Reborn Russia As An Oligarch

It stands to reason how big the agricultural product market can be. It's not that Da Mao doesn't produce food himself. Even if Lao Mei's food is cheap, how much can it sell?

But Laomei has been clinging to this condition all the time. Other conditions can be negotiated, but Da Mao must let go of agriculture.

Ordinary people may think that it is because the old American politicians are for votes.

After all, American farmers are a very powerful force, and ordinary politicians dare not offend them, and must strive for the interests of farmers as much as possible.

But Wang Ye understood that things were definitely not that simple!

As he once explained to the Kremlin, the agricultural issue is of great importance, and to a greater extent, it is related to the life and death of a country!

Don't think that Wang Ye is alarmist, it is a fact.

People depend on food, and agriculture has long been a strategic "weapon" of the United States!

Behind every food crisis in the world, Laomei is indispensable.

The geographical location is superior, sitting on the widest large plain in North America, coupled with the unique climatic conditions, so American agriculture has already won at the starting line.

Coupled with the improvement of the level of mechanization and the freedom from the interference of war, the United States has become the world's largest grain exporter as early as the last century!

For decades, until now, the United States is still firmly seated on this throne.

According to data, in 2005, the grain export output of the United States accounted for 25% of the world's total grain exports, selling nearly 200 million tons of grain to nearly 100 countries around the world!

Among them, corn, wheat, sorghum, and soybeans are the main crops.

Soybeans and corn are the "trump cards" in Laomei's hands. 70% of the countries in the world have to import from Laomei.

You must know that this world has never been peaceful, and not everyone can live comfortably. At any time, a large number of people around the world will not have enough to eat, or even starve to death!

After World War II, due to the widespread use of agricultural machinery, the cultivation of hybrid seeds, and the use of nitrogen fertilizers, the crop production in the United States has been greatly improved.

But because the country is strong, the income of the American people has also become higher, so the diet structure has changed.

If you have money, who wouldn't want to eat something good...

Therefore, in the daily diet, everyone reduced the intake of bread and increased the intake of meat, poultry and dairy products. Because of changes in eating habits, American households are consuming fewer grains on a daily basis.

As a result, sales of agricultural and sideline products such as flour began to decline.

On the one hand, there is a sharp increase in production, and on the other hand, there is a sharp decline in sales, which will naturally generate a large surplus.

If there is a large surplus of grain, it will further depress the price of agricultural products, leading to losses and bankruptcy of agricultural practitioners.

How to solve these surplus food? The top group of people in the American political arena held a special meeting to discuss this matter and proposed a solution.

It has to be said that during that period, Laomei was a real talent, and the political circle was also full of elites!

The old American politicians came up with the idea of ​​"trading food for peace"!

At that time, people in many countries in the world were starving, because their agriculture was not as developed as in the old United States, and the wars in many places were not over yet, so the famine problem was even more serious.

The United States took its surplus food and gave it to countries with "united front value" at low prices or even free of charge.

Eisenhower, then President, said in a speech: "I am taking steps, together with other surplus-producing nations, to rediscover all practicable ways of using each nation's various agricultural surpluses to strengthen the peace and friendship of peoples throughout the world. welfare – in short, food for peace.”

Doesn’t it sound very touching, it’s simply love without boundaries!

But is Lao Mei really in such a good mood?

not necessarily!

First of all, the words "People of the United States of America" ​​will be specially marked on the outer packaging of the food they sell or support.

At the same time, the local government will be required to issue propaganda and pamphlets in the local language to explain that the food comes from the United States.

If this is the case, then there is nothing wrong with it, after all, it can be regarded as doing a good deed, and it is understandable to want a good reputation.

But Lao Mei's plan is obviously not so simple.

Their support is also divided into targets, such as Africa, which is definitely a famine-stricken area.

However, the old Americans have very little food aid to Africa. They choose not those countries that need emergency assistance, but those countries that are conducive to American ideology.

