Volume 6: The Great Change Chapter 0796 Creating an Oligarch
The next day, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Nan Yi sat in the living room of Fang's manor and waited. After waiting for two hours, Phu Bipeng, who came from Naypyidaw, arrived.
"How is it going?"
"Everyone has been settled."
Nan Yi pointed to the news on TV and said, "It's progressing very quickly. Bangkok isn't too chaotic. It looks like things will calm down soon."
"The people of Bangkok have become accustomed to a military coup every few years since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932," said Phubitpol.
"I hope that this will be over soon and our work can return to normal soon. This time I asked you to come here to report mainly to talk about the arrangements for Wangmu Fruit Industry in the next few years. Houji Agriculture will establish cotton and vegetable planting areas in Uzbekistan, and Wangmu Fruit Industry should also expand to the nut area. It just so happens that you can contact Nicholas Fuller, and Wangmu Fruit Industry and Houji Agriculture will cooperate and enter Uzbekistan together."
"Boss, there are many fruits and nuts in Uzbekistan. Which category should we start with?"
"Pistachios [the scientific name for pistachios, which is only commonly used in China] were first produced in Uzbekistan, so we started with them. However, pistachios take too long to reach their peak fruiting period. If we planted them ourselves, we would not be able to make back our investment in more than ten years.
We will start by purchasing finished pistachio dried fruits and establish a good partnership with dried fruit merchants in Tashkent. Once we have established a tacit understanding, we will expand our business to other nuts and dried fruits. While developing our business, we will also look for suitable old pistachio trees to purchase. When the situation with the Soviet revisionists becomes clearer, we will then establish a large-scale nut and fruit plantation in Uzbekistan. "
Pubipeng pondered for a moment and said, "We have independent brands for fresh and dried fruits. It would be best if nuts also have an independent brand. In case something bad happens, the independent brand will not affect the overall situation."
“I do have a brand name, Seven Camels. The major countries that grow pistachios are Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Iraq, and the United States. The growing areas are all relatively arid, which makes people easily think of camels.
Seven camels are just the right number for seven major producing countries. Other nuts are also mainly grown in relatively arid areas, so using camels as a representative is quite appropriate.”
"BOSS, is there any other meaning besides this?" asked Pubipong.
Nan Yi shook his head. "No, I'm not good at naming. The name Seven Camels is just for your reference. You can put it on the list or just pass it. Don't worry about me."
"learn."
"Okay, you're tired from the journey, go and rest first. During this time, formulate a development plan for nuts. After this year, I will allocate more time to Shennong Nanliang. Next year or the year after, I will inspect all our planting bases."
"BOSS, goodbye."
"Goodbye, have a good rest."
After Pubipong left, Nan Yi started studying the information about the Soviet revisionists on his computer.
Current information shows that the disintegration of Soviet revisionism is about to become an established reality. The only uncertainty is the specific time. Once upon a time, Nan Yi had thought about finding someone to show off his insights on Soviet revisionism. He even thought about creating a shock and getting the title of an expert on Soviet revisionism. Now it seems like pure nonsense.
Before the middle of last year, this topic could still attract attention, but in 1991, using this topic to attract attention is simply asking for trouble.
After reading the information, Nan Yi sent a secret email and asked the Ghost Team to take a letter to Pavlyuchenko to confirm the list of white gloves from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Before the end of March, Nan Yi needed to decide on the main supporter.
Nan Yi is not optimistic about the development of Nan's group in Russia. He always feels that the people there are too greedy and are always ready to overturn the table. They are not suitable for long-term operation at all. Nan's group currently has no long-term plan there. They will make as much money as possible, and will pack up and leave at any time if they can't make any money.
Kazakhstan has two major oil-producing areas, the Matga region of Atyrau Oblast and the new oil area of the Mangyshlak Peninsula, where Nan will deploy long-term oil investment projects;
Uzbekistan has high-quality fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, fruit cakes and chukhala, halva, and jams. It is a good choice to develop high-end fruit and vegetable products there.
Needless to say, Ukraine is a land of black soil that feeds Europe, and the banks of the Dnieper River are the granary of Europe. It would be very promising to set up staple food planting bases there. The only thing to note is that the land should preferably be in the western part of Ukraine, and not in the eastern part of Ukraine close to Russia.
Moscow.
Vasily Babanov, president of the Vasily Group, has been quite active and busy during this period, and he often meets with owners of some cooperatives.
In 1986, the Soviet revisionists launched a campaign to rectify "non-salary income". The original intention of this campaign was to punish corruption, but in fact the Politburo of the Soviet revisionists did not define "non-salary income".
The movement came on with great force and quickly got out of control. Renting out unused houses at home was considered non-wage income, taking the family car out for a taxi was considered non-wage income, and setting up a greenhouse in front of or behind the house to grow tomatoes was considered non-wage income. However, the so-called "non-wage income" that was really intended to be cracked down on was all legal.
Subsequently, Lao Ge took two significant and far-reaching measures to slow down the pace of the socialist experiment. In order to alleviate the economic shortage problem and also to respond to the out-of-control "non-wage income" movement, a law was passed in 1986 to allow Soviet revisionist citizens to engage in "individual labor."
