My Realistic Simulation Game

Chapter 236 The Oligarch's Favor

St. Petersburg.

Before Pan Shiyi even arrived in the city known as the "Venice of the North," a clear outline had already formed in his mind.

This is Russia's "Window to Europe," established by Peter the Great in 1703, and served as the capital of the vast Russian Empire for over 200 years.

It is the cradle of the October Revolution and the undisputed second capital of the Soviet Union.

It is not only a huge industrial center with a transportation hub where ten railway lines intersect, but also an important port on the Baltic Sea, where the Red Flag Baltic Fleet is stationed.

Its strategic position is of paramount importance.

The Baltic Brewery, which stands majestically here, is equally impressive in size.

According to the information Pan Shiyi consulted, it was formed by integrating seven breweries that were originally located in multiple member countries, aiming to meet the huge market demand for beer, and is a veritable industry giant.

However, to his surprise, this very company, which was regarded as a pillar of the local economy, appeared on the first auction list in the first week after the new economic reform policy was issued.

Thinking about the heavy responsibility he was undertaking, Pan Shiyi felt a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Although Far Eastern International Bank has a considerable amount of reserves, most of that money is now in use.

Moreover, Qin Yuan has already issued instructions to accelerate the establishment of branch offices.

He needs to devote more energy and funds to the establishment of the St. Petersburg branch.

This opened a window to Europe, allowing the Far Eastern International Bank to enter major cities such as Kyiv and Minsk.

It should be understood that these places were the most fertile and prosperous areas in the entire Soviet Union.

Compared to these regions, the Far East, and republics like Stan, were different.

It is just a desolate and cold place with a vast but sparsely populated area.

As I pondered these thoughts, time slipped by unnoticed.

When the plane arrived, a middle-aged man with a neat mustache and a well-fitting suit was already waiting in the waiting area.

“Hello, Mr. Pan, I am Joseph, the contact person for the Baltic Brewery.”

The man stepped forward to shake hands, smiling warmly.

Pan Shiyi understood that this was the insider Qin Yuan had mentioned.

During his visit to St. Petersburg, Qin Yuan only gave him two instructions: to acquire the Baltic Brewery and to establish a branch of the Far East International Bank.

The only concrete clue provided was this Joseph.

He's supposedly a local bigwig in St. Petersburg; he handled all the paperwork for the early stages of the bidding to acquire the Baltic Brewery.

"Mr. Pan, I've long admired your name. I've heard that a financial genius has emerged in Moscow. In just over a month, he managed to bring down several Western banks on Financial Street. That's rare, truly rare in these times."

Joseph acted as if he knew everyone.

Pan Shiyi was surprised.

His actions in Moscow were largely overshadowed by Qin Yuan.

Today, this ordinary "liaison officer" in St. Petersburg seems to know so much about what's going on in Moscow.

They really have connections everywhere.

Little did he know that this man was the "insider" whom Perkov had introduced to Qin Yuan.

As a KGB officer, how could he not be aware of the role his abilities played in Moscow?

That's why Joseph was so polite to him.

For no other reason than the illustrious reputation of Far Eastern International Bank today.

Because he had become a key figure in the acquisition of the Baltic Brewery.

The Baltic Brewery has total assets valued at hundreds of millions of rubles and holds a valuable liquor franchise license.

This business, entrusted to the powerful Far East Group, will generate astronomical profits annually.

And all of them are able to reap huge benefits from it.

It can be said that the stronger the capabilities that Qin Yuan's team demonstrates, the more at ease they become.

Seeing that Qin Yuan had even sent Pan Shiyi, how could Joseph not be concerned and excited?

The two talked a lot along the way.

Pan Shiyi also obtained many of the Baltic Brewery's ledgers from Joseph.

The list above shows all of the Baltic Brewery's assets in St. Petersburg.

There are even some bottling plants and marketing channels scattered throughout many Eastern European republics, and not a single word of them is missing.

The books appear to show a huge deficit.

However, being an expert in the financial industry, he immediately saw many problems.

A brewery whose products are exported to Eastern Europe and which was only integrated last year.

A large factory with an annual output of up to 100 million kiloliters.

The total assets are only tens of millions of rubles?