Through long-term support, low-price dumping and other means, Laomei has begun to control the food lifeline of many countries around the world, as well as the global food pricing power!

In addition, three major agricultural product futures exchanges have been established in China. Behind every global food crisis, the three exchanges have played a significant role.

It's just not a good effect, but to wantonly push up food prices during the food crisis, hoard them and make huge profits.

Some people may say that since the agricultural product futures exchange is publicly traded and everyone in every country can participate, then other countries can also participate in it through futures exchanges.

If you think so, it can only be said that you are still too naive.

Wall Street Capital is "local warfare", and they are all teaming up with large domestic farmers, with huge amounts of funds and a huge amount of food in their hands.

Anyone who dares to play against them will be killed every minute.

As far as Wang Ye knew, in his previous life for so many years, there was only one country that could compete with Lao Mei in terms of food prices after it became stronger.

Of course, with Wang Ye's participation in this life, and he realized the importance of food early on, he vigorously integrated all the resources of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the agricultural field. It's a matter of price, but that's another story.

Now, taking advantage of Da Mao's desire to join the WTO, Lao Mei really wants to attack Da Mao in agriculture.

It is estimated that they also know that Da Mao has begun to attach importance to agricultural development. The later the release of agricultural products, the harder it will be for the major grain merchants in the United States to control Da Mao's agriculture.

So, in fact, Lao Mei is more anxious than Da Mao to let Da Mao join the WTO...

However, as a rigid condition for joining the WTO, Da Mao still has to open up the agricultural sector and allow foreign capital to enter.

Regarding this point, Wang Ye can agree in principle. After all, it is impossible to join the WTO only for benefits without making any contributions. Benefits come in exchange.

However, openness is openness, it must be conditional, and it must be staged!

It is impossible to liberalize all aspects as soon as it joins the WTO, and allow foreign capital to enter unconditionally in all industries and fields. In that case, the domestic economy will really be in chaos.

Some unimportant and insensitive industries can be directly liberalized without any restrictions.

But the liberalization of some industries has to be done step by step, a little bit every year, and it will be a few years before all the liberalization.

This is also very simple. For example, when agricultural products first joined the WTO, 50% tariffs were imposed on agricultural products imported from abroad. In this way, if Laomei’s agricultural products want to be sold here, there is no advantage in price, and the development of local agriculture can be protected. up.

Then the tariff will drop by 2% every year, and after 25 years, there will be zero tariff!

It can be regarded as a buffer period for the development of domestic agriculture.

As for individual industries that are related to national security issues, they cannot be let go at any time!

…………

Negotiations with the EU are a bit more complicated, because some member states in the EU do not approve of Da Mao's entry into the WTO and deliberately set up obstacles.

However, several leading countries in the European Union, especially France and Germany, still agreed to Da Mao's entry into the WTO, just wanting to take the opportunity to make Da Mao make more concessions.

Their demands mainly focus on energy, and they want to get cheap and stable energy supply from Da Mao, especially natural gas!

Since 2000, the EU has been negotiating energy supply issues with Da Mao. After several years of back and forth, a large framework has been basically negotiated, which is the so-called "Beixi Pipeline".

In fact, during the former Soviet Union, Damao had a pipeline to transport natural gas to Europe. The pipeline passed through Ukraine, then reached Austria and Romania, and then spread to other countries in Western Europe.

However, this pipeline has limited transmission capacity, and now it is obviously dwarfed by the natural gas needs of so many countries.

Even Uzbekistan's own needs alone take up most of the pipeline's transportation capacity!

Therefore, the need to build another pipeline is imminent.

The newly proposed "North Stream Pipeline" plan is to start from the Fortress area of ​​Da Mao, directly cross the Baltic Sea, go all the way under the sea, and reach the Greifswald area in Germany.

This is a "point-to-point" direct supply service, and there is no middleman to make the difference!

In addition, the Beixi pipeline project is divided into two phases, and the scale is very large.

Once completed, it will fully meet the natural gas demand of many countries in Western Europe, which is a win-win choice.

