Reborn Russia As An Oligarch

Wang Ye frowned when he saw these two numbers, especially the latter number.

It’s not that he feels like it’s too much, it’s that he feels like it’s too little!

2.5 trillion rubles. According to the current exchange rate, the exchange rate of US dollars to rubles is 31:1, which is almost 80 billion US dollars...

For such a big country, the annual fiscal expenditure is only 80 billion U.S. dollars, which is quite "poor" to be honest!

Especially when compared with other big countries, the United States' annual fiscal revenue in 2003 was US$1.78 trillion, and its fiscal expenditures reached an astonishing US$2.16 trillion!

Another "loss" of nearly $400 billion...

The shortfall alone is worth five cents, how can this compare?

Well, the United States is the number one power in the world, and it is the only country in the world that cannot be compared with it.

Let’s look at countries that are of similar “level”.

In a large Asian country, the fiscal expenditure in 2003 was 2.5 trillion yuan, about 800 billion U.S. dollars, which is ten times that of Da Mao!

If you don’t compare, you don’t know. If you compare, you will be shocked.

The amount of fiscal expenditures of other big countries is much more generous than that of Da Mao.

The significance of this financial expenditure is very important!

To put it mildly, this expenditure budget determines the income of all state agency staff in the next year, which is a major matter related to people's livelihood.

Speaking more broadly, the country's military investment, scientific research investment, people's livelihood, public security, education, medical care, etc., all depend on this amount.

The reason is very simple. Take medical care as an example. If you are not willing to invest money in it, and the salary of doctors and nurses cannot support themselves, then who is willing to continue working.

Even if you have no choice but to continue to stick to your post, you can imagine your work attitude.

If everyone is gone, will the medical system still function normally?

The same is true for other industries, such as education, security, scientific research...

If you are not willing to throw money at it, it will never get better!

Therefore, Wang Ye believes that this number must be increased, otherwise, the dilemma of various industries will still be impossible to change!

However, if you want to revise fiscal expenditures, you must convince everyone that next year's fiscal revenue will also increase significantly.

After all, there are not many countries that dare to make ends meet every year like the United States. The more they earn, the more they spend!

Because it is the only one that exists, even if there are any problems, people all over the world will "pay" for it, so it doesn't care about debts.

But Da Mao doesn't have the qualifications, and he doesn't dare to try...

Then we must ensure that annual fiscal expenditures are under control of fiscal revenue, and no excessive expenditures or liabilities are incurred.

…………

What was the fiscal revenue of Da Mao in 2004?

Wang Ye tried hard to remember for a long time, but couldn't remember...

After all, he was not an economic expert in his previous life, he was just an ordinary person. Even if he stayed with Damao for several years, he would not care about the country's annual fiscal revenue.

But Wang Ye probably knew that before 2014, that is, before Crimea was "taken back", Da Mao's economy had been developing at a high speed.

This is also due to the sharp rise in international crude oil prices!

Assume that in 2004, Damao's GDP growth rate was 8%, which is already a relatively conservative figure.

Then fiscal revenue should reach 2.8 trillion rubles. As for expenditure...

Wang Ye wants to change it to three trillion rubles, which is equivalent to one hundred billion US dollars.

As the Russian economy slowly improves, the ruble's exchange rate is also slowly rising, at least stabilizing to around 30:1.

You must know that when Wang Ye first came to Moscow, the ruble against the U.S. dollar was only 24:1.

But how to convince people in the government to agree with this idea...

Wang Ye asked Rosiana: "Call the Finance Minister, invite him to come to my office, and say that there are some issues I want to discuss with him about the financial report. By the way, what is the name of our Finance Minister?"

He usually has little contact with people from the government, so he doesn’t even know the name of the Finance Minister...

Rosiana naturally knew and immediately replied: "Kudrin, he also serves as Vice President L!"

This shows the status of the Finance Minister...

But it's useless. In terms of level, Kudlin is still half a level lower than Wang Ye.

Normally, Kudrin and Wang Ye may not interfere with each other, and they don't need to pay too much attention to Wang Ye, the deputy speaker, but when it comes to approving the financial budget, Wang Ye can easily get hold of him!

Rosiana nodded, picked up the landline on the desk, and made a call directly.

After a few simple words of communication, he hung up the phone, turned to look at Wang Ye and said, "I asked him to come over at two o'clock in the afternoon."

Wang Ye nodded, said nothing, and continued to study the two documents.

………………

After lunch, I took a short break, drank a cup of coffee, and then continued working.

Lao Maozi doesn't have the habit of taking a nap here, and besides, it's December, and people aren't as sleepy as they are in the summer.

At two o'clock sharp, Kudlin walked into Wang Ye's office under the leadership of his assistant Elena.

Kudrin is just in his early forties this year and serves as the deputy general manager and finance minister of the government. He is considered to have great power and high spirits!

He is thin, has short black and gray hair, a fair face, and wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looks gentle and elegant, like a university professor.

Judging from his appearance, he probably has Jewish ancestry...

"Boss, Mr. Kudlin is here." Elena reported softly.

Wang Ye raised his head and looked over. Kudlin quickly took two steps and came to Wang Ye's desk. He bowed slightly and greeted: "Hello, Speaker Mikhail."

Whether you really respect Wang Ye or just show it, at least the etiquette is in place.

Kudrin is not stupid either. He is the person in charge of the government's budget preparation, which is also the highlight of his work every year.

The young guy in front of me, not only has the power of life and death over this financial budget, but he also has great influence!

If you were really stuck at Mikhail's level, it would be enough for you.

Of course, under normal circumstances, even if the Duma is dissatisfied with the budget, it will not go too far.

After all, the government will continue to operate next year. Once the budget is stuck and cannot be passed, it will be equivalent to a government shutdown, and the consequences will be very serious.

Under normal circumstances, no one wants to take on this responsibility, even powerful figures like the Duma Speaker and Deputy Speaker...

But