This approach allows people to become self-employed entrepreneurs to fill the gap in an economy riddled with holes and plagued by deficits.
A large number of private activities, including handicrafts and service industries, will soon become possible. Teachers can tutor students after class. Many teachers have already done so, but the newly passed law makes this behavior reasonable and legal, so that everyone no longer has to worry about it.
Furthermore, the law does not set any regulations on prices. In other words, individuals can charge whatever they want. The law begins to be outside the control of the state, but there are still many strict restrictions.
New entrepreneurs can only employ their families and their business scope is limited to areas where the state sector does not perform well, mainly scarce goods. Some industries are still prohibited, such as printing and print media.
In 1987, the Soviet revisionists began to cautiously allow the emergence of new independent enterprises in related fields, such as waste recycling, bread baking, shoe repair, laundry services and consumer goods.
Despite its limited size, the cooperative movement attracted public attention and the existence of private enterprise in the ocean of stagnant and rigid socialism was indeed a sight to behold.
Many eye-catching business methods have emerged. A cooperative has set up paid toilets in the center of Moscow. Their toilets are clean and tidy, play music, and provide pink toilet paper and new sanitary ware. Most people have never seen such facilities, and of course they don’t have them at home.
Other cooperatives also used their brains. For example, in order to attract young people to consume and cater to the tastes of rebellious young people, the dance hall composed a disco dance song "American Boy".
When the Cooperative Law was officially passed in 1988, many cooperatives were in the process of transforming into private enterprises, and a new era began.
For Nan Yi, there is a clause hidden in the "Cooperative Law" that is very favorable to the Nan family. It allows the establishment of financial or credit enterprises in the form of cooperatives, in other words, banks.
Faced with many uncertain factors, cooperatives emerged one after another, with no basic rules at all. Previously, the Soviet revisionist planning committee formulated plans for all economic activities and required enterprises to complete various indicators from their superiors, but cooperatives were allowed to make independent decisions and keep their own profits.
The most noteworthy aspect of the Cooperative Law is its new definition of personal freedom. The law stipulates that any activity can be carried out unless it is expressly prohibited. This is a complete subversion of decades of strong state intervention.
Generally speaking, cooperatives simply make the gray economic activities they are engaged in public. The gray economy naturally also includes profiteers. The Cooperative Law does not clearly define whether profiteers are breaking the law.
It is okay to say it is legal, and it is not wrong to say it is illegal. Anyway, we should cross the river by feeling the stones and let it develop first. If the situation is not right, we will put it into a pocket crime. If it cannot be contained, we will enact new laws.
The idea of a cooperative is good, but in the process of development, there are always smart people who think more far-sightedly and are bold to the extreme. Instead of working hard to produce products, they think it is better to get subsidized equipment or cheap goods from state-owned enterprises or the black market and quickly resell them to make a profit from the difference.
Of course, there are also honest people who just do some small business such as waste recycling and shoe repair. They are satisfied as long as they can let their family eat bread and some pickled cucumbers for every meal. Of course, it would be even better if they could have a delicious red soup.
However, no matter for honest or dishonest cooperatives, there is one thing that is very annoying, that is, the money of the cooperative must be kept in the bank designated by the organization. The staff of those banks have mastered a unique skill called "plucking feathers from passing geese". Of course they can withdraw money from the account, but the prerequisite is that they have to show some appreciation, and it cannot be a small gesture, and this appreciation cannot make them feel embarrassed.
Vasily Babanov was sitting in the Wandefu Soviet revisionist flagship store on Arbat Street, and sitting opposite him was a young man named Smolensky.
Smolensky was a young man with an Austrian background and Jewish ancestry, and people of this background were doomed to be unwelcome in the Soviet revisionists.
In order to survive, he worked as a typesetter in a printing factory, as a clerk in a publishing house, and worked part-time in a bakery. Later, he started doing illegal activities - secretly printing the Bible.
The Soviet revisionists believed in atheism. People were required to believe in science and not engage in superstition. The Bible was considered an illegal publication and anyone who saw it would be arrested. However, the more it was banned, the more enthusiastic people became. In the 1980s in the Soviet revisionists, the Bible was scarce and in high demand, and was hard currency on the black market.
Not long after, Smolenski was in jail for breaking the law.
While serving his sentence, Smolensky worked as a laborer in a construction team. He keenly discovered that the Soviet revisionist central planning system could not meet Moscow's construction needs. The state stipulated that the per capita housing area was 9 square meters, but half of Moscow's 9.5 million people did not meet this standard.
Why?
State-owned construction companies were inefficient and slow, and could not meet such a huge demand. So he formed a black market construction team, became a contractor, and secretly competed with the state-owned construction team for work.
Just when Smolensky was enjoying his job as a contractor, the "Cooperative Law" was promulgated. This was not really good news for him. When , he almost had a monopoly on the business by using his connections. Now that it was liberalized, he had more competitors.
When Smolensky saw that his dream of building a city could not be carried out, he gritted his teeth and stomped his feet. Although his dream was gone, he could not delay making money any longer. He simply disbanded the construction team, lowered his status and became a trader. He used the business acumen ingrained in his bones to make a living.
"You want more fries?"
Vasily pointed to the French fries in Smolensky's bowl.
