At the current stage of Ukraine, in addition to the Rivno Gang, which is controlled by the Westeros system in the northwest, and the Petrovsk Gang, which controls Kiev, another important political and economic force is the Donetsk Oblast, an important industrial town in eastern Ukraine. The Donetsk gang in the base area.
According to the information Simon received, Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko was assassinated, and the man behind the assassination was Yev Shcherban, the leader of the Donetsk Gang at this time.
As for the reason, it is still for profit.
Unlike Western Ukraine, which is mainly agricultural, Eastern Ukraine concentrates most of the country's energy industry assets, especially Donetsk, where 90% of Ukraine's coal resources are stored.
Lazarenko has been trying to get his hands on the territory of the Donetsk gang for the past two years when he was still the Minister of Energy. This year he was successfully promoted to the Prime Minister of Ukraine. This politician is known to be greedy and has to sacrifice several layers of skin in any project he handles. Naturally, he would no longer restrain himself and joined forces with his partner Yulia Tymoshenko to try to carve up the steel and coal mining industries in the Donetsk region. As a result, they encountered the fiercest backlash from the Donetsk Gang.
Just yesterday, July 18, Lazarenko was attacked by a car bomb on his way to the airport.
As a latecomer, Simon also knows the follow-up.
After all, even in a small country like Ukraine, the assassination of the number two figure will inevitably attract the attention of the international community.
In the past, after this incident, probably at the end of the same year, Lazarenko and his colleagues retaliated in kind. Yev Shcherban was not as lucky as Lazarenko. The Shcherbans were killed by several professional The killer was beaten into a sieve.
This is actually the cruel current situation in the former Soviet Union.
Not only did the business oligarchs who emerged during this period not have a clean foundation, even the middle and lower classes often competed for a company, a real estate, or even a department store, which could lead to a fire. In order to prevent violent robberies that may occur at any time as much as possible, many major commercial places in large cities in the former Soviet Union will have security guards with AK47s hanging on them.
In fact, no one can tell whether it is a security guard or a gangster.
It's like a barbaric era that has lost the constraints of rules.
In a high-end club in the north of Rivni that is not open to the public, Simon stood with a glass of red wine in front of a wall specially hung with a map of Ukraine. Next to him were Sergey Komorov, the head of Oldek Company, UFMS President Kerim Derevyanko, Rivne Region Governor Andrei Smirnov and Rivni Media Head Alexander Lyudaev were among others.
Taking a sip of red wine, Simon drew a blank line with his other hand towards the location of the Rivne Oblast on the map, and said to the people around him: "I know that you are increasingly dissatisfied with limiting your power to the Rivne Oblast. The more they want to expand outward, but you should have seen by now that this is not an easy task. The Petrovsk Gang has mastered the political power of this country, and the Donetsk Gang has inherited the great power of the former Soviet Union. Part of the industrial heritage, compared to it, think about yourselves, what do you have?"
As Simon said this, he saw Derevyanko slightly raising his eyebrows at him and said with a smile: "Yes, you have me."
Everyone chuckled.
Simon waited for a moment, but shook his head and said: "But I have to pour cold water on you. I have no interest in fighting with those people to fight for the assets you value, because I don't like it. There is such a time. energy, I could find hundreds of investments in other parts of the world with better returns."
Thinking about the recent news about Simon's latest personal net worth of US$1.3 trillion, everyone in the reception hall was completely unable to refute it.
And everyone also understands that Simon’s fundamental appeal to the Rivne Oblast actually has only one core: the Ukrainian Front Military Service (UFMS), a private armed force that was launched by the Rwanda War two years ago and continues to be active, is this The fundamental reason why a young man with a net worth of trillions appears here.
Otherwise, as Simon just said, he has no regard for this rundown border state in northwest Ukraine.
And...them.
It is a fact that Simon Westeros looks down on them. Another fact is that the biggest support of everyone present is actually the young man standing in the center of the crowd. If there is no other party, everyone present is either just an ordinary businessman who lives in a corner and can only do some trivial business, or is just a veteran who doesn’t know where he will end up after retiring, or is just a person who was overturned by a gust of wind. Local fringe politicians…
But now, they are the Rivne Gang that no force in this country can ignore.
