Reborn Russia As An Oligarch

How to evaluate whether a city or a country's economy has made great progress is actually very simple.

Statistics may be deceiving, but the work and lives of ordinary people clearly do not lie.

Comparing Moscow in 2007 and 2001, great changes have taken place visibly to the naked eye.

The first is infrastructure. There are a lot more new, flat and spacious roads. In the past few years, there have been three more new subway lines and dozens of subway stations!

Originally, Moscow’s subway system ranked among the top among major cities in the world, but now it firmly occupies the first position in the world.

Whether it is subway mileage, subway lines or subway stations, it exceeds all competitors and is far ahead!

In addition, if you drive around Moscow, you will find that many high-rise buildings are rising from the ground, and many enclosed construction sites are under intense construction.

These were not visible at all in 2001!

In addition to these hardware facilities, the average income of Moscow residents has also increased significantly.

When Wang Ye was studying in preparatory school, several preparatory school teachers, including Ajielina, had a monthly income of only about US$300, and their lives were quite tight.

There is a preparatory school teacher named Alexander. After get off work every day, he has to carry a big sports bag and go to the subway station to set up a stall and sell slippers in order to support his family...

Even for elites at the level of university professors, their monthly salary is only around US$500.

With such an income, one can imagine the quality of life in an international metropolis like Moscow.

In 2007, according to the latest survey data, the average monthly salary of Moscow residents had reached about $800.

The income of elites such as university professors has tripled, with monthly salaries exceeding two thousand dollars!

The income of ordinary company employees, that is, college graduates, has also reached seven to eight hundred dollars.

Moreover, there are more job opportunities, and various new companies have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and most of them are related to the Internet, high technology, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, and infrastructure projects.

As Moscow's economy booms, people from neighboring poor countries are pouring into Moscow in large numbers to look for job opportunities.

If you stand on the street and take a look, you will see people of all colors and languages. Moscow is now a truly international metropolis!

Of course, there is more traffic on the street, and the quality of the cars is obviously much higher than in previous years.

When Wang Ye first arrived in Moscow, the streets were full of cheap cars like Lada. After getting in, everything made noise except the horn, and there was air leakage everywhere except the air conditioner...

Now, the most popular brands on the street are Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover, etc.

Especially for Volvo, the car brand positioning is relatively low and it is "domestic", so the price in Russia is very cheap, and the car quality is good, so it has been selling very well in recent years.

When Moscow residents with better family conditions want to change their cars, the first thing they consider is Volvo.

Speaking of Gazprom, in fact, the company's development is not limited to Russia. Its three major brands, Volvo, Land Rover, and Jaguar, are not only popular in Russia, but also in Eastern Europe and even Europe, including the Asian and North American markets. , even far beyond the past peaks of these three brands.

Needless to say, Land Rover is positioned as ultra-luxury, with only SUVs and no cars. This brand can be said to have achieved the ultimate in luxury SUVs!

In the luxury SUV segment, there are almost no competitors, and even competing models launched by Mercedes-Benz and BMW cannot compare with Land Rover.

Of course, this is also because Land Rover was bought by Wang Ye, and then invested heavily in building a state-of-the-art production base and strictly controlling quality, which is why it has such a good reputation today.

If it were acquired by Asan like Wang Ye in his previous life, Land Rover's reputation would be really ruined.

Jaguar also has the same positioning as Land Rover, but this brand only makes cars and sports cars, not SUVs, so it and Land Rover are complementary and have no conflict. Even when Russian Automobile Group expanded new 4S stores, they directly combined the two. Selling several brands together will not only save a lot of store opening costs, but also enrich the models in the store, and also facilitate subsequent maintenance work, killing multiple birds with one stone.

Volvo is positioned in the mid-range, targeting the Eastern European and Asian markets, and has also launched localized models. The prices have dropped to the level of similar cars in Japan and South Korea, which is a direct blow to dimensionality reduction!

