Chapter 68

The Bear Country is Now My Territory Chapter 68

Chapter 068: Elliott East Asia Chief / Please Pay Back the Money

Elliott Management Hong Kong Branch.

Harrison (45 years old), the Chief of East Asia, was on the 75th floor of Central Plaza, the highest office space in the 78-story building, looking down at the city.

With his arms crossed, Harrison was watching the city as the sunset approached when the doorbell rang. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and walked to his desk.

- You have arrived.

"Please come in."

- Understood.

The person who entered was an Asian man in his late 40s.

"Nice to meet you."

"Hello."

The man sat on the sofa that Harrison offered.

After the secretary placed a cup of Thai iced tea and left, Harrison asked,

"It's quite cool outside, isn't it?"

"It's about 16 degrees, so it feels a bit chilly. When did you arrive in Hong Kong?"

"I arrived three days ago and contacted you then."

They had spoken on the phone many times, but this was their first face-to-face meeting.

After taking a sip of the iced tea, the man took out some documents from his bag and placed them on the table, making Harrison's eyes light up.

"These are the materials you mentioned."

"Thank you. It wasn't easy to get them. And just to be sure, no one else knows about this, right?"

"With my retirement at stake, do you think I would let the secret leak?"

Not only his retirement, but his life would be in danger if this were to be discovered.

"Only I know about it."

Harrison picked up one of the documents and read the title.

[Thailand Banks' Overseas Loan Status]

"You said you've been serving as the Deputy Prime Minister for over 15 years?"

"It's been 17 years this year."

"Seventeen years is a long enough period to receive sufficient compensation."

He took his time to review the other documents.

"Hmm... Russian Unicorn Group? Gazprom?"

Harrison tilted his head in confusion, and the man explained,

"The details are in the back, but they received a significant amount of loans."

"Wait a moment."

Harrison frowned as he read through the pages.

"They received loans from all the major Thai banks, and all were approved?"

"Unicorn Group and Gazprom are leading Russian companies. Despite the large loan amounts, they had solid collateral, so there was no reason to refuse them."

"Even with solid collateral, this is... In the U.S., it's extremely rare to lend such large amounts."

In fact, he had never heard of such large loans being granted.

"What happened in September last year that they needed such a huge amount of money?"

Harrison tried to solve the puzzle but couldn't find an answer.

"Will these amounts be repaid to Thailand this year?"

"As you can see, the repayment period is two years. They received the loans in September 1996, so they will be repaid around September 1998."

"That's true, but..."

"Are you worried?"

It wouldn't be a problem if the money didn't come in between May and July this year.

Still, Harrison felt uneasy, and deep vertical lines appeared on his forehead.

He repeatedly tapped the wooden armrest of the sofa with his left index finger, a habit he had when he felt there was information he didn't know or couldn't control.

"If the situation worsens, Thai banks might demand repayment of the loans. That would complicate things."

Despite Harrison's worried tone, the man spoke confidently.

"You may not know, but the owners of these companies are related to the current Russian president by marriage and as grandchildren. Do you think Thai banks would demand repayment from such companies, given Thailand's current situation?"

"..."

"Even if they do, the Russian government is so powerful that they wouldn't be able to get the money back immediately. Besides, they wouldn't be in a rush since they took out the loans with a two-year term."

It was a reasonable argument, but Harrison's frown didn't ease.

'Why did Russian companies choose to take out loans in Thailand when there are so many other countries?'

He felt uneasy about this and decided to investigate further.

"I understand for now."

Harrison pushed two black 32-inch travel suitcases towards the man.

Drrr.

"I prepared the money in U.S. dollars as you requested. Please check it."

"Um."

The man opened the zipper, glanced inside, and quickly closed it.

"Thank you."

"Are you planning to live in Hong Kong after retirement?"

"I don't think I'll feel comfortable in Thailand. My family has already moved here."

"You handle things thoroughly."

Harrison smiled, seemingly pleased with this aspect.

"I have received the documents. So, we won't have any further business after today."

"That's what I wanted."

"Shall we stand up now?"

"Sure."

Their business was concluded in less than 20 minutes, demonstrating Harrison's concise working style.

"Have a good day."

"Goodbye."

He didn't shake hands when the man entered, and he didn't now.

They both intended to consider this meeting as a complete end.

After the man left, Harrison took one of the documents and walked back to the window.

He smiled and muttered to himself,

"Heh. There are always people who sell out their country, no matter where they go. That's why it's so easy to work."

Today was the moment when Harrison, the Chief of Elliott Management East Asia, received top-secret documents from the Thai government.

* * *

In the vice president's office of the Republic of Sakha's Alrosa, Nikolai and Sasha were laughing heartily as they looked at the sparkling diamonds.

The vice president watched them with an awkward smile.

"Are diamonds just pouring out of the ground? Can you just give away the land like this?"

"You're just being superstitious. Would you prefer they didn't come out?"

"It's not that, but they're coming out in such large quantities. The vein seems to be continuous, right?"