Even though the political power cannot be compared with the Petrovsk Gang, and the economic strength is not as good as that of the Donetsk Gang, but with the towering tree of the Westeros system as the backing, when other forces are fighting to the death for various interests, Who can be sure where the Rivne Gang, which has been developing silently and rapidly, will go in the future
In the reception hall, Simon poured the cold water on his face, took another sip of red wine, looked at the map of Ukraine in front of him, and suddenly asked: "Do you know why I have a wealth of more than one trillion US dollars?"
Everyone looked at each other.
They really had not seriously considered this question. Faced with Simon's question, even though they had some vague ideas in their minds, they did not speak rashly.
Simon did not wait for the answer, nor was he disappointed. He answered to himself: "Because I am good at taking the road that others have not taken, and developing industries that others have not noticed. The most typical one is the Internet. The word Internet was actually used in the 1970s. It had already appeared, but it was not until twenty years later that the Internet began to explode. It is no exaggeration to say that the Westeros system single-handedly led this explosion. Cisco, AOL, and Igrit, three companies, constituted the Internet There is an entire industry chain of equipment providers, network service providers and network content providers. Now, the combined market value of these three companies exceeds US$1 trillion. In comparison, national wealth is equivalent to 5% of GDP. If calculated multiple times, Ukraine as a whole is worth only $200 billion."
Having said this, Simon glanced at the expressions of the people around him. Some were fascinated, some were surprised, and some were thoughtful. He smiled again and continued: "I am not saying this to show off to you, but to point out something. Road. The assets left over from the Soviet era, as well as other resources in this country, seem to be a very delicious piece of fat, but if you want to get it, the price is not small at all, and you may even lose your life. Moreover, once you set your target On these things, most of the time in the future will be spent on various strife and battles, which will hinder your progress. Then, the problem comes again. In addition to these things that those people are fighting for, tell me, Ukraine also has What precious treasures have not been noticed by Lazarenko and others?”
Another question.
This time no one was silent anymore. Sergei Komorov quickly said: "Simon, I remember you once said that it should be... well, population."
Simon raised his hand and snapped his fingers: "Yes, the population, a population of more than 50 million, is definitely Ukraine's most valuable and underappreciated asset. It is also a path that you can take like me that no one else has taken. .”
With that said, Simon no longer looked at the reactions from both sides, but made a dash towards the gray area around the Ukrainian map, and continued: "First of all, we must start with the overall situation. On April 15, 1994, the World Trade Organization was established. This is An important time node, a node where the world economy is accelerating globalization. One of the most obvious results of globalization is that capital will naturally flow to regions with lower costs, such as China, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. In comparison, Although human resources in Eastern Europe are equally cheap, they are not competitive at all compared with Asia. As for the reason, you should understand."
Everyone around Simon, whether they really understood or not, smiled knowingly in cooperation.
China has been reforming and opening up for nearly two decades, and Southeast Asia has always been a key support target of Western countries in order to contain China. Therefore, the industrial foundation is relatively solid, and the costs of various industries are very cheap. It is the best direction for capital flow at this stage.
This is actually not impossible to catch up with.
The most critical reason is that the current Eastern European region is too chaotic. Not to mention countries such as Yugoslavia, which is undergoing civil war, even Russia or Ukraine do not have the right conditions to introduce foreign investment to develop their economy.
The business environment is really bad!
If it were not for the super oligarchs at the level of the Westeros system, ordinary businessmen who wanted to invest in these countries would have to pick off the skin layer by layer, from officials to gangsters. In the end, let alone whether the enterprise would be successful or whether the people could leave safely. is the problem.
It was customary for Simon to read the local newspaper upon arrival.
Just before the afternoon cocktail party, in addition to the large-scale news about Lazarenko's assassination in today's "Kiev Daily", there was also a piece of news that caught Simon's attention: a German businessman opened a flour processing company in Kiev three years ago. After the factory was built, it was coveted by the gangs in the area. They wanted to extort 30% of the shares for nothing, but the businessman naturally would not agree. Then last year, he was shot in the head on the street.
The content of the news is that the Kiev police announced that the case was officially solved and the relevant suspects were brought to justice.
However, on the surface it seems that justice has been served, but after seeing this news, most overseas businessmen will probably give up the idea of investing in any business in Ukraine.
