If it were another business owner, 80% of the time he would ask his subordinates to find ways to raise money, such as borrowing money, financing, selling shares, etc.
Yao Yuan has never done this before. Every time he is short of money, he always says - I will solve it.
Dongfeng Group is not short of money. To this day, its debt ratio is frighteningly low. Less than a year after the last large-scale debt borrowing, it has made back its principal with interest. Its profitability and vitality are frighteningly strong.
There is too much money to be invested this time, and the difficulty is much higher than building the new capital of Kazakhstan for free.
The reason is that the new capital of Kazakhstan has a five-year construction period, and this is what Yao Yuan promised. The investment of 20 billion US dollars is not an investment of real money. It includes a large amount of building materials and labor costs. These can be
If it is solved through domestic procurement, outsourcing, etc., it will be paid in Huaxia currency, and there will be a time difference in payment.
Of course, domestic enterprises and raw materials will be used in the construction of the Hua-Haha Railway, but the construction period is too short, the project is too vast, and the construction difficulty is far greater than building a new capital or city.
To put it bluntly, building a new city means building houses and roads, all in a relatively concentrated area. Building railways is different!
To cross a variety of terrains, to overcome the effects of various geological conditions, to overcome the effects of various climates, and to shorten the construction period, a large number of helicopters must be used. This cost alone is terrifyingly high.
The construction period of the Dazhushan Tunnel of the Dali-Ruili Railway was planned to be five years. During the process, it was discovered that the geological conditions were far more complicated than expected. The construction period was then adjusted to eight years, and it finally took a full thirteen years to complete the construction.
The total length is only 13.5 kilometers. At that time, China had built countless tunnels with a length of more than 20 kilometers.
You must know that the construction of the Dazhushan Tunnel began in 2008, which was the beginning of China Infrastructure's leapfrog development stimulated by 4 trillion investment. In other words, in the eyes of China at that time, there was no infrastructure project that could not be repaired.
However, the Dazhushan Tunnel has given China Infrastructure a resounding slap in the face. The construction period has been repeatedly extended, waiting for the emergence and maturity of new technologies...
The full thirteen years after 2008 were a period of rapid progress in China's technological field. Otherwise, it might have taken fifteen, twenty, or even half a century like European countries...
At that time, developed European countries had many projects planned in the 1980s that were still under construction thirty or forty years later...
This was in 1996, when a railway was introduced from Karamay across the entire territory of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is a large country with a territory of 3,000 kilometers from its east and west ends, ranking ninth in the world in terms of land area.
There are several time zones to cross.
The terrain that this railway line will pass through is almost all of the most difficult types in the field of railway construction. It is conceivable how much effort is required to successfully complete the construction under the current technical conditions and such a tight construction period.
price.
Much harder than building a new city!
A large project can often drive the development of technology, and a century-level railway project like the Hua-Haha Railway, after completion, can elevate China's railway technology to the world's advanced level. This is because during the implementation of the project, it is necessary to
The technology used or the problems that need to be solved require huge investments in research and development.
What Lin Wei reported was only the project budget, which did not include the extended budget invested in technology research and development.
How difficult is it to build a new city? Except for a few iconic high-rise buildings, the rest are not technically difficult. With the current capabilities of Huaxia Construction Engineering, it is just a matter of whether the funds can be provided in time.
But for a transnational railway looking forward to the next century, the requirements for technical standards are too high.
Therefore, Yao Yuan heard what Lin Wei meant. He was vaguely reminding Yao Yuan that even if the project budget of more than 40 billion Chinese dollars was solved, the technology research and development budget that needed to be invested would make it impossible to complete the railway within the construction period.
construction.
This is a synchronous implementation process.
Yao Yuan looked around, his eyes fell on He Shirley's face, and asked, "Is it feasible to raise funds by listing financial products?"
Hearing this, everyone suddenly realized that the big boss had already made preparations, but everyone didn't know much about listed financial products.
Big Boss has always stayed away from the financial market. Nowadays, the proportion of listed companies among the companies under the Chunfeng Group is very small. Big Boss is very strict about the review of listings. So far, only some non-core assets have been divested in Hong Kong.
