Chapter 39

The Bear Kingdom is Now Mine Chapter 39

039 A Republic Rivaling India / A German Company

June 3, 1995.

["Talakanskoye" in the Sakha Republic has discovered natural gas and oil reserves. Natural gas (94.7 billion cubic meters). Oil (4.5035 billion tons).]

The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

An autonomous republic in northern Siberia, it is the largest administrative region in the world.

It is about 31 times the size of South Korea and nearly twice the size of Mongolia.

An administrative region that is as vast as India.

If the Sakha Republic were considered a country, it would rank 8th in the world by land area, right after India.

According to the news, this means that there is enough natural gas and oil to extract for several decades.

Not just within Russia, but also on a global scale.

Nikolai couldn't help but swallow hard.

'This is like a golden goose that can lay eggs every day without running out of money, right?'

Gazprom. It had to be acquired.

'Even if the person who has his eye on this company is Yeltsin's father, it must be taken.'

* * *

The next day, Nikolai called Sasha.

"Is everything going well at the construction site?"

-We added another floor yesterday. How about you?

"There's a problem. Get the informants moving."

-What kind of problem?

"Someone put a fork on my plate again."

Nikolai explained the situation roughly and summoned Sasha to Moscow.

Since the construction in Ussuriysk was already completed, Kirill and Dima were enough to handle it.

Five days later, Sasha arrived at the mansion in Moscow.

He was a bit late because he had been investigating what Nikolai asked him to find out.

He laid out the significant information he had gathered through his informants.

"Vasily?"

"Yeah. He's someone who supported President Yeltsin during the impeachment trial."

Grandfather also mentioned this.

While our Yusupov family was the first to support Yeltsin, there were others who supported him later.

Vasily was one of them.

"Why is he interested now? He didn't do anything when the price dropped significantly before."

"It's simple. He didn't have the money back then."

At that time, only the Yusupov family had the large funds to operate.

Other individuals, even if the government sold state-owned enterprises at low prices, didn't have the means to buy them.

"Where did the money come from all of a sudden?"

"It's not there yet, but a German company seems to be planning to invest."

"A German company?"

That makes sense.

Even if they were sold at rock-bottom prices, Gazprom's value wasn't cheap.

"It's a company called 'Byron' that mainly deals with energy."

"A German energy company is eyeing Russia's resources…."

Russia's greatest strength is gas and oil.

Gazprom is the top company in this field.

If such a company falls into German hands?

'Russia's economic situation will become serious. But wait…'

In the original history, Putin used his power to re-nationalize Gazprom, which had been privatized.

Nikolai wasn't aware of the details, but he had never heard that the owner of privatized Gazprom was a foreign company.

'This means there's still a possibility for me.'

If I can find Byron's weakness, it's possible.

I have to find it.

The reason why Byron shouldn't acquire Gazprom.

If I present this to Yeltsin, Nikolai can acquire it.

'I have to acquire it, even if I use the dollars I've saved.'

And lay the gas pipelines across Europe a decade earlier than in the original history.

If that happens….

'All of Europe will be in my hands.'

Satisfied with the future blueprint, Nikolai curled his lips.

"Does the government not know that a German company is behind this…?"

"Maybe they know but still want to sell it."

"Even if they know?"

"President Yeltsin is close to Western countries. He will need a lot of money for the upcoming election next year. The invasion of Germany during World War II is a distant memory for Yeltsin."

Sasha's words made sense, but Yeltsin was unaware of this.

"Do you know that too?"

"I've learned a lot by following you."

"I see."

"I analyzed it thoroughly and came to this conclusion."

"I acknowledge that. But how did the informants find out that a German company is trying to acquire it? And in just a few days?"

"Do you think the KGB is an organization that just gets a driver's license and joins?"

"You're getting cocky again. Anyway, the informants' abilities are solid."

Yuri Yusupov didn't know this, so he had a new appreciation for the KGB-trained informants.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Can you record a conversation between Vasily and a German?"

"It's not impossible. This is Russia, after all."

"Use the budget and make sure the recording is clear."

* * *

A few days later, in a restaurant in central Moscow.

In the VIP room, Vasily and a man were seated across from each other.

"Have you met the President?"

In response to the man's question, Vasily took a sip of wine and answered.

"I've met the Chief of Staff twice."

"…What did he say?"

"Last time, he said he would consider it positively, but yesterday…."

"What happened?"

"President Yeltsin's close associate, Yuri, the chairman of Unicorn Group, is showing interest."

"Yuri, the chairman…?"

The man's face showed anxiety.

"He's a person who can be said to control the Russian economy. There are rumors that he made a fortune during the last economic crisis. He is one of President Yeltsin's closest confidants."

As Vasily continued, the man's expression grew more rigid.

"Many of the state-owned enterprises on the market have been acquired by him, and it seems he is interested in Gazprom as well."

The man gulped down the water in his cup.

"Why is he suddenly interested now?"

"I don't know. I found it strange too. Unicorn Group has an energy company called Rosneft."

The only reason for showing interest despite having an energy company is to merge and grow.

The man concluded this.

"This deal must go through. I received a call from Germany today. They want the contract signed as soon as possible."

"I feel the same way. But if he gets involved…."

Yuri, the chairman, was someone to avoid.

No, he didn't want to clash with Unicorn Group.

There's a company image to consider.

Currently, Unicorn Group is a company that enjoys absolute support from the citizens of Moscow.

Not just Unicorn Bank, which has branches nationwide, but most of Unicorn Group's subsidiaries have a good image.

People would want a company with such a good image to acquire Gazprom.

If it's revealed that the acquisition funds came from a German company, even the pro-Western Yeltsin would likely hand it over to Unicorn Group.

Wrinkles formed on Vasily's forehead, and the man's face showed even more anxiety.

"What about lobbying the Chief of Staff?"

"That's one way, but if Yuri gets involved, it won't be easy to solve with money."

"Shouldn't we do something about it?"

"I'm also working on other high-ranking officials, so let's wait a bit longer. We shouldn't rush now."

"Hmm… I understand."

The conversation continued for another 30 minutes but ended without much progress.

When the two left the room, a staff member entered.

He took something out from behind a large plant and left with it.

* * *

That evening.

-This deal must go through. I received a call from Germany today. They want the contract signed as soon as possible.

Click.

After turning off the recorder, Yuri Yusupov looked at Nikolai in amazement.

"How did you manage to record this?"

"That's not important. The German funding is what matters."

"You're something else…."

Yuri Yusupov had also recorded a conversation with the Chief of Staff when he met him, taking a risk.

Even though they were family, how could they be so similar?

Yuri couldn't help but laugh.

"Did Grandfather know?"

"I didn't know Vasily would bring in German capital."

"Can we acquire Gazprom?"

"Even if President Yeltsin is close to Western countries, he will likely want to keep it in the country rather than sell it to a foreign one."

Nikolai hesitated to ask but decided it was better to be sure.

"Surely you don't plan to play the recording?"

"A weapon is most powerful when you hold it, not when you use it."

It's like how nuclear weapons, though unusable, exert immense power just by being possessed.

"If I play it, who will trust me in the future? I'll try to talk to President Yeltsin directly."

"Yes."

"By the way, you're using the money from selling the apartments to acquire it?"

"I want Gazprom to be my company."

"Hmm…."

Yuri Yusupov fell into thought.

He wanted to say that all the businesses Nikolai had been running were his, but decided to hold back today.

He might already know.

Yes, he must know.

The name on Unicorn Construction is Nikolai's.

He must have known and decided to use the money from selling the apartments to buy Gazprom.

"Let's wait and see. I'll try to meet the President this week."

"Okay."

Nikolai thought that when gas and oil were discovered in two months, President Yeltsin would be very upset.

* * *

In the GUM department store Blackhole office.

"Ilya, how is Blackhole coming along?"

"The employees who were working on Yandex are now focused on Blackhole. It won't take long since it's an online shopping mall concept. But even if we create Blackhole, won't it be difficult to generate profits for a while?"

"That's true."

Russians buying things online?

It's still a long way off.

People's mindset of wanting to see things before buying them won't change easily.

But it didn't matter.

'I know better than anyone how to move the masses.'

He learned a lot about how to shape public opinion and change perceptions while working in the media.

That's why he was confident about establishing online shopping.

'The problem lies elsewhere.'

Delivery.

Russia, with the largest territory in the world.

Delivering goods in the shortest time possible across this vast land.

If not, many of the advantages of online shopping will be lost.

'Rocket delivery, bullet delivery. Russia, being a weapons powerhouse, is the perfect name for it.'

He decided to think about this later and asked about something he was curious about.

"Can we create an English version of Yandex?"

Nikolai had a reason for asking this.

Google.

If Yandex was created, did Google really need to come out?

Why not just create an English version of Yandex?

That's why he thought about it.

"It's not difficult, but let's finish Yandex first, then we can work on the English version."

"Got it. Tell the employees to focus on Blackhole for now."

* * *

A week later, while teaching Sonya at home, Nikolai received a call from Yuri Yusupov.

-It's done.

"Yes?"

-Gazprom is yours now.

That day was a significant one, as the weapon that would help Nikolai dominate the world was now in his hands.