Empire of the Ring

“Your Highness, Russia is planning a large vacation spot along the Volga-Don Canal.”

“What? A vacation spot, not a logistics base?”

Youngho doubted his ears as he was listening to the construction minister’s report about the consultation with Russian officials about the canal expansion. It was quite surprising that Russia was planning a tourist complex, not a logistics base.

He was also expecting to hear about the Volga-Baltic Waterway since Putin was dreaming of the Great Eurasia. The Volga-Baltic Waterway was long enough to be one of the world’s top five canals with a length of more than 1,100 kilometers, and its economic value was great as it was directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean. If Youngho could also get his hands on the expansion of the Volga-Baltic, there would be a tremendous synergy with the Siberian development project.

“They asked us if we’d join their project since they have chosen a scenic spot along the canal to build accommodations and recreational facilities.”

“Did you mention the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway?”

“The Russian officials said that they decided not to get their hands on it now because it’ll cost them an astronomical amount of money.”

“What’s the difficulty in digging up the existing canal and building bridges? Isn’t it too premature for Russia to give up?”

The Volga-Baltic Waterway was a direct waterway to the Atlantic and Arctic seas. If this canal was expanded, large ships could enter the Caspian Sea through the Baltic Sea.

“Your Highness, it’s too early to be disappointed. Russian officials do think that the Volga-Baltic should be expanded sooner or later, but they can’t afford to worry about the construction costs now, so instead, they want to draw us into the Volga-Don tourist project as they wish.”

“If they can secure the construction costs, would they still think they’ll expand it?”

The opportunity was not lost yet.

If they could enter the Caspian Sea through the Baltic Sea, many countries would be intrigued. European countries were so aware of the importance of a canal, so Youngho could attract their investment if he promoted it well, but he would have to find a way to avoid economic sanctions that were already applied to Russia.

“Please tell the Russian officials that we can’t participate in the recreational facilities. It’s not a business of our nature. We can’t afford to spend the royal family’s funds into the tourist entertainment business.”

“The economic partnership on the Volga-Don is already been promised orally, isn’t it? It could be misleading.”

“Tell that the Kazakh royal family is only interested in the infrastructure industry for the development of the two countries, so we’ll actively consider it if it was for if it’s the Volga-Baltic Waterway.”

“Your Highness, the waterway is too big of a project if it’s only us that participate in it.”

“I’ll ask to open the way for European companies to participate.”

“Ah…!”

This kind of project would quickly come to a conclusion only when the private sector participated, and it was a project that would make Europe’s best-in-class companies drooling.

It was still premature for European Union countries to break through the barriers of economic sanctions at the government level.

The participation of European private companies would depend on what safeguards Russia had in place to guarantee the interests of private companies.

Putin did not ask Youngho openly, but what he meant was to attract Western private companies.

“Since our side has been going to Russia for this project only, let the Russians also come to us.”

“Russia is the host country, wouldn’t it be easy to for us to go there?”

“It’s less than two hours away by plane. It’s also faster for them to get here than going to Vladivostok. It won’t be so difficult for them. Tell them that the royal family has invited them, then some Russian businessmen will also accompany them.”

“It’s a government-led business. Do you want to involve private businessmen?”

“Who wouldn’t be able to participate in the project when Mr. Yaniv of Volgograd is part of it already?”

Youngho wanted to meet Putin’s close associates so that he could understand Putin’s plan more thoroughly. He was curious if Putin really sought to become an emperor or was he only doing it out of his personal greed.

***

“Mr. Eriksson, what would be the right offer to attract European companies to the Volga-Baltic Waterway project?”

“Of course, Putin should promise safety and transparent management first and foremost for them. There won’t be any company that will come forward if the management was left to Russia only.”

“That’s already been promised to us.”

“It’s a canal that’s different in size from the Volga-Don Canal. We have to leave management to investment consortium companies to advance.”

“It would be easy to talk to Putin because he knows about the economy and management well.”

Putin would probably offer a benefit in return for the investing companies as well since many Western companies had been encouraged to invest in Russia as they received incentives of resource development and other business in Russia.

“I wonder if Basten of the Information Agency would be interested in this.”

“It would be difficult for him to invest in Russia since the company is Sweden-based. Even now, Russia is threatening Scandinavia, so he won’t be able to openly invest in the project, but I’m sure he has other connections who’d be interested in it.”

“Would you like to talk to him?”

“He’d love to hear it. But Your Highness, are you able to invest in two canal projects?”

