The flight taken by Vladimir Korkosko and his Chinese delegation arrived at Rivni West Airport at around ten o'clock in the morning on Monday, December 21.
After returning to his home in the south of the city for a brief rest, Korkoshko hurried to Rivne State University in the city.
A graduation ceremony was just held here this morning.
The School of Business Administration of Rovne State University, which is heavily funded by the Westeros system, held a one-year on-the-job training course last year, mainly providing business management training for middle and senior managers of Rivne gang's companies, using the Harvard University in the United States The university's advanced case teaching model is adapted to local conditions, and a batch of cases are specially customized to match the industrial layout of Rivne and the economic status of Eastern Europe.
Because Simon has personally paid attention to this training class, and because there is indeed a shortage of business management talents here, everyone in the Rivno Gang attaches great importance to it.
Missing the graduation ceremony, Korkoshko could only attend the noon reception.
Arriving at the school auditorium of the National University, which serves as a banquet hall, in addition to the nearly sixty students who graduated today, Governor Andrei Smirnov, Oldek Company founder Sergei Komorov, Rivni’s current Mayor Vasily Nazorov, Rivni Development Bank President Boguslav Edelman, UFMS President Klim Derevyanko, RMSR President Yuri Dovlinko and other core members of the Rivno Gang All appear here.
Everyone obviously understands that cultivating specialized business management talents and improving the management level of the Rivne Gang's subordinate companies ultimately improves the strength of the entire Rivne Gang.
Because this is an era where economy is king.
However, in today's Ukraine, apart from the core members of the Rivne Gang, there are not many people who firmly believe in and adhere to this truth. For example, the gang in Kiev is still continuing the practice of seizing power and grabbing profits in the former Soviet era. Rough mode.
Different patterns dictate a different future.
The previous internal fighting between Kuchma and Lazarenko has proved that the model of relying on power to gain profits cannot last long. Instead, it is the right way for the Rivne Gang to focus on economic development.
Of course, the Rovno gang is not so naive as to think that by working hard, they can live up to their expectations.
There still needs to be a background.
Fortunately, their backstage is large enough to easily crush the entire country, so they can put aside their worries and concentrate on their work.
From 1994 to now, in just a few years, through economic expansion and this year's Ukrainian State Duma election, it has gained enough political capital. Even if the Rivne Gang is not deeply entrenched, it is definitely not something that anyone can easily shake. .
The next step is to continue to cultivate deeply.
The group of graduates today are the backbone of the Rivne Gang's enterprises at all levels and are the main force for the subsequent expansion of the Rivne Gang. This is why the core members of the Rivne Gang are basically in place.
Patiently greeting many familiar students in the training class one by one, after walking around for a while, Korkoszko, who had drunk a lot of wine, was already flushed.
After going to the bathroom and washing his face with cold water to sober up, Korkoszko returned to the hall. When he saw Governor Wardmilka and others gathered together waving to him, he walked over.
After a few more pleasantries, the topic naturally turned to Korkoshko's trip to China.
In the past two weeks, Korkoszko and his team have spent most of their time in Hong Kong, and have also visited several cities such as Beijing, Suzhou and Shenzhen. The specific schedule seems very boring to outsiders. It basically consists of three things: government exchanges, company visits and business discussions.
If it were another government team, it would be easy to turn this kind of trip into an official trip. Of course Korkosko and his party were not like this, but they really went to learn from it.
Speaking of which, in other cases, this kind of visit and exchange is often in the nature of attracting investment or negotiating cooperation.
In the past few years, thanks to the matchmaking of the Westeros system, the Rivne Gang has indeed reached a lot of cooperation with China, such as the Chinese restaurant chain that started in Rivni and spread to many major cities in Ukraine, such as a famous Chinese restaurant The VCD and DVD factory built by the brand called BBK in Rivni, for example, a large amount of amber produced in Rivne is exported to China, for example, the clothing factory here in Rivni has reached fabric import cooperation with some Chinese companies, etc.
Some factories here have even hired many senior managers from China to be involved in all aspects such as production and marketing. There is no way, Eastern Europe, which still has a strong Soviet atmosphere, really lacks relevant talents, and China has been reforming and opening up for 20 years, and it has accumulated a lot of experience in this regard.
This is actually the reason why the core of the Rivne Gang attaches so much importance to this executive training course.
In any case, after all, it is easier to use it by yourself.
