Chapter 641: The Arctic Council (1)


    Kim Joo-hyuk of H Corporation came to the royal territory immediately.


    “Your Highness, congrattions.”


    “I’m not ready to pop the champagne yet, but I don’t think there’s any other variable. Prepare to set up a local factory in divostok.”


    “Building a local factory in Russia was already ready a few years ago, so there is nothing to be done about it. And our working-level officials have already left for divostok. There was a request from the Russian Railway Administration for an on-site survey.”


    “The Russian officials, who are famous for being slow, are moving pretty fast.”


    “The official document said that President Putin and the Duke of Kazakhstan had discussed it. The Korean government is quite surprised by this. This time, Korean railroad officials requested to apany our workers, and we had a hard time refusing them.”


    “What about the Korean Railroad?”


    “I hear you’re considering linking Korea to the trans-Siberian train.”


    “Well, that’s quite premature to think that.”


    “Isn’t that what you requested to the Russian government?”


    “I’ve asked the head of Russia’s National Railroad, but the question is whether North Korea, which holds the key, agrees...”


    Russia was also moving fast, knowing that connecting the Trans-Siberian train to the Korean Penins would have a huge synergy effect.


    Their intention must be to make full use of Youngho’s Korean origin and put the South Korean government to take charge of the railroad construction in the North Korean section.


    South Korea would naturally wee the offer, and North Korea would not be able to easily reject Russia’s suggestion.


    North Korea would not even sniffle at the request of other countries, but if it upset Russia, it would have to be prepared to lose its back. However, it would also be an attractive suggestion for North Korea because it was an opportunity to simply pass the train and earn profits.


    The Russian government was quickly working on Youngho’s idea.


    “Your Highness, our group was developed from a constructionpany. To be honest, just supplying trains to the Trans-Siberian Railway business is not enough. We also want to participate in the railway business ourselves, so please help me.”


    “I was going to ask your group anyway. But since it’s a long-term investment project, I’m a little hesitant to actively rmend it.”


    It was hard to rmend the project because the invested money would be recovered throughout 20 years from the train’s operating ie. This was all the more so because Russian policies for investors often changed.


    “Korea’s constructionpanies can form a consortium and spread the risk.”


    “That would be one way. Then, you should organize it and create a separate joint venture.”


    Companies of the U.S., France, and Germany could participate individually because they had plenty of money, but Korean builders could only grow in size if a number ofpanies joined together.


    “We are currently coordinating in Korea. It’s such a big project that we don’t even have topete among domesticpanies. Of course, we do it together with financial institutions, but without basic physical strength, it’s hard to survive for 20 years.”


    “We were going to rule out excessivepetition between Koreanpanies, but fortunately, you came up with a reasonable n in your group.”


    “We decided not topete with domesticpanies for big projects abroad.”


    “I’m d to hear that. How long will itst?”


    “Most of the projects we’ve won from abroad resulted in loss, and we can’t afford it anymore.”


    “If you regain your strength, you’ll bepeting again.”


    Kim Joo-hyuk was also not able to resist what Youngho said.


    The Trans-Siberian train project was a 20-year-long project, so thepanies would be careful with their investments, but they wouldpete inrge construction projects that were ced elsewhere. There was just an infinite race to survive.


    “If Koreanpanies are united in the Trans-Siberian Railway project, we will take a lot of Korean builders intorge projects in Russia. But please don’t let me down.”


    “Is Russia nning to ce many orders for big projects in the future?”


    “Think of Russia’s area. It has tremendous potential for development. When the Trans-Siberian Railway is activated, work is bound to pour in. That will lead to normal construction orders, whether it’s paid in cash or raw materials. Even then, you’d be made fun of if you lose due to excessivepetition.”


    “You mean to refrain from individual contact with Russia.”


    “Yes. Don’t just target construction orders, get paid the right price for them. If youpete for blood and embarrass Kazakhstan, we wouldn’t let it go.”


    It was kind of a warning.


    This meant that Koreanpanies could do whatever they wanted in other countries, but they should notpete with each other in Russia or Central Asia.


    Youngho had seen many cases where builders that won low-priced orders from abroad recover their losses by export policy funds or long-term low-interest policy financing.


    In the end, it was the same as recovering it with tax.


    If they repeated such low-priced orders, which only made the ordering organizationugh, Youngho wanted to block them even by exercising his ability.


    Kim Joo-hyuk was surprised when Youngho took an unprecedented tough stance.


    He could understand the meaning of refraining from low-priced orders but forcing to stop selfpetition was tantamount to interference in management.


    This was because constructionpanies sometimes received low-cost orders even if they would lose money to improve their cash flow or improve their reputation.


    “Your Highness, it may be natural forpanies topete to survive. You may be misunderstood as viting the management rights of Koreanpanies.”


    “I’m only talking about the projects where the Kazakh royal family is in charge. And we will make sure that Koreanpanies get a fair profit. On the other hand, it means that our royal family will not suffer damage.”


    “We will send a letter of cooperation to Koreanpanies to prevent them from taking individual actions. But there may be somepanies that don’t listen.”


    “In that case, I’m going to respond as I said.”


    “...”