“Eriksson, I’ve told you a few times there’s a widow’s cruse in the royal family. You really don’t believe it, do you?”

Eriksson seemed to be worried about Youngho’s financial strength just like Sergey in Volgograd. However, Youngho could not say that he had robbed President Nazarbayev’s slush funds.

“I have enough funds, so don’t worry. And even if I don’t have anything, I shouldn’t be backing off on a great opportunity. The Korean proverb says that there is always a way out.”

“That’s an interesting saying. Well, why don’t you come with me to Sweden since you don’t have much domestic work these days?”

“I’ll go with you after hearing Russia’s confirmation. Putin has expressed his will to use me, so I’ll play along with his plan.”

“That sounds great. With Russia’s affirmation, you’ll get rid of uncertainty. Then Russia won’t touch Kazakhstan for a while.”

“Well, I hope so.”

“When the construction of the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway begins, Russia will have to actually come back to the international community. It must have learned the painful fact that you can’t do anything when being a maverick.”

“Putin still has ambition, so he’s still a person to be careful about.”

“The more regular companies enter Russia, the more Russians will wake up. Even the greatest dictator can’t ignore the people’s aspirations.”

***

Russian officials came to the Arirang royal territory less than a week after Youngho mentioned about the Volga-Baltic Waterway.

In other words, they seized the opportunity.

They also brought all the materials about the waterway and briefed Youngho before leaving. It seemed that Russia had thoroughly prepared for the expansion of the waterway. The 1,100-kilometer Volga-Baltic Waterway was eleven times the size of the Volga-Don Canal, with its huge size, it would be a huge project.

Russia had been preparing this for five years and spent a lot of money on the basic design but could not proceed with the plan due to its economic difficulties.

This was proof that Russia was thirsty for Western capital.

As the waterway management performance continued to remain in the surplus, Youngho was convinced that the surplus would expand further if the waterway was expanded and the capacity was increased. It would have a great synergy effect if advanced management techniques were introduced to the waterway.

So Youngho made a proposal to form a waterway operation company into a consortium and waited for Putin’s answer.

-Your Highness, I’m sorry to have made you wait this long. Mr. President’s letter will arrive soon.

“What do you mean a personal letter?”

It was a call from a businessman who was Putin’s close associate who visited the Arirang state with the Russian officials recently.

-Mr. President has authorized the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, which you suggested.

“He’s made a difficult decision.”

-So he mentioned the affirmation of transparent management directly in the letter.

“You mean it’s a personal letter that can be shared.”

-That’s right. It’s Russia’s commitment to the waterway project because it specifies not only institutional safeguards for Western companies investing in but also the benefits in return. So, it can be recognized as an official document.

“Please say thank you for his decision.”

-It’s still unclear whether foreign companies will participate, but we appreciate that Your Highness has opened the door for Russia. Regardless of the result, President Putin says he owes you a great deal.

“No problem. Kazakhstan will also greatly benefit from the waterway development. The Volga-Baltic Waterway is a business that will appeal to everyone. It will happen no matter who comes forward.”

-I look forward to the good news.

“I’ll contact you after meeting my friends in Europe,”

Willingness to even use a hand-written personal letter was evidence that Putin was greatly eager for this project.

It was because Youngho’s participation opened a possibility of the waterway project which could not be processed under Russia’s economic power.

No matter what effect his letter might have on Western businessmen, it was important that he left Youngho in charge of the project for now.

Youngho came to see Eriksson after he finished the call.

“Eriksson, I wonder if Western companies would ever trust Putin even if he sent them a personal letter.”

“The Western companies would want to hear that Your Highness will be responsible for this project.”

“Trying wouldn’t do any harm. Just tell them that the royal family will be responsible.”

“If this goes wrong, our royal family should be held accountable. Wouldn’t it be risky?”

“Even if the Kazakh royal family is in charge of it, the business is still in Russia. I’d rather dissuade companies from jumping in without a full awareness of that.”

“Your Highness, you seem to believe that the waterway project will last forever.”

“There’s no permanent thing in business. Sometimes, you’ll have success. And sometimes. it’s rather important to know what you earned from the business.”

“So, are you saying it’s like an adventure?”

“The waterway project has to be handed over to the Russian government after a certain period of time, anyway. I don’t know how long that period will be, but as long as the multinationals do business in Russia, Putin wouldn’t make less trouble.”

“I feel like I’m doing business with a troubled teenager, so I’m nervous.”

“If Putin heard it, he’d be sorry.”

“If that’s your intention, I feel much less burdened. I hope we could get something else out of this business regardless of its success.”