Besides, Korkoszko’s just-concluded trip to China is different this time. There is no such arrangement as investment promotion and cooperation.
Because Rivni currently does not have enough resources for foreign companies.
There is no shortage of people.
However, infrastructure resources such as electricity, transportation, and water conservancy can only barely support the development of the current structure of the Rivne region.
Of course, supply yourself first.
For this reason, the Rivne Gang also took the initiative to reject many projects that outsiders considered to be very high-quality projects.
Just in October, Germany's Volkswagen sent an inspection team to Rivni, hoping to build a car factory here. To this end, the Kiev authorities paid personal attention.
In the end, we had no choice but to decline.
First of all, heavy industry such as automobiles is inconsistent with Rivni’s development idea of focusing on light industry.
Secondly, and most importantly, it consumes too many resources.
If a car factory is really built in Rivni, not to mention the massive consumption of infrastructure resources, even the human resources here will be pinched by Volkswagen's car factory.
This is not what the Rovne gang wants to see.
It's not over yet.
After Rivni declined, the Kiev authorities were very eager to offer retention conditions. Whether it was Kiev, the industrial town of Donetsk in the east, or Odessa in the south with convenient sea transportation, the public could do whatever they wanted. Obviously, the Kiev authorities also understand the huge economic benefits that can be generated by a car factory driving the surrounding industrial chain.
As a result, the public didn't like it at all.
Speaking of which, southeastern Ukraine actually has a certain automobile industry foundation. On the contrary, the Rivne Oblast is almost completely destitute. Under normal circumstances, Volkswagen chooses to build its automobile factory in Rivni instead of other industrially prosperous areas. , which is really contrary to common sense.
Of course the public is not stupid.
In Eastern Europe, it can be said that everything is cheap now. According to the principle that capital naturally seeks low costs, it should have developed rapidly with the inflow of large amounts of capital in recent years.
Why not
The key point is still the business environment.
Political turmoil, breakdown of public security, dilapidated infrastructure, etc., any one of them will inhibit the inflow of capital, and these are basically all in Eastern Europe now.
Also play with yarn.
Even if there is direct support from the national authorities, the fact that the devil is difficult to deal with is the same all over the world.
Therefore, Volkswagen hopes to build a factory in Rivni, and the only thing it is optimistic about is Rivni's excellent business environment under the control of the Westeros system.
With a good external environment, even if there is no automobile industry foundation in the region, with a stable base, the needed talents and parts system can be built from other regions in Ukraine where the industrial foundation is not weak.
The key is to be able to do business well.
It is a pity that Rivni does not have so many resources for the public. In other areas, the public does not dare to invest in projects worth US$1 billion when the prospects cannot be guaranteed. For the Volkswagen Group, which is a large company with a large business, the second priority is that US$1 billion has been wasted. It will not hurt the muscles and bones. The key is that if the production plan is disrupted, the loss cannot be calculated by US$1 billion.
The reception lasts until 2pm.
Due to work arrangements, most of the core members of the Rivne Gang who took time to come to support them basically left early. This was the case for Sergei Komorov, who controlled Oldek Company, the core of the Rivne Gang.
It was just after one o'clock in the afternoon when Komorov left the reception and rushed to the Rivni train station in the city center.
What the Rivne Gang is most dissatisfied with about Rivni's railway system is that the main railway line runs right through the center of the city.
The train station is also built in the city center.
With the rapid development of the entire city, the train station originally built for a small town with a population of 200,000 was obviously not enough. However, because it is located in the crowded city center, expansion is very troublesome, and the transportation of surrounding goods to the station is also very inconvenient.
This is a historical issue.
Fortunately, the planning of the new train station located in the north of the city has been completed, and construction will officially start after the freeze next year.
I can only make do at the moment.
Sergei Komorov personally came to Rivni Railway Station this afternoon to watch with his own eyes the latest batch of business from Oldek Company.
Arriving at the train station, Komorov had just met the person in charge who was busy directing the workers to load the goods. Komorov saw a beautiful woman wearing a pink trench coat and a bun coming over. It was Yulia Tymoshenko. .
Taking another look at the brand new freight car on the railway track, Komorov immediately understood why this woman appeared.
Seeing the other party approaching, Komorov took the initiative to greet him with a smile on his face, feeling unavoidable in his heart.
After Lazarenko was captured by Kuchma, many people thought that this former natural gas princess would quickly fall into silence. After all, without Ukraine’s domestic natural gas distribution rights, Tymoshenko’s so-called business empire would also lose its most important part. The main source of income, as for other businesses, is not on track at all.