Of course, this is also due to the fact that Russian Automotive Group has built large production bases in Moscow and China, which can effectively reduce production costs and various expenses, so it can produce high-quality and low-priced models.

In the past two years, Wang Ye has instructed Russian Automobile Group to open a large-scale production base in mainland China. The vehicles produced are directly supplied to the mainland for sale, mainly producing Volvos, while Land Rover and Jaguar still maintain their status as "imported cars" and sell at a relatively high price.

This is also the company's sales strategy. There is no way. Domestic consumers have not changed their old ideas and still think that "imported cars" are high-end. Your Land Rover and Jaguar have such high positioning and high prices, so they must be "original" produced "foreignly". Imported cars” will do!

If it were made in China, no one might be willing to buy it...

Mainland China's automobile sales market has experienced explosive growth in recent years and has become the world's largest automobile market. Thanks to Wang Ye's early deployment, Russia Automotive Group has caught up with this wave of dividends. Cut a piece of cake!

When he spent two to three billion US dollars to acquire the three major car brands, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover, many people ridiculed Wang Ye for being taken advantage of.

Because at that time, many people thought that these three brands were basically finished. If you want to revive them, it will not only be the acquisition money, but also a lot of subsequent investment.

Otherwise, these three brands would not have been sold so many times in recent years. Even those powerful car companies that have been around for a century would not be able to revive these three brands. Why do you, a newly established company in Russia? can do it!

But Wang Ye did it. He moved the main production bases of these three major brands from Western Europe, where labor costs are high, to Eastern Europe and mainland China, where labor costs are low. While significantly reducing production costs, he also improved the quality of the entire vehicle.

At the same time, through various publicity methods and even administrative orders, these three brands have become familiar in Eastern Europe and China, and are gradually accepted by consumers.

Then the word-of-mouth was fed back to the European market and the North American market, and the word-of-mouth was built step by step.

Now Russia Automobile Group has become one of the giants among global car companies.

Over one million units sold in 2006!

Don't think this number is not high. You must know that during the same period, the annual sales of giant car companies such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW were only more than one million vehicles.

Although super car companies like Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Foton can sell more than five million cars, their brand positioning is relatively low and their models are low-priced, which is incomparable to Volvo.

Therefore, the positioning of Russian Automobile Group is actually more like luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Selling more than one million units is already amazing.

Based on this sales volume, the revenue of Russian Automobile Group in 2006 also reached an astonishing more than 60 billion US dollars...

Although it is not listed on the market, the company's market value can be roughly estimated. It is a giant company with a market value of over 100 billion.

It can be said that Wang Ye's investment has also made a lot of money, exceeding everyone's expectations.

…………

As for the Sino-Russian large aircraft project, it has also begun to take shape. The large aircraft manufacturing project in Siberia has also been restarted. In addition, a production base has been set up in mainland China. It is said that it will be ready for test flights next year and is expected to officially start production around 2009. .

This large aircraft cooperation project has not yet reached the stage of development. After all, the aircraft has not been developed yet, so it will take two years to see the effect.

But Wang Ye can be sure of one thing, that is, as long as there is sufficient financial support and Lao Maozi's technical background, it is not difficult to develop a qualified large passenger aircraft.

Otherwise, there would be no super transport aircraft like the AN-225.

You must know that no other country will develop a super transport aircraft like this in the next twenty years. There will still be only this model.

After the large aircraft is officially put into production, coupled with the huge demand in the Chinese market, the order amount will be a bit scary...

So, this is also a huge economic growth point, and you don't have to wait too long to see the results.

…………

In August, Wang Ye also took the time to lead a delegation to visit Japan and South Korea.

Mainly talking about business cooperation.

After all, there are many large companies in Japan and South Korea, and they are relatively close to each other. However, due to some historical reasons, Japan and South Korea do not invest much in Damao.

Toyota, a small brand, is also a relatively popular car in Russia, but it has not set up a factory here. In addition, Honda has not entered the Russian market much.

