Empire of the Ring

The road from the Caspian Sea to the Baltic Sea was not just a single canal.

Starting from the upper reaches of the Volga River, it met with the Moscow River, and then again the waterway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg was connected to it, and it led to the Baltic Sea.

It was a long stretch from the south Caspian Sea to Saint Petersburg, but due to natural rivers and lakes along the way, there were not many artificially made waterways.

That waterway expansion was just a job connecting the lake and the river to a water channel, but because of Russia’s huge landmass, it was more than 1,100 kilometers long.

When Youngho contacted Basten of the Information Agency, he invited Youngho to meet in Frankfurt, Germany.

In his heart, he wanted to invite investors from all over the world to Kazakhstan, but Eriksson actively stopped him. He worried that it could be misleading to the foreign countries and investors if the royal family had an investment briefing in the royal territory since Youngho was already in charge of the Russian waterway project.

“Russia left it to us because it’s not in a position to do it on its own. Would they think that Kazakhstan is a subordinate state of Russia or something?”

“You have to think about the positions of our allies, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

“We’ve already fully explained the situation to the intelligence and State Departments of both countries, but should we still be cautious?”

“Even if you’ve done some behind-the-scenes work, don’t forget that you’re investing in a country that’s under economic sanctions. The politicians in both countries could be haunted by the media because of this, so it’s better for the sake of the future to do this quiet in a foreign country.”

Youngho knew what Eriksson was worried about, but the Russian waterway expansion project was a must-have project for Kazakhstan to advance into Europe.

There was an overland route through Azerbaijan and Georgia, but there was no better transportation than the waterway to transport huge amounts of grain and land resources. Compared to trucks and trains, the volume of goods carried by ships was incomparably greater. Youngho rather thought that the expansion was for Central Asia and Europe, not for Russia.

“Since you are worried, I won’t be making a fuss, but it might not be so promising to investors if we keep it a low-profile.”

“The Kazakh royal family is at the forefront of the business, so trust is guaranteed. Russia is in a situation where it won’t be strange if it went bankrupt now.”

“Wouldn’t it favor us if Russia went bankrupt?”

“Yes, but it’s convenient for us to have the business go smoothly.”

“The waterway project is bound to work regardless of the economic situation in Russia.”

***

There were no vacancies in the large meeting room at the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt, with big businessmen from each country. They were Basten’s connections who were interested in the waterway project.

There could not be much disagreement because they had reviewed the plan that Youngho sent to them beforehand.

When Eriksson finished his briefing, people raised their hands for questions, but they were about peripheral issues. Their faces all looked bright as they had already made their decision.

Among the participants, a representative of a French company asked an unusual question, so Youngho was answering him with a microphone.

“I’ve heard that the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway was not proposed by the Russian government but by the Kazakh royal family. Is there any chance that the Russian government will veto midway?”

“That won’t ever happen. The project has a huge impact on the domestic economy, Russia can’t refuse it because of its economic situation now.”

“Putin’s letter is the only document that secures that the waterway will be run by a multinationals consortium, not by itself in Russia. Is there any other safety device?”

“Aren’t you all here because you have the desire to stick with the project even if it had little risk? You have to risk some when you invest in a socialist country.”

“Can we get the specifics of the benefits in return that Putin offered?”

“It depends on your own ability. Of course, our royal family will be around, but I’ll tell you that there are limits.”

“Are you confident that this project will succeed?”

“Russia has planned to expand the Volga-Baltic for many years, but it had been delayed due to the current economic situation. The current waterway is already making surplus profits. I strongly believe that there’s no way we’ll fail if we adopt advanced management techniques.”

There was more talk after that, but the whole meeting ended successfully.

The companies that were present today were nine, including the royal family, and every company decided to invest without exception. The total cost was tentatively set at 5.2 billion dollars which were estimated by the Russian side.

The royal family had agreed to contribute a billion dollars, while the eight companies that were present today would contribute 300 million to 600 million dollars each at least.

Now, the only work left before the contracts were signed was to send a due diligence team to Russia to check the appropriateness of the construction cost.

When that was over, the royal family would sign a memorandum of understanding first with the Russian government.

They also agreed to have the consortium’s operating office in Frankfurt.

“I guess Putin must’ve been hasty since he put the Kazakh royal family in the front.”

“He would’ve thought that the royal family is the most easygoing partner.”

“Do you think so?”