Unexpectedly, this woman would make a comeback soon.
It is rumored that Tymoshenko formed an alliance with Viktor Yushchenko, another central bank governor who controls Ukraine's money bag, and reached a reconciliation with the Kuchma family, which led to his revival. The reality is that as one of the core members of the Rovno Gang, Komorov knew that this woman actually got a foothold with his big boss and was able to gain a foothold again.
Simon hoped to train Tymoshenko to be a secret piece of his own, but not a dead chess piece, so he notified several core members of the Rivno Gang.
Of course, at the public level, even if some other people with keen intuition have a rough guess, Simon will not confirm it.
As for Tymoshenko’s getting closer and closer to the Rivne Gang, in current Ukraine, both the Kiev faction and the Donetsk Gang in Eastern Ukraine are very close to the Rivne Gang. On the one hand, the Rovne Gang The behemoth of the Westeros system behind the Rivno Gang, on the other hand, is that the Rivno Gang not only does not compete with everyone for the assets left over from the former Soviet Union, but can also share various lucrative profits through cooperation. Who would not Want to make friends
Tymoshenko is not conspicuous among them.
The two parties approached and after a warm handshake and greeting, Komorov looked at the brand-new carriage on the track and said with a smile: "Yuliya, you have really helped us a lot."
With the rapid development of Rivni, transportation capacity limitations have also become a shortcoming restricting urban development.
The railway system, which has not been updated since the collapse of the Soviet Union, is second to none. In the past two years, what has troubled Rivni the most is the serious shortage of train wagons, which are the main force for freight transportation. Whether it is importing raw materials or exporting products, it is necessary to There were so many wagons that there would be disputes within the Rovne gang over the supply of wagons.
Apparently seeing this business opportunity, Tymoshenko acquired a locomotive factory in Odessa this year, specializing in the production of train wagons. Currently, it can steadily supply Rivni with 50 brand-new wagons every week, which is exactly the same as one freight train. quantity.
Of course, this business is not limited to Tymoshenko.
Even the president's son-in-law Victor Pinchuk had a hand, but Pinchuk mainly produced equipment such as train wheels and rails, and carriages were only secondary. The equipment supply for the new railway station planned in the north of Rivni was taken over by Pinchuk.
Therefore, when Komorov said that Tymoshenko was a great help, it was of course only a compliment.
After all, she is the boss's woman, and she is so capable, so it is always right to praise her.
Yulia Tymoshenko did not get carried away. With the same polite words, she looked at the workers who were busy loading the goods and asked, "I heard that you have opened up a new business this time?"
Komorov did not hide anything and nodded: "Yes, the cooperation with the German affordable supermarket chain Aldi actually started last year. At first, it only supplied simple flour, sugar and cooking oil. This time, four more Brand new categories, candy, coffee, sausages and vodka, hehe, they are all our own brands. The trial sales are good, and some marketing has been carried out. This is the first large-scale distribution."
Ordinary people may not think anything when they hear this, it is just daily life, but Tymoshenko is envious.
As the 'bread basket' of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine once supplied 20% of the flour, 40% of the edible oil and up to 80% of the sugar of the entire Soviet Union. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian agricultural production also collapsed. In fact, in recent years It has only recovered to about half of its pre-disintegration output in all aspects.
But it is still enough to earn foreign exchange through export on the basis of self-use.
As for Rivne, Tymoshenko generally knows that before, it was just basic business such as flour, sugar and cooking oil. Rivni’s average daily output is the size of a train, about 40 to 60 wagons, three basic businesses. The food output in the past year has reached one million tons, and the annual revenue is expected to exceed US$600 million.
Even if the profit margin of the three basic foods is very low, with an average net profit rate of only about 5%, it is expected to bring a net income of US$30 million to the Rovno Gang.
30 million US dollars may not be much to the little man standing behind all this, but in Ukraine, it is a business that makes many people jealous.
Now, obviously it goes one step further.
For highly processed candies, sausages, vodka and other products, the profit margin is not just 5%.
Let’s talk about coffee. Ukraine does not produce coffee beans. Tymoshenko knows that these are imported from Africa, processed in Rivni and exported to Western Europe. Unlike locally produced and sold flour and other products, the profits will also be high.
From the small to the big, this further step undoubtedly means that the strength of the Rovno Gang is rapidly increasing.