This news flashed through Simon's mind as he continued: "No matter how other states and counties in Ukraine are, Rivne Oblast is different. Now that we have complete control of this area, we should make the most of it. Compared to Asia Ukraine has an absolute advantage geographically. In terms of raw materials, as the breadbasket of Europe, no country can compare with Ukraine. As for manpower, as long as Rivne Oblast provides enough opportunities and there is no need to expand outward, the public will It naturally gathers around us. With the rapidly advancing globalization process and Ukraine's population advantage, we can completely turn Rivne Oblast into a European factory, covering clothing, furniture, electronics, food, etc., And they all have the potential to do well.”
Once again giving everyone some time to digest, Simon took a few sips of red wine, glanced at everyone with excited expressions, and continued: "Furthermore, once the plan is completed, this matter will bring another result, and that is You will get the support of the public. Think about it, whether it is the Petrovsk gang or the Donetsk gang, they are only carving up the assets of this country and ignoring the life and death of the people, but the Rivne Oblast can create countless A job opportunity will allow countless people to live a prosperous and stable life. When the time comes, it is self-evident who the public will support. In short, as long as you follow this plan and succeed, this country will be yours for up to ten years. .”
Simon has never been a talkative person. However, this does not mean that Simon is not good at speaking and inciting. At the end of the speech, this speech contained a big picture and great ambition, which made everyone at the scene feel excited.
However, frankly speaking, this is still just a pie created by Simon.
As Simon said initially, if he wanted to make money, he would not look at the turbulent land of Ukraine at all. There were too many better investment targets.
On the other hand, Simon had already had the idea of a 'European factory' very early on.
The initial idea was to include the entire Ukraine, but later it was discovered that this was not realistic at all, so it was narrowed down to the Rivne Oblast, the complete control point of the Westeros system.
In the past two years, in addition to the top priority UFMS, Simon has been laying the foundation for this plan intentionally or unintentionally.
Now, Rivne Oblast has been completely controlled by the Westeros system, the social order is stable, and the business environment is excellent. Next, as Lazarenko's power expands and becomes a threat to the Kuchma family, the internal affairs of the Kiev authorities If the fighting intensifies, there will definitely be no time to worry about the Rivne Oblast, so it will be the best time for the Rivne Gang to expand rapidly.
Not only that, the economic crisis in Southeast Asia that will start next year will also slow down the flow of European and American capital to Asia. After the economic crisis spreads to the world, the trend of Western real industries moving to lower-cost regions will intensify. This will also provide support for Simon's 'European Factory' plan. Provides the best external conditions.
With both internal and external conditions in place, the next step is execution.
Easier said than done.
There is never a shortage of the best plans in this world, and only a few of them succeed in the end. The key is that it is difficult to get even 70% or 80% implementation of a 10% plan.
Therefore, we can only wait and see how far the Rivne Gang, which Simon has single-handedly supported, can go.
Success, everyone is happy.
Failure has nothing to do with the overall situation.
Simon didn't leave the club in Rivni North until 11pm because of the intense discussion about the 'Factory Europe' project.
He didn't go to the Chengnan villa nearby.
The three girls Ekaterina over there were not in Ukraine, but went to Atlanta to watch the Olympics. They followed Simon for two years. For the three girls who were growing up, Simon had fewer and fewer restrictions. The day was mentioned through Celia and Simon, and they agreed casually.
Of course, Simon will not talk about coming to Ukraine in the near future.
After guessing that Simon would come over based on various signs in the morning, the girls at the Hot Spring Manor were excited all day. As a result, no one showed up until late at night, thinking that he might not come over. So, when Simon arrived at the manor around early in the morning, most of the people were already there. Go to sleep.
Only a few people such as Eve Besonoskova are still waiting quietly, including Lyudmila Besonoskova who got the exact hint from her sister. Eve obviously has her own little secrets in this regard. selfishness.
Seeing Simon enter the door, Lyudmila jumped directly into Simon's arms, hanging on the man like a sloth, and couldn't wait to complain about Simon's suspension of the Victoria's Secret Show. She will be 18 next year, and she originally wanted to use the Victoria's Secret Show The platform became famous in one fell swoop, but now, there is no chance.
Simon did not pull the coquettish Lyudmila off his body. He hugged the girl's waist and greeted Eve. He then looked at several other people. In addition to the few maids who followed Simon, there were two others. , because they had read the information in advance, they both recognized at a glance the two housekeepers of the hot spring manor, one in name and one in reality, Natalia Banshikova and Marta Beknatz.
Two women with completely different styles.