As soon as the meeting was over, Basten almost dragged Youngho to a guest room and asked all kinds of questions. Since he was the representative of the Information Agency, he must have had a lot of information he should know about this project.

He was curious about what Putin’s intention was.

“Putin is using Kazakhstan as a hidden card. Just by doing joint projects with the only Central Asian country that the United States and Europe support, Russia can increase its national credibility.”

“Duke, what do you see as Putin’s goal?”

“Russia’s economic revival should be his priority. Through the waterway, he wants to boost domestic demand. Ultimately, he wants to get the European logistics through the waterway. The rest of the traded goods will be covered by a Trans-Siberian train.”

“He must be dreaming of the Great Eurasia as we expected.”

“As you must’ve heard from Eriksson, Putin’s dream is just a dream. Couldn’t a leader of a giant country have such a dream? When a multinational consortium takes over waterway management, he’ll come to his senses.”

Russia could not afford the project due to its bad economic situation now, but this was a project that Russia would get its hands on even if no one came forward to invest now. If that happened, people would have to pay a high toll to use the waterway.

It would be unfair, but companies would pay such high tolls since they could transport a lot of goods at once through the waterway. For a company, this was such a tempting and a much faster route than to bypass the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas.

Since it was obvious that that would happen in the future, it was better for Youngho and other companies to take the lead in co-management by paying for the waterway project now. Youngho wondered how much management shares of the waterway Russia would give if he paid 5.2 billion dollars.

From now on, a tug-of-war between the Russian government, and the participating companies would be waiting for them.

***

Since Youngho was in Frankfurt, he did not want to leave without seeing his sister’s family and Zeynep. He called them to the Arirang Hotel to avoid the hassle of security.

Cho Sang-chun nagged that he was too busy due to Zeynep Wine’s growing popularity in the European market. The premium wine produced by the royal family in Baku was established as a favorite in the upper European society.

It tasted delicious, but the rare value of the royal wine was also a selling point.

Despite everyone’s excitement, Zeynep and Park Seo-young were eating quietly on one side of the table.

They had grown up as big ladies now that it was hard to talk to them easily. They were eating only a small portion of food for diet.

“Don’t play with your food and eat properly. Otherwise, you’ll go back to your room and eat ramen at midnight.”

“What do you mean? We are full already, and we’ve been eating well.”

“Look at your waist! If you’ve eaten well, you must look healthier than that. Do you only live on water?”

“Wahaha, do we look that thin?”

“You’re like a stick. Are you seeing some guy lately?”

“Oh, I hope I have a guy. Because of the security guards, no man wants to be around me.”

“That means they’re doing a great job! I should reward them.”

“That’s not funny. I’m not going to come and see you at all during the summer break if you keep being protective like that.”

“Oh, you don’t scare me, Zeynep. You’ll be crawling back for allowance, anyway. Hey, it’s your break soon. Aren’t you coming to the palace?”

“Well, I’m planning a trip to Spain with Seo-young…”

“Stop by home before you go. Your sister and the kids miss you so much.”

“I saw them a month ago, and… I’ve already bought a ticket.”

“What are you talking about? The head of the security team applied to use a small jet for your trip already. Don’t try to get out of this. Also, you need the security team for your trip. Spain is not a safe place.”

At Youngho’s words, Zeynep ruffled her hair with her hand and began to scoop up the food from her plate. It seemed that she wanted to show off her body at a beach in Spain, but all of her plans would fall through if the bodyguards would be surrounding her.

“Spain is cold in winter, so you’ll have to stop thinking about wearing a bikini on the beach.”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m going to give up on my diet from now on.”

“Hahaha…”

Youngho’s teasing of Zeynep seemed like that of a father and daughter.

He felt relaxed as he got together with his family. It seemed that he had been missing this little happiness for a while.

While he was teasing Zeynep, he was drinking with Cho Sang-chun for a long time. Park Seo-young and Zeynep also asked for glasses as they were adults now. Youngho had so much fun with them that he lost track of time as he drank.

He got fully drunk that night, forgetting the complicated and busy reality.

The next day, he woke up and began to recall what had happened the night before. He was surprised because he knew that he had promised something to Zeynep and Seo-young while drinking, but he could not remember what it was.

Since Zeynep was an elaborate person, she would have recorded it on her smartphone.

She must have had set it up for Youngho in order to get her way. It was obvious that he had fallen for their cute trick.