He immediately noticed that the assets listed had many discrepancies between their actual value and the listed price.

But even if the prices listed are real, and the ledger is real.

The liquor license held by the Baltic brewery is worth a fortune.

And such a huge leak.

There were fewer than three bidders.

The other two companies seemed to be just there to make up the numbers, not even showing up. Far East Group became the only one to be shortlisted.
This is undeniably too much like a staged performance.

A grand drama specifically designed to legitimize their Far East Group's acquisition of the Baltic brewery.

only.
What role does President Qin play in all of this?

Does he know all of this?

With these questions in mind, he traveled all the way to the Baltic Brewery.

To his surprise, the high-ranking brewery leaders were not waiting in their offices.

Instead, they were all waiting at the main entrance to greet them.

Joseph's arrogant attitude was obvious when facing these people.

It seemed as if he was the superior and everyone else was the subordinate.

Pan Shiyi remained calm and watched the performance unfold.

Joseph asked, "Director Mikhail, we have seen your factory's books, but we still don't have a concrete idea of ​​the specific operating conditions of the Baltic Brewery and its assets."

"Could you please show us around?"

Mikhail smiled and said, "That's not a problem, but you've all had a long journey. Why don't you take a rest first and then continue your visit tomorrow?"

Joseph did not answer immediately, but looked at Pan Shiyi: "Mr. Pan, what do you think?"

Pan Shiyi immediately agreed.

He came to St. Petersburg with long-term plans in mind, so of course he wouldn't care about one or two days.

Moreover, thanks to this "Joseph," the acquisition of the "Baltic Brewery" has proceeded very smoothly.

At the hotel where I stayed.

Liu Jun, who was accompanying them, looked around at the hotel's grandeur and said with a smile, "Old Pan, I heard that this hotel we're staying at has a history of over a hundred years. Even Peter the Great stayed here back then."

Pan Shiyi laughed and said, "It's not just Peter the Great; several of the founding fathers of the Soviet Union were frequent visitors here."

"The Battle of Grenoble lasted from 1941 to 1944, resulting in nearly two million casualties on both the Soviet and German sides. Every inch of the city was stained with blood and haunted by the spirits of the dead."

"Take this hotel we're staying at, for example. It's said to be one of the few buildings that wasn't destroyed by air raids and long-range artillery back then."

Listening to Pan Shiyi recount the history of St. Petersburg, Liu Jun was full of amazement and exclaimed:

"You said the Soviet Union back then was full of heroic spirit, a country built with the blood of generations, how did it degenerate into this state now?"

Pan Shiyi smoothed the fog off his gold-rimmed glasses and said calmly, "You noticed it too?" Liu Jun dusted himself off and sat down on the sofa. "How could I not notice? I also glanced at the ledgers that Joseph showed you. Wow, such a big factory, several times larger than Ochakov's, yet its total assets are only one-third of Ochakov's."

"Do you think this is possible?"

"And then there's Joseph. You can tell he's from the KGB just by looking at him. The leaders of those distilleries are like cats when they see him. Their faces aren't respectful, they're just afraid."

Upon hearing the word "KGB," Pan Shiyi's expression tightened, and he immediately warned, "Old Liu, watch your words! This isn't China."

Liu Jun immediately realized what was going on. He looked around and whispered, "We're speaking Chinese. Even if the Russians are listening in, they can understand us."

Pan Shiyi took out a piece of paper and wrote on it: "It's always better to be careful."

Based on the ledger from the daytime, he had actually figured out a lot of things.

The ledger shows such a large shortfall.

Not only is the working capital pitifully small, but there are also tens of millions of yuan in debt.

It's obvious that someone tampered with it.

And who else possesses such immense power?
Distillery manager?

No, even a factory director in a state-owned enterprise wouldn't have that kind of ability, nor would they dare to do such a thing.

These ledgers must all be kept on file by the Security Committee.

Moreover, selling a large factory requires the approval of the local government.

In other words, to complete such an acquisition.

We need to appease at least three forces.

The first is the personnel within the factory.

The second is the inspectors of the safety committee.

The third is the approval from government agencies.

But now, this ledger, and Joseph's attitude toward those distillery leaders, clearly told him everything.