Korean companies are a little better. Last time, Samsung took the initiative to come over for inspection and even met with Wang Ye to discuss cooperation.

It's just that they were not sincere that time, and no results came out of the negotiation in the end.

However, it did allow Li Fuzhen to get involved with Wang Ye, which also paved the way for future civil strife in the Samsung Group.

So Wang Ye wanted to take the initiative, communicate face to face with the big companies in Japan and South Korea, and attract some investment back.

A high-level figure like Wang Ye personally comes forward to conduct investment promotion meetings, which is obviously quite attractive to those large companies, because the promises Wang Ye made to them at the investment promotion meetings will basically be fulfilled.

After all, at his level, it is the most basic thing to do what you say, and it is impossible to go back on your word and destroy your political reputation.

Therefore, this trip to Japan and South Korea has been very fruitful, especially in the Japanese and Korean automobile industries, including Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Hyundai, all of which have expressed their intention to set up their own production bases in Russia.

Of course, cars produced in Russia are not only sold to the local market, but can also be exported to the entire Europe.

In the past, Russia did not have a corresponding industrial chain, so everyone was hesitant. Now, not only does it have a complete supporting industrial chain, but European car companies have rushed to invest in building factories, and Japanese and Korean car companies are naturally not far behind.

When visiting South Korea, Li Fuzhen also found an opportunity to sneak into Wang Ye's hotel at night and "report work" all night...

…………

In addition to economic work, Wang Ye also made a lot of efforts in diplomacy.

He is now also the director of the National Foreign Affairs Commission, so he also has a lot of say in diplomacy. And with his efforts, through the EPPO and the Economic Mutual Cooperation Organization, he has also tied up the neighboring brother countries. chariot.

Although Da Mao himself is not that rich, compared to the poor brothers around him, he seems very rich.

Just the tens of billions of dollars in financial assistance that Wang Ye has promised to everyone every year is enough to make everyone drool. This is real money and cash support without any strings attached. Who wouldn’t want it!

Of course, there are no conditions on the surface, but Wang Ye is not taken advantage of, and it is impossible to give money to other countries in vain.

After all, he squeezed out the money through the issuance of national debt, and he will find a way to pay off these national debts in the future.

Therefore, under Wang Ye's initiative, countries including Damao, Ermao, Sanmao, and several Stans signed a series of reciprocal agreements and opened various markets. Most goods are mutually exempt from tariffs. .

It seems that everyone is equal, but in fact Da Mao occupies a great deal of light in this regard.

After all, Damao still has a relatively sound industrial system. In recent years, automobiles, mechanical and electrical products, the Internet, infrastructure projects, etc. have all done well.

In terms of light industry, food processing is also okay. Although other clothing and department stores are not so good, don't forget that Moscow has the largest wholesale market in Eastern Europe.

Even if you are a "second-rate dealer", you can attract many foreign manufacturers to open companies and offices.

Compared with Moscow, other surrounding countries are less attractive.

Therefore, by doing this, Wang Ye has organized the countries in Eastern Europe together economically, which is a bit like returning to the former Soviet Union.

Of course, in politics, everyone should live their own lives and not interfere with each other.

This would make it easier for everyone to accept it. Originally, Wang Ye had never thought about returning to the former Soviet Union. To be honest, what would the poor brothers around him do if they took it back?

Are you trying to alleviate poverty...

It is enough for everyone to help each other economically, and in this way, a large enough market has been formed. Although the economy is not developed, it has a large population and a certain amount of consumption power, so it is attracting foreign investment. There are still benefits to that.

The increasing number of foreign-funded companies in Moscow in recent years is the best proof.

Because for those foreign businessmen who want to develop the Eastern European market, the best place to stay is of course Moscow, they have no choice.

Although he was very busy during this period, Wang Ye also felt very fulfilled. Years of hard work finally bore fruit, which can be said to be the flowering of economic and diplomatic relations.