Empire of the Ring

The Kazakh Royal Polar Development Company, which operated in Troms, Norway, only had a grand name but was in fact only serving to supply cargo ships to and from Siberia.

The reason why he set up the company in advance despite that there were no shipping companies to use the Arctic Ocean route was to present to other shipping companies that the Arctic Route was well-prepared.

Surprisingly, Youngho just found out from Michael that there was also a permanent secretariat of the Arctic Council in the region.

The Arctic Council held a ministerial-level meeting every two years, and the director-level meetings were held twice a year, and because the eight members of the board took turns to chair the meeting, Troms was acting as a liaison office.

This year’s chair country was Norway, so a ministerial meeting was to be held in Troms.

-There’s no place in the world where your hand has not touched.

“I thought I had to have a stopover in Siberia, so I decided to use Troms. It’s just a coincidence. Well, I guess I’m just a lucky person.”

-I admit that you’re a lucky guy, but please remember that all things don’t just go your way. Be especially careful of Putin. He is a very greedy person.

“It’s easier to deal with greedy people. You just need to satisfy their greed.”

-What if he’s greedy about Kazakhstan?

“Russia can’t possibly covet Kazakhstan. I warned him already. I said we can easily control China even if there’s a local war. Putin seemed very surprised.”

-Did you mean nuclear weapons?

“You’re well aware that Kazakhstan has no nuclear weapons. I just said that there was a secret weapon.”

-Putin probably thinks that you have nuclear weapons.

“It would be fortunate for us if he interpreted it that way. I’ve made it clear that Kazakhstan is not to be meddled with, no matter what.”

In international relations, it was sometimes necessary to be ostentatious as a way not to get underestimated.

-The Syrian operation must have made him feel uncomfortable. What did he say?

“We’ve done enough. What’s to argue about? I explained it to him, and he understood.”

-No politician in the world can get close to Putin, but you’re doing amazing.

“It’d be weird if he doesn’t like me when I scratch his itchy spot whenever he needs it.”

-Thank you on behalf of the member countries of the Arctic Council.

“Don’t just thank me, but give me a nice reward. Something like a military alliance with the U.S…”

-If you don’t want to break the secret relationship with Russia, it’s best to stay as it is with the United States. Even if we didn’t have a military alliance, we wouldn’t just watch Kazakhstan go wrong.

Would Michael make such remarks only because of his personal friendship with Youngho?

He was referring to the U.S. government’s policy toward Kazakhstan.

Considering Kazakhstan’s geopolitical position and inexhaustible underground resources, the U.S. would never want to lose Kazakhstan.

***

The interests of countries in the Trans-Siberian Railway business were enormous.

Thanks to that, the airport staff of the royal territory was so busy these days because of the exclusive planes of global companies taking off and landing every hour.

Usually, foreigners visiting Western Kazakhstan arrived at the Atyrau International Airport located in the Caspian Sea coast and transferred to a domestic line to come to the royal territory, but private jets usually came directly to the royal territory without such a cumbersome procedure.

Although the airport was dedicated to domestic flights with no national flag, it had been playing the role of an international airport in recent years.

This meant that the status of the Kazakh royal family had increased.

“Your Highness, we need to build more runways, or the Air Force won’t be able to fly for training.”

“Then we’ll have to move the combat flying squad to another location. We didn’t expect so many foreign aircraft to visit.”

“Why don’t we build a new international airport? The existing airport is optimized to be an air base, and the cost of relocation is prohibitive.”

These days, Kim Chun had become bolder in spending money. He was also proposing to build an international facility now. He used to be a man who used to count the pennies.

The airport started off as a temporary airport and was switched to military use at some point. There were fighter hangars and anti-aircraft weapons all over the airport, so it was no ordinary matter to relocate. Also, Saab’s fighter jet assembly plant and combat helicopter assembly plant were near the airport, so it was hard to use it as a civilian airport.

Although the population had suddenly grown due to the Kurdish migration, it would take a few more years for them to have the economic power to travel abroad. But an international airport was necessary for the future’s sake.

Fighter jets only occasionally flew in training, so there was no problem using the airport now, but civilian planes flying in and out caused unbearable noise as hundreds of planes landed and took off a day.

“Well, I guess it’s true that we need an international airport for this population. Please find a suitable site.”