It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Among them, companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange play a stabilizing role. Don't expect financing. Only companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange can truly enter the world's financial market. Among them, Yuanda Group and Yong'an Group are owned by two group companies.
The listed companies have performed the most eye-catchingly, and their market value has doubled so far.
However, this operation of releasing financial products is unprecedented for all listed companies under the Dongfeng Group.
At this time, I heard He Shirley say, "Hua Xia Bank's financial department has done design and evaluation. If we release short-term financial management products, they can be listed in two months at the earliest. We are already preparing and expect to raise 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars in funds."
"
What can 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars be used for?
But Yao Yuan nodded slightly, as if he was very satisfied, and then he said, "After this, I will go to Hong Kong to solve the funding problem. Everyone, good news will come from the Kashagan Field soon. Mr. Qin and I have analyzed it and it will be put into production this year.
And there is no problem in increasing the production capacity to 10 million tons per year. This is our confidence."
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The big boss has been keeping an eye on the frontline for almost two months, just to find out the Kashagan field. Now that there is no suspense about this matter, it will be much easier to handle next time.
Next, some details of the plan were discussed in detail. The next day, Yao Yuan went to the presidential palace to meet with Nazaryev.
This was the only time Yao Yuan and Nazaryev faced each other alone. To Nazaryev, Yao Yuan was a very familiar figure among the top brass in Central Asia.
Prior to this, due to the Bakker Oil Pipeline, Oriental Petroleum had economic cooperation with four Central Asian countries, and in addition to Kazakhstan, Oriental Petroleum had signed oil and natural gas development contracts with the other three countries.
The main reason why Oriental Petroleum is invincible in Central Asia is its previous outstanding achievements. From the Baku Oilfield in Azerbaijan to the Sedan Oilfield in the United Arab Emirates, they have all proved the strength of Oriental Petroleum.
This strength includes not only the company itself, but also the political strength behind the company.
Undoubtedly, the attributes of Chinese enterprises allow Dongfang Petroleum to operate more easily in Central Asia than Western oil companies.
Nazarev was inclined towards Yao Yuan, but after Yao Yuan proposed the construction of the Hua-Kazakhstan Railway, he became slightly worried. The worry came from his fear of Moscow.
He was a senior official during the Soviet era and had an inherent fear and respect for Moscow, even though the Soviet Union has now become history.
Yao Yuanfang had long seen Nazaryev's worries, so he got into the topic and said, "Mr. President, the output of Kashagan Oil Field can reach 10 million tons in one year, and the output of Bemut Oil Field can reach 10 million tons in three years."
With an annual output of 20 million tons and an annual oil export volume of 30 million tons, I think it should be enough for you to explain to the parliament."
"Have you found oil?" Nazaryev asked quietly.
Yao Yuan nodded slowly, "The Caspian mining area can provide a daily output of 30,000 tons, and we are still continuing to explore."
Nazaryev nodded slightly and said, "Thirty million tons is more than enough, but it is more than enough. I'm afraid it will be difficult to get the parliament to approve the railway plan."
"Without this railway, the oil from Kashagan Field, Bemut Oil Field, and Maksha Oil Field would have to be transported by truck, and the cost would be three times," Yao Yuan said with a smile.
Nazaryev smiled and said, "We can build a pipeline, refer to the Barker Oil Pipeline, and build an oil pipeline or even a gas pipeline to northwest China. The cost will naturally be greatly reduced."
It’s not that he was unprepared, and the reason is even better – the cost of pipeline transportation is the lowest.
Yao Yuan seemed to have expected it, saying, "Mr. President, the oil pipeline is a project that has been decided for a long time. However, after all, the oil pipeline cannot replace the railway. As you know, the construction of oil fields requires a large number of people and materials. With the current transportation method, it will greatly
It limits our oil field construction."
Nazarev was unmoved. The reason why he proposed the oil pipeline was to limit the railway to the exclusive transportation of oil and natural gas and not serve other services. In that case, the use of standard gauge alone would not be so eye-catching.
Yao Yuan paused, smiled and took out the plan of Line 1 from his briefcase and spread it on the table. Pointing to the location of the new capital, he said, "After the railway leaves Almaty, a line will follow the southern border area.
, then turn westward across Kazakhstan to connect all the big cities on this road, and the other line goes northwest. After connecting the cities on this road, a railway hub station is built in the new capital, and two lines are branched out, one
Continue westward to join the southern line, and the other one goes due south across Kazakhstan from north to south and connects with the southern line."
He saw the look of surprise on Nazaryev's face and knew that the long-term plan he gave had touched his heart.
Why Nazarev moved the capital? Strengthening the management capabilities of the northwest and central regions is an important factor. Almaty is on the border, and its radiation ability reaches the northwest and central regions 2,000 kilometers away. It is already very weak. It itself
It is not suitable for use as a capital city.
How does the center of power exert influence on the jurisdiction?
Transportation is first, communication is second.
Transportation is a top priority!
In response to Nazaryev's point, Yao Yuan made some additions to the original railway design and turned it into the Kazakhstan main line railway line planning map...
He said solemnly, "Oriental Petroleum invests in the Hua-Hazhong Railway. You can build the southwest line, the north line and the middle line of railways based on the sections of the Hua-Hazhong Railway in Kazakhstan. After connecting them, it will be a link connecting all major cities in Kazakhstan."
and the main line railway network in most important areas, and you should have noticed that the Southwest Line, North Line, and Central Line all have old railway lines. They do not need to be rebuilt. They only need to be transformed to connect with the Hua-Haha Railway that runs from east to west.
, the investment is greatly reduced..."
As president, it would be difficult for Nazaryev to resist such a large-scale railway plan. He knew very well that after the completion of the construction of this trunk railway network, there would no longer be any region in the country with weak central management capabilities. This played into his trap.
thoughts.
Is he moving the capital just to strengthen the management of areas with weak central government restraint capabilities?
He fell into deep thought.
The issue of changing railway gauges across the country is a huge matter and an important political issue.
Nazaryev thought for a long time before slowly saying, "Mr. Yao, in the final analysis, we still don't have enough chips. The profit from 30 million tons of oil exports to us is about two billion US dollars per year, which is not enough to convince the parliament."
What he said first proved that he himself was determined to build this trunk railway network. Yao Yuan integrated the Hua-Kazakhstan Railway into Kazakhstan's trunk railway network just to make Nazarev see the value of this railway.
Not only can it be transported out faster and cheaper, but it can also greatly enhance its dominance over various regions after the new capital is built.
This is very tempting for the president.
What he needs now is a reason that can convince the parliament, or a basis that allows him to use his authority to suppress the parliament.
Yao Yuan knew very well that if Nazarev made up his mind to do something, the parliament would not be able to stop him, such as moving the capital. Everyone opposed it, and of course the parliament also opposed it, but it still passed it and quickly entered the implementation stage.
, this is the strength of Nazaryev.
Rather than saying that Nazarev needs a strong enough basis to convince the parliament, it is better to say that he needs a basis that allows him to use his authority to promote this matter.
Yao Yuan asked instead, "What does Mr. President think of China's future economic development?"
Nazaryev was stunned, stared at Yao Yuan for a long time, and said, "I believe that China's economy will develop very quickly, and it is very promising to become the fifth economy in Asia in 20 to 30 years."
He is comparing China with the four economic tigers of Asia.
Yao Yuan said with certainty, "Within ten years, China's economic aggregate will surpass Japan's. In fact, after entering the 1990s, China's economic aggregate has surpassed South Korea."
China's size is so large that there is no comparison with South Korea. However, Yao Yuan said that China's economic aggregate could surpass Japan's within ten years. Nazarev did not believe it at all.
It’s not that Nazarev doesn’t care about the world economy. In last year’s world economic rankings, Japan was the world’s second largest economy, Germany was the third largest, and China ranked seventh.
China's total economic volume is 900 billion US dollars, while Japan's is as high as 5 trillion!
To surpass Germany within ten years, Nazarev believes that because Germany only has RMB 2.5 trillion, it is possible for China to surpass Germany given its size and the development momentum China is currently showing.
But if we say it surpasses Japan, that's a fool's errand.