The so-called bidding process is just a formality.

"President Qin, President Qin, you sent me to St. Petersburg, but you didn't tell me there would be such a big surprise!"

He was amazed by Qin Yuan's extensive connections in the Soviet Union.

Such audacity.

But at the same time, he finally learned the truth.

When they first arrived in Moscow and were preparing to go to Kuibyshev, why was Qin Yuan brought to St. Petersburg by the KGB?

If nothing else happens.

The topic of discussion is this Baltic winery.

In other words, it happened several months ago.

Various forces have already put Baltic breweries on their tables.

This is an unprecedented feast of division.

The KGB was involved, as were people within the St. Petersburg government, and several members of the brewery's management team were undoubtedly among the participants.

Their goal was to take over this large state-owned factory.

Then they were given the empty shell.

Even so, such an "empty shell" is incredibly valuable.

After thinking these things through, Pan Shiyi felt heavier than ever before.

But it was also more relaxed than ever before.

The next day, nothing happened.

After having breakfast at the hotel, Pan Shiyi and Liu Jun, accompanied by Joseph, toured the vast brewery with the brewery's leadership.

What he saw and heard along the way further convinced him.

The Baltic Brewery is not an insolvent company; on the contrary, it is a well-run business.

Large factories with substantial assets.

And the worst-case scenario he feared did not materialize.

When he took stock of the assets, he found that the warehouse was full of raw materials and all kinds of equipment, which had not been taken away or sold.

Although all the working capital was lost, and more than ten million yuan in debt was incurred.

However, all those operating licenses are sufficient as compensation.

Mr. Pan

After the tour, we entered the conference room.

Factory manager Mikhail asked with a smile, "So, is there any discrepancy between this and the accounts?"

"Although our Baltic Brewery has suffered some losses due to poor management, our equipment and production lines are among the best in the country."

"We have heard that Far East Beverages, a subsidiary of the Far East Group, is doing very well. Far East Kvass, Tsar Kvass, is selling well throughout the Soviet Union, and it seems that they are also preparing to enter the Coca-Cola market recently."

"That is why our leadership and the St. Petersburg city government believe that handing over the Baltic Brewery to the Far East Group will lead to a better future."

This is half true and half false.

Only by handing it over to Far East Group, a Chinese-controlled enterprise, can their internal operations be concealed.

Moreover, this also aligns with public opinion calls to "introduce foreign investment to revitalize state-owned enterprises" and quell potential worker discontent.

Nowadays, there is a lot of discussion among the citizens of St. Petersburg about the Baltic Brewery.

How could a new factory, which was only integrated last year, suddenly become insolvent?
This winery is responsible for the jobs of thousands of people.

Behind this are the livelihoods of thousands of families and tens of thousands of people.

The Far East Group's previous acquisition of Ochakov directly revitalized the beverage factory that had been established during the Olympics.

The citizens of St. Petersburg hope that the Baltic Brewery, like Ochakov, can be reborn under the Far East Group.

Pan Shiyi was certainly not fully aware of all these intricacies.

However, he knew that acquiring the Baltic brewery would bring huge profits to the Far East Group.

It not only allows the Far Eastern International Bank to spend its reserves.

Moreover, this distillery can generate a continuous stream of revenue, releasing influence that radiates throughout the entire Soviet Union.

Therefore, with the mutual agreement of both parties.

The acquisition agreement was quickly finalized.

That afternoon, when the complete contract was presented to Pan Shiyi.

Looking at the acquisition price of 1200 million rubles, he suppressed the turmoil in his heart, picked up a pen, and signed his name on the document that had been prepared in advance.

The whole process went so smoothly it was outrageous.

It went so smoothly that it sent chills down one's spine.

And at the same time.

Qin Yuan, far away in Moscow.

A notification suddenly popped up on the system panel in front of him.

Complete the hidden quest "Plunderer of State-Owned Assets" to obtain the special achievement "Favored by the Oligarchs".

Wearing this achievement slightly increases the success rate of negotiations when acquiring assets.

"That's really fast."

Upon seeing this notification, Qin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was well aware that Pan Shiyi had already acquired the Baltic Brewery in St. Petersburg.

(besides)
(End of this chapter)