“There’s a perfect place, and I’ll take pictures of it later with a drone and show you.”

“Please decide the site for the international airport with Construction Director Min. Just let me know the size of the construction cost later.”

“We will plan and report on the most economical scale to the best location.”

“Don’t plan too badly because you have the honor of the royal family, and ask a world-class architect to design it.”

“Your Highness, would it be okay if it costs a lot?”

“It’s going to be an international city in the future, so let’s make it bigger and more stylish. We have that much money left.”

“Your Highness, may I refer it to the company that designed Batumi’s Arirang Hotel?”

“Oh! That’ll do. The company will do a great job. Please contact it, Commissioner Kim.”

“As for construction, I’d like to do it with our technical skills. At the level of the Royal Construction Company, any tricky design could be fully constructed.”

“Of course it should. It has enough skills and experience. We’re also going to put it into the Trans-Siberian Railway project.”

The investment made by a joint venture with Yaniv was worth two billion dollars. If the Royal Construction Company could be in charge of it, the construction alone would make it reborn as a world-class construction company.

***

“Your Highness, this data is our company’s track record. As you can see, it’s not too much to say that the railroad business is unrivaled.”

“Mr. Martin. The world knows your construction capability and know-how in railway operation. The question is whether we can immediately transfer technology to Russia.”

Using the Trans-Siberian train allowed traveling between Asia and Europe in just 10 days, but the Trans-Siberian train was being shunned by shippers.

The arrival of cargo a little later than the set time was already expected, but how anxious would it be if they could not even locate their containers carrying the goods? So much so that the Siberian railway operation system was backward and the service was terrible.

“Your Highness, wasn’t the consortium running the railroad?”

“The consortium company will operate it for the time being, but I don’t intend to run the Trans-Siberian Railway for 20 years. I will settle construction costs with the Russian government at the right time and hand over management control. That’s the best choice for each other. If a foreign company has the right to operate the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is Russia’s pride, at some point the Russian government or its people will be displeased.

So I was thinking of settling the account at the right time and handing over management control. That’s why I think about technology transfer from the beginning. We need Russian employees to adapt to the new technology as soon as possible to improve its business conditions.”

“Then how long do you consider the payback period?”

“According to a Swedish consulting company, seven to eight years is enough. After that, profits are going to be generated. It’s a golden egg business, but I don’t want to be greedy. At that point, we have to hand over management rights for a reasonable amount of money and take benefits in return.”

“It sounds more trustworthy as you say so. We also went over that in depth. We expect the Russian government intervention to intensify from the break-even point.”

It was impossible to tell what variables there would be in ten years.

It was necessary to provide details of the risk-taking for investors who were only thinking about the favorable future.

Profit was important, but it was also important to pull out at the right time.

Global companies were also well aware of the concerns of Youngho because they checked the number of possible cases when investing abroad.

“I will make it clear that our royal family cannot be held responsible for the sudden change in Russia causing the recovery of the investment to be uncertain.”

“Of course. We are aware of that. I mean, what kind of risk-free business is there in the world?”

“If the damage is caused by the mistake of the Kazakh royal family, we will give you a chance to make up for it in Kazakhstan.”

Despite Youngho’s caution, Martin, the CEO of Spain’s ACS, was also greedy for other businesses, saying that his company would need to take high risks to generate high profits. He was anxious to make aggressive investments as he had taken over HOCHTIEF, a once world’s best German construction company.

“Your Highness, Our ACS is the world’s No. 1 construction company for five years in a row. According to our information, the Baltic-White Canal and the formation of a large logistics complex were also processed under the Kazakh royal family. So, if the investment company has not been decided yet, we would like to participate alone.”

“The Baltic-White Canal has yet to be inspected, so we don’t know how much it will cost. And unlike the railroad corporation, the Kazakh royal family is not the main operator. You have to know that’s a big risk.”

“We believe that Russia can recover from the worst-case investment, although it has many variables.”

He must be making these suggestions because he had tapped the calculator in his own way. There was no reason to dissuade him from pushing himself to invest, even though he had fully been informed about risks.

“Very well. Then please present your estimate of the construction cost for the Baltic-White Sea Canal and the logistics base. I will notify the Russian government that your technicians will visit the site for a due diligence.”