However, he was different from others—he didn’t set his sights on that position because he himself couldn’t possibly take the role of Premier, and he had no suitable candidates to recommend.

Khodorkovsky was not interested in the position, and Rossiyana actually wanted it, but she did not have enough experience and had been vetoed by her father-in-law long ago.

So now, Wang Ye could adopt an attitude of indifference and watch the power struggle unfold from a distance.

He was curious to see who would emerge victorious from this competition and secure the position.

Yet, Wang Ye was very interested in the departing Kasianov!

This fellow was definitely a talent.

In his previous life, Kasianov was dismissed by the Kremlin around this time as well. After his departure, he never held any public office again.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to—it was because upon being dismissed by the Kremlin, he had harshly stated that he would only take positions elected by the people’s votes and would never accept appointed or commissioned roles.

Later, he even established his own faction and first attempted to storm the Duma unsuccessfully.

He then shifted his focus to the Kremlin, but didn’t even secure the qualifications to be a candidate.

It wouldn’t be fair to call Kasianov incompetent due to these continuous failures; after all, by then, he had become one of the leading figures of the opposition, and of course, they couldn’t allow him into the Duma or to participate in the General Election...

As a staunch opposition symbol, Kasianov’s day-to-day work involved opposing the government and the Kremlin, especially targeting someone in particular.

He always had to find faults in any policy the government released and was frequently interviewed by Western media, vehemently criticizing the current government.

Yet nothing happened to him for this; sometimes, the Kremlin is quite humane and sentimental towards the past.

After all, during Kasianov’s tenure, he truly made considerable contributions, with the national economy growing rapidly year by year.

That wasn’t solely Mikhail’s achievement; Kasianov also made great conciliatory contributions!

In particular, when it comes to the national foreign debt, Kasianov was a true expert and one of the few "specialist-type" talents in the government office.

Many people believe that Kasianov’s tenure was one of the most productive economic periods in modern Russian history.

From 2000 to 2004, Russia’s GDP grew by an average of 6.8% each year.

This spurred rapid growth in personal incomes, with wages and salaries increasing at an average annual rate of 20%.

The number of people living in poverty dropped from 42 million in 2000 to 24 million in 2004.

The country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves rose from 33 billion US dollars to 87 billion US dollars, and throughout these years, the nation’s budget was executed without any deficit!

Behind this string of figures lies the outstanding performance of Kasianov’s work.

......

Wang Ye was holding a briefing in his hands, which was the Kremlin’s assessment of Kasianov upon the announcement of his resignation.

"Dear Russian citizens!

In accordance with Article 117 of the Constitution, I have made the decision for the resignation of the head of the government department (that is, the Premier).

This decision has nothing to do with the performance of the former Premier.

His overall performance during his tenure was satisfactory and effective..."

The entire announcement, when it came to the assessment of Kasianov, was positive, with no expression of dissatisfaction.

It indicated that the Kremlin did not dismiss him because of his lack of capability, but for other reasons.

Of course, Wang Ye knew what those reasons were.

In the past, he rarely dealt with Kasianov because he knew that this man was going to fall from grace and offend the Kremlin, so why should he get involved?

But now that Kasianov had resigned, Wang Ye thought it might be time to make contact!

Not for any other reason, but because he valued Kasianov’s abilities in the economic field, as well as his decent influence and reputation overseas—a rare talent indeed.

Although Wang Ye had a clear understanding of global future developments, he had never formally studied economics and finance; he was more of an amateur.

Thus, he could set strategic directions, but their implementation required professional expertise.

If he could recruit Kasianov to assist with The Great Infrastructure Project, he estimated work efficiency would be higher and the results even better.

Before making contact with Kasianov, however, Wang Ye wanted to personally understand the Kremlin’s attitude.

He didn’t want his reemployment of Kasianov to lead to any displeasure from the Kremlin, which would be a loss not worth the gain...

......

As usual, when discussing such "private" matters, Wang Ye would invite Gavriil to dine at Turandot.

In the same private room that he always reserved, Wang Ye and Gavriil sat across from each other, enjoying the meal and having a pleasant conversation.

After some light-hearted small talk, Wang Ye changed the subject, saying,

"I remember the first time I went abroad with the delegation was with Kasianov to China. That trip was quite fruitful; we secured a century’s big order for Yukos and the Russian Gas Industry Group.

Alas, in just over two years, I have become the Deputy Speaker of the Duma, while Kasianov has..."