    “If Koreanpanies push into low-priced orders despite the fact that they have secured a foothold in Russia, the status of the Kazakh royal family will be reduced. I’m not going to sit idle on that.”


    “I see what you mean. We will fully cooperate with the Kazakh royal family.”


    ***


    The consulting for the Trans-Siberian Railway project had been entrusted to the Swedish Information Agency which held great consulting capabilities and showed excellence at attracting investmentpanies.


    Naturally, Eriksson was in charge ofmunicating with the Information Agency and selecting investmentpanies.


    However, Youngho was not free either.


    Persuading individual members of the Arctic Council was left to him.


    If any of the eight members of the Arctic Council objected, things would go wrong, so he had to move very carefully.


    Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Find were the only countries that were close to the Arctic Ocean after Russia, and Denmark was the only ce where territorial waters were in contact.


    The other countries were the United States, Sweden, and d.


    It was almost impossible to solve it with Youngho’s ability because it was a politically sensitive issue. This could only be solved if the U.S. took the lead.


    So, he had to ask Michael for help. It was also the fastest way.


    -You’ve been frequently mentioned by the presstely. What made you call me, Duke?


    “I didn’t think you’d be interested in my business, but I guess you’ve been watching closely.”


    -How can I not as the Director of the U.S. Intelligence when you’ve been meeting with Putin? I hear you are in charge of the Trans-Siberian Railway project.


    “You know that’s not the purpose, right?”


    -I’m not even a forteller. How can I know what’s inside of your mind?


    “I’ll tell you the good news first. Russia is opening the Baltic-White Sea Canal.”


    -Is that true? How can Putin make such a decision without losing his mind?


    “I have another piece of good news. He’s not going to insist on other things any longer except for the exclusive economic zone.”


    -I don’t know what he’s up to after all that stubbornness. Or did you drug Putin?


    Michael was very surprised.


    The development of the Arctic Circle had been parallel because of Russia’s stubbornness, but it was doubtful that Putin suddenly changed his mind.


    The reason Russia was lukewarm about developing the Arctic Ocean was that it might create loopholes in its security.


    That was why it maintained a powerful military presence in the Arctic Ocean.


    “It’s a rational decision. If the rest of the member states don’t insist on the continental shelf, Russia will make concessions.”


    -That’s great. Canada is nning to set up a military base in the Arctic Ocean, but we need to stop it. You can’t break the good mood.


    “Why don’t the U.S. take the lead in this atmosphere? I’d like to take this opportunity to tie the knot.”


    -Of course, we should take the lead. But I think there’s a reason why you’re trying so hard to make this. Whether the members of the Arctic Council agree doesn’t have anything to do with Kazakhstan. What is it?


    “It’s all about using the Baltic-White Sea at our convenience. And it’d be better if we could be an observer of the Arctic Council.”


    -Are you sure that’s all?


    “If we use the canal, we can cut the distance by 4,000 kilometers, and that in itself is a huge deal.”


    -Kazakhstan already qualifies as an observer state of the Arctic Council, what do you mean?


    “Well, I guess I want to get nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.”


    -Hahaha...


    “By the way, it seems that the pressure of the Arctic Council members to make it an exclusive economic zone as far as the continental shelf can reach made Putin change his mind. He probably couldn’t endure it any longer”


    -You’ve persuaded Putin well. Anyway, thanks to you, the countries involved will be able to cool off now. So now the ball hase to me.


    “That’s why I’ve called you. Please take the lead in persuading the rest of the member states.”


    -Well, we didn’t do much in this, but we’d be taking the credit.


    “It’s also the most important job. And I hope Americanpanies will participate in the Trans-Siberian Railway project, too. Please rmendpanies with funding.”


    -It’ll be a shame if the U.S. gets involved when it is at the forefront of economic sanctions.


    Even with economic sanctions, European countries had long been doing business with Russia for oil and gas. Also, a globalpany in the U.S. was already operating a daily necessities nt in Russia with the introduction of Youngho.


    “If Russia had made that concession in the Arctic Ocean, wouldn’t the U.S. have to give in something equal?”


    -I’ll discuss it with the politicalmunity. We are very interested in Siberia, too. With this job, there will be no problem with Kazakhstan bing an observer of the Arctic Council.


    “It doesn’t matter. If the cargo ships of Arirang can freely sail through the Arctic Ocean, we will be satisfied with that.”


    -If anyone hears about it, they’d think the Duke of Kazakhstan is an angel.


    “Well, we’ll see if I’m an angel or a devil.”


    -Oh, well, stay as an angel as much as possible. I don’t want to see you turn into a devil.


    “So please advertise that you shouldn’t mess with me. It’s a hassle to exin everything.”


    -I’ll let the Arctic Council members know. See you soon in Troms?, Norway.


    “In Troms?? Why do you want to meet there?”


    -Don’t you know there’s a permanent secretariat of the Arctic Council?


    “Is that so? There’s a pr developmentpany of the Kazakh royal family as well.”


    -When did you make an office there?


    “Our cargo ships going to Siberia receive supplies from Troms?. So I set up a pr developmentpany a few years ago.”


    -It’s kind of creepy to call it a coincidence. Do you have any foresight?