Damao's rich natural gas resources can be sold and exchanged for a large amount of foreign exchange, which can be used to invest in domestic infrastructure, support the development of other industries, and improve people's livelihood.

Western Europe has received a stable and cheap supply of natural gas, without having to bear expensive energy costs, and can also promote the redevelopment of their industries.

Because natural gas is not only for civilian use, but also for industry, a large amount of natural gas is needed.

…………

Of course, although both parties know that whether the Beixi pipeline plan can be signed will directly affect whether the EU supports Damao's entry into the WTO.

But on the surface, everyone will definitely not say it.

So, whether the Beixi pipeline plan can be finalized before the sixth WTO ministerial meeting will be directly related to whether Da Mao can successfully join the WTO this year!

Wang Ye knew this point well.

The current disagreement between the two parties lies in how much money each party invests and how many shares they own in this channel!

Referring to the super oil and gas contract negotiated between Wang Ye and the Chinese side last time, the Russian side naturally hopes that the German side will fully fund the construction of the pipeline, and then the Russian side will hold the pipeline company, and the German side will pay for the natural gas every year.

But the German side is not as easy to talk to as the Chinese side at the beginning. They demanded that the pipeline construction funds be equally shared by both parties, and then the pipeline companies will jointly hold shares and manage them together!

So the two sides got stuck on this point, and after talking for several years, they failed to reach an agreement.

The negotiations on the Beixi pipeline have been led by the government in the past, and Gazprom and the natural gas pipeline group participated together, which has nothing to do with Wang Ye.

But it is different now, because whether this cooperation can be negotiated is directly related to the next WTO accession negotiations.

So Wang Ye forcefully "taken" the leadership of the negotiation from the government, and replaced it with himself to lead the direction of the negotiation. Although the government had some criticisms, it was difficult to say anything.

Who made them not capable enough, and they have not been able to negotiate cooperation.

Coupled with the relationship between Medjeeff and Wang Ye, he, the number one figure in the government, didn't say anything, and the people below him naturally couldn't say anything.

…………

After frowning and thinking for a while, Wang Ye ordered: "Our bottom line must be adhered to, but we can make concessions on less important aspects. When negotiating with the German side, there is no need to have a controlling stake in the pipeline company. It has to be discussed, and I must be the controlling shareholder. But the funds invested in the pipeline construction can be negotiated, and the biggest concession is that each party will give half!"

In fact, Wang Ye is not short of money now, and Gazprom is not short of money. Even if all the pipelines are funded by Russia, there is no problem at all.

After all, even if the German side pays the full amount to build the pipeline, this cost will be deducted from the future natural gas cost, which is the same as the terms of the oil and gas contract between China and Russia.

But this is not how business is discussed, and the situation in China and Germany is completely different...

This also involves a hidden problem, that is, the pipeline construction cycle is often three to five years, and the timeline is very long.

What if the situation changes during the construction period and one party repents?

Naturally, Da Mao will not go back on his word. After all, he is the one who sells natural gas, and there is no situation where he has money and does not want to make money.

But the German side can’t guarantee it. What if after a few years, the pipeline is almost repaired, but the German side suddenly says it won’t buy Damao’s natural gas.

Don't say it's impossible, such things are actually not uncommon.

After all, those countries in Western Europe have a so-called electoral system. No one knows whether the person who has reached cooperation with you now will be elected in the next term.

What if he loses the election next term, and then someone from the hostile faction comes up and directly wants to overturn all the contracts and agreements signed by the predecessor?

Wouldn't Da Mao, who fully invested in the construction of the pipeline, be dumbfounded...

Therefore, the best and safest way is to let the German side pay the full amount, at least half of the money to build the pipeline, so that tens of billions or even tens of billions of dollars of real money have already been poured in, even if Germany If there is any change in Fang's political arena, there is a high probability that his successor will not joke about so much money...

Even if the successor dares, he still has to ask the German company that invested in the early stage to agree!