"Actually, I was surprised too. Not only the quantity, but the quality is also excellent. If this continues, it might rival Gazprom's revenue."

As Nikolai said, Alrosa's diamond mines were producing incredible results.

In the original timeline, Alrosa accounted for 95% of Russia's diamond production and 30% of the world's production.

With 650 million carats of diamond reserves, it was the world's largest.

Modernizing the company faster than in the original timeline, the production volume inevitably exploded.

"Use this for your wedding ring."

It was a 5-carat diamond.

In his previous life, top-quality 5-carat diamonds were mainly bought by celebrities and cost around 500 million won.

Giving two of them to Sasha made her mouth drop open, even though she had received an apartment before.

"R-Really, for my wedding ring?"

"Mother said she would buy you an apartment, so I'll give you the ring. If you don't get married, you'll have to return it. Even if you divorce, you'll have to return it. So, live happily together."

"Nikolai..."

"Have it made into a ring by the jewelers here. Call Mr. Yev. I'll do it."

"...I will. But, can I really keep this?"

The vice president, watching from the side, looked envious.

Nikolai felt incredibly happy looking at the jewelry box with diamonds of different carats.

With dozens of them, he felt as if he had a full stomach even without eating.

Deeply engrossed in admiring the diamonds, he said sternly to Sasha's question,

"Do you want me to take them back?"

"Thank you."

With that, Sasha carefully wrapped the two 5-carat diamonds in a cloth and put them in her inner pocket.

"Vice President, how much have the heavy equipment been replenished?"

"About 45%. They will all be replaced next month when they arrive from South Korea and Germany."

"What about work uniforms, safety helmets, and safety shoes?"

"Two sets have been provided to everyone. Mr. President, but..."

The vice president hesitated.

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't be shy."

"About the 1-carat diamond you said you would give to employees when they get married..."

By the 5-carat diamond's price, 1 carat would be around 10 million won.

"Why?"

"Are you really going to give 1 carat to every employee who gets married?"

"Would I say something I don't mean? As I said before, if they retire or divorce within five years, they'll have to return it."

It was an event to boost employee morale, and the response was explosive as expected.

"What about married employees?"

Married employees?

He had forgotten about that part.

"Let's give 1 carat to each married employee. For those with over five years of service, we'll give it without conditions. For those with less than five years, we'll apply the same conditions."

"Then, me too...?"

"1 carat isn't enough for you. Get two rings with 2 carats each."

"T-Thank you, Mr. President."

He had never received such generous treatment before.

Thinking about how he could brag to his wife when he got home, the vice president's face lit up.

Nikolai was using both carrots and sticks effectively.

"When the apartments and U-Mart are built, the living conditions here will improve, so please tell the employees to bear with it a little longer."

"No, the employees are very satisfied with the changes in the company. Complaints have disappeared. They especially like the new cafeteria."

The cafeteria was improved to the level of the Ushurisk apartments, so employees preferred eating there over at home.

Nikolai even opened the cafeteria to families for lunch.

Of course, he charged a nominal fee, but it was enough to cover the costs.

As a result, many employees started bringing their families to the site cafeteria for lunch.

"I'll be back in Moscow the day after tomorrow, so call me anytime if there's an issue. Except in the early morning."

"Understood."

Lately, good things were happening in reality, and Nikolai was also enjoying happiness in his dreams.

* * *

Despite the cold of February, Nikolai and Yuri Yusupov went fishing.

"Fishing is Ivan's specialty, but you're pretty good too."

"I learned a bit from my father."

"Hehe, I've been fishing for decades, but I haven't improved much. You must be different."

Yuri caught a palm-sized fish, handed the fishing rod to the secretary, and stood up. He then drank the steaming tea.

"Thailand's banks called yesterday."

"About the loans, right?"

"Yes. They asked if we could repay them."

The Thai banks had mustered the courage to call, knowing it wasn't a regular loan.

"The situation reminds me of the Russian economic crisis a few years ago."

Back then, many banks had taken out as many loans as possible.

They had also begged for quick repayment, just like now.

"Hehe, it's a strange feeling to go through similar events. It's not a small matter, and the situation is similar to when the country was in turmoil. Experiencing this twice is not an easy feat."

"The fact that the banks called indicates that Thailand's economy is getting worse."

"Yes."

"There's no way you should repay them now, no matter what."

"Even if we do repay, it will be in baht. From their urgency, it seems they are in a tight spot."

Putting down his teacup, Yuri Yusupov saw lamb shashlik being grilled nearby and said,

"This crisis won't end with Thailand. Things are also not going well in Indonesia. Both countries are where you took out loans before."

Yuri Yusupov was amazed at how this could happen.

However, he had felt this way many times from Nikolai, so he moved on to the main topic.

"Given the current situation, we should prepare for Indonesia as well. What do you think?"

"You're right. We should prepare."

In two months, starting with Thailand, Indonesia's economy would also collapse.

The ripple effect would quickly spread to other East Asian countries, eventually reaching South Korea.

'It won't be long. Just wait a little longer.'