Chapter 43

The Bear Republic is now mine, Chapter 43

043 Broadcasting Station Shares 51%/Six Months Later

Chairman Lee looked at Nikolai intently.

Two years ago, Nikolai was just Yuri Yusupov's grandson, nothing more, nothing less.

That's why, thinking of his connection with Yuri Yusupov, he had given him the most expensive room at the Shilla Hotel for a whole month.

But now,

Chairman Lee's gaze had changed.

His eyes, which had once looked at Nikolai like a grandson, were now filled with the desire to make him a business partner.

Nikolai greeted Chairman Lee first.

"It's been a while."

He had been waiting for this moment.

Once the semiconductor factory was established in Russia, it would give wings to the project Nikolai was planning.

* * *

As they stepped outside, Chairman Lee looked around the garden and asked,

"Do you have such a large house in Russia?"

"Hehe, this isn't that big. The homes of past kings and nobles are several times larger. There must be dozens of them."

"Russia is so vast that everything feels enormous, even the houses."

"Do you want to buy one? If you're interested, I can help you find one."

"No, thank you."

Nikolai understood why Chairman Lee was interested in houses.

In Korea, even if you wanted to build a large house, there wasn't enough land in Seoul.

Even if there was, building a massive mansion on prime land would invite criticism from the public.

They would surely criticize it.

Knowing this, the heads of conglomerates didn't build overly large houses.

By Korean standards, they were still quite large, but compared to Russia, they were like studio apartments.

'I should also consider moving out on my own. Maybe I'll look into one of the houses where the kings of the Russian Empire lived.'

After seeing Chairman Lee off, Yuri Yusupov and Nikolai sat down in the living room.

Yuri asked with a meaningful look,

"Why did you say that to Chairman Lee?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know what I'm asking?"

Chairman Lee had asked many questions, but Nikolai had mostly dodged or deflected them.

There was no need to answer, especially since Chairman Lee's questions were deeply related to international affairs.

For example,

'Can you supply gas and oil to Korea?'

How could he answer that on the spot?

Of course, he had plans to supply gas, but he hadn't decided on the timing yet.

He was considering supplying through the East Sea without going through North Korea, similar to laying gas pipelines under the Black Sea in Europe.

The sea would be less influenced by North Korea than the land.

He would sell crude oil for now but planned to establish a refinery in Russia soon.

Refining crude oil into various products would allow him to sell at higher prices.

As a key figure in the Korean economy, he couldn't easily answer such sensitive questions.

"It's not the right time to talk about it yet."

Yuri, curious about the answers to those questions, asked again, but Nikolai skillfully avoided them.

The housekeeper brought in some millet porridge.

"Grandfather, are you having this?"

"Have you tried it?"

"Of course. It's millet porridge."

"I see. I tried it at U-Mart and it was good. I drink it occasionally now."

"Do you go to U-Mart yourself?"

"I go for exercise and to look around. There are many interesting things to see. I understand that most of the things we use in this house are from U-Mart."

Grandfather is also one of our customers.

"There are many interesting things, aren't there?"

"How do you know about all these things and bring them in?"

"U-Mart has a department that finds good products from around the world. If the price is reasonable and the quality is good, they import them."

"Hehe, what's in your head?"

Yuri, after drinking the cool millet porridge with ice, began to get to the point.

"I called you here not just because of Chairman Lee, but for another reason."

"…?"

"About the defense companies."

"Oh, right."

"I took over those companies as you suggested, but I'm facing many challenges now."

Yuri Yusupov, who had been troubled by business matters, was a rare sight since the Russian economic crisis.

Nikolai was curious.

"You know, because of the Chechen War, Russia needs a lot of weapons now."

"Of course."

"Yeltsin asked for more investment to improve weapon performance and develop new weapons."

Yeltsin asked?

"Did President Yeltsin himself say this, not the chief of staff?"

"Yes. And after seeing the news that you own Gazprom, he asked how it happened."

A young man being reported as the owner of Gazprom must have been surprising.

"I went to clarify that and heard about the weapons."

"President Yeltsin never directly asked for investment, right?"

Until now, most of the requests came through the chief of staff or indirectly.

"He must have been disappointed that the gas and oil from the sold Gazprom would be lost."

After a moment of thought, Yuri said definitively,

"Although he asked, it wasn't a request but an order."

"…?"

"An order."

Right. Yeltsin, having no grounds to take Gazprom back, asked for investment.

He wanted to use Gazprom's money to improve weapon performance and develop new weapons.

"If we don't comply, we might lose Gazprom."

"You're right. Politicians' words shouldn't be trusted."

"Exactly. We should never trust them."

He never trusted them in the first place.

He knew better than anyone, having worked in the media.

How corrupt politicians were and how they lied as easily as they breathed.

"But, Grandfather, do we really need to worry about this?"

"If we do, we don't need to worry about the current situation, right?"

"Even though I took over the defense companies to prevent their technology and talent from leaving the country, I also planned to grow them, didn't I?"

"That's true."

"Then, isn't complying with President Yeltsin's request in line with our goals?"

"Hmm…"

After a moment of thought, Yuri slowly nodded.

"You're right. I lost my composure for a moment, thinking about the order and the possibility of losing Gazprom."

"We should use President Yeltsin's words to our advantage. This is an opportunity to grow the defense companies."

Introducing the concept of PMCs (Private Military Companies) would be a good idea.

Since he was already using KGB agents, he could increase their numbers and create security companies.

These could be supplied to the companies Nikolai operated, for personal security as well.

"Since President Yeltsin made a direct request, he can't criticize whatever we do."

"Exactly. Everything we do will be for the country's defense."

Yeltsin wanted to use Gazprom's financial power, but it ended up helping Nikolai and Yuri.

"Grandfather, you know better than anyone what happens when the country's defense is weak. Let's make it strong."

"Hehe, indeed."

Yuri burst out laughing, amazed.

* * *

Two weeks later.

Nikolai received a call from the newspaper's CEO and went to the office with Sasha.

As soon as they entered the CEO's office, the CEO ran over and grabbed Nikolai's hand.

"We've had another huge success."

"The response was that good?"

"It's not just good. Every household with children that can afford it has become a customer. This has put us far ahead of other companies."

The CEO shook Nikolai's hand vigorously, clearly overjoyed.

Nikolai gently pulled his hand away.

"Have we gained customers nationwide?"

"Yes. Moscow and St. Petersburg saw the most growth, but that's due to the population. In terms of percentage, the growth in regional cities was even higher."

It's clear that it was well-received.

"I knew people liked milk, but I didn't expect such a good response…"

"You didn't know?"

"I did know."

"…Oh, right. Haha."

"Then, my share should now be 20%, right?"

"I'm sorry, but no."

"What do you mean? We agreed to increase it by 5%, didn't we?"

"There's something I didn't tell you before…"

Is he getting greedy now that the company is growing?

They say a person's mood changes when entering and leaving the CEO's office.

"It increased by 5%."

"…?"

"You told me to reinvest all the profits from your shares. When I calculated the profits, it came to exactly 5%. So, your total share is now 25%."

"Say that again, slowly."

"Twenty-five percent."

The CEO's words were as sweet as K-pop music.

"Wow! You're doing a great job, Mr. CEO. That's why the company is growing and having huge successes. Keep it up."

"I just followed your advice. If you have any more good ideas, please let me know."

"I do, but not now."

Once the internet is widespread, we can use it to attract more customers, but it's not fully established yet.

Not many households have computers.

'First, we need to increase computer usage in government offices and schools.'

"Understood. I'll do my best as the major shareholder."

So, there's no newspaper in Russia that can catch up with us now?

It means it's time to move to the next stage.

"As a major shareholder with 25% shares, can I give you some advice?"

"Of course. Please share your thoughts."

"Now that the newspaper is stable, why not run a broadcasting station?"

"Me, run a broadcasting station?"

"You've made the newspaper a success, so there's no reason you can't do the same with a broadcasting station."

"…"

Starting something new is a challenging step for anyone.

Satisfaction with the current life.

Fear of failure.

Financial issues.

For various reasons, people tend to settle for their current lives and hesitate to take the next step.

To climb higher, you need to take that step.

Nikolai threw out a bait to ease the CEO's burden.

"I'll invest 51%."

Since the owner of Gazprom is willing to take 51% responsibility.

The CEO knew Nikolai was the owner of Gazprom, as he often appeared on TV.

"Then, I'll put in 49%?"

"Yes."

Nikolai had considered running the station himself but decided against it.

He didn't want to attract attention by running a broadcasting station as a businessman, so he planned to have a separate public figure run it.

"What do you think?"

"Since the owner of Gazprom is involved, there won't be financial issues. Haha."

He was laughing after a serious moment of thought.

"I'll do it. There's a suitable broadcasting station available."

"Great. It will have a significant synergy effect with the newspaper."

"Please share your good ideas for the broadcasting station, just like you did for the newspaper."

"Of course."

Taking over the newspaper and broadcasting station would give him some control over the media.

It's not about suppressing the media with power.

It's about preventing the media from being manipulated by any one group.

Pro-Japanese media, fake news.

These terms represent the Korean media industry.

Nikolai wanted to make the Russian media a true media.

That day, Nikolai had a group dinner with the newspaper staff.

Since there wasn't a restaurant large enough to accommodate all the staff, they split into several groups, but everyone's faces were beaming with joy.

* * *

The next afternoon, at the Gum Department Store Black Hole office.

"The reactions to Yandex users in Moscow are showing up. The results of the user feedback indicate that 'very good' is overwhelmingly high."

"Is it because 'very good' is easy to select?"

"…Are you joking?"

"I'm just kidding. Haha. I'm using it well too."

It's still in its early stages, but honestly, it's not much different from Google.

In Russian-speaking countries, Yandex might even be better.

"What about the reactions from independent states?"

"They're the same. The 'very good' response is overwhelmingly high, despite the lack of computers and poor cable networks compared to Russia."

"The overwhelming response is what matters. It means everyone will use it once it spreads."

"Right. But why are you here today?"

The internet has deeply penetrated American life, despite its slow speed.

This has brought many benefits, but also problems.

The biggest issue is 'security.'

"Try making a security program. One that blocks malicious viruses at the source."

"Blocking at the source is difficult. Most programs detect and remove viruses after they've infiltrated."

"Difficult doesn't mean impossible, right?"

"Yes. It requires a lot of manpower, time, and money, but we have all three, so it's not difficult."

There's not much that money can't do in this world.

If something can't be done, it's because there isn't enough money.

Nikolai had a group dinner with the 135 Black Hole employees that day.

The restaurant owner had a huge success that day.

"Let me know if you need anything. Or, I'll assign this employee to you."

Nikolai realized something from the two group dinners.

'It's too inconvenient to eat in groups. We need a buffet. I need to give Russians a new experience.'

* * *

Five days later, at the Ussuriysk apartment construction site.

Kirill and Dima's expressions were completely different from before they went to the Sakha Republic.

"Is it really true that gas and oil were found?"

"Would the news lie?"

"Wow, you're going to die with more money than you can spend on an apartment a day."

Dima's eyes were full of envy.

Kirill's eyes said,

'See? I told you. I said Nikolai was a money-making genius. We need to stick to him like leeches.'

Dima nodded, understanding everything.

Unlike the warm response from the brothers, Nikolai shouted,

"Why would I die! Don't talk about death. Damn it!"

"…?"

The word 'death' was the one Nikolai, who had died and come back to life, hated the most.

He would suddenly get agitated whenever he heard it.

"What did you just say?"

Dima, confused, asked.

He had spoken in Korean out of excitement.

Nikolai had a habit of doing this when excited.

"Ahem. Did you patrol well while I was away?"

"Check the patrol log. I didn't miss a single day."

"Tamper with the log, and you're done."

"I can ask a few security guards and people, how could I tamper with it?"

His eyes were sunken, indicating he had worked hard in his absence.

"Kirill, anything special happen?"

"Many apartment buyers asked if we could help them find tenants."

"That's easy."

Nikolai had planned to support part of the rent for the industrial park employees anyway.

If landlords tried to charge unreasonable rent, the city and district could intervene, so it wouldn't be a big problem.

Also, since they planned to continue building large apartment complexes nationwide, apartment prices wouldn't suddenly skyrocket.

"How many floors have we completed?"

"24."

"Since the move-in is in March next year, this pace should be just right."

"But, how long will you stay on this site?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing special."

"If it's not special, I won't answer."

"It's not special, but a bit special. When are you moving to another site?"

"Hehe, are you getting restless being stuck in this backwater?"

Kirill and Dima scratched their heads like monkeys and laughed awkwardly.

"Since this site is stable, I planned to move to another site."

"Oh, really? Good idea. Where are you going?"

"Are you coming with me?"

"More like helping, right? Right, Dima?"

"Right. Helping, not following. We're not kids."

The most urgent task now was to stabilize Gazprom, so he decided to leave this site to the site manager and move to the main office.

"Then, let's go together. To the Sakha Republic."

"…What?"

"Damn. I'll stay here."

Compared to the Sakha Republic, the Ussuriysk site was a paradise.

* * *

Six months had passed since Nikolai and his team arrived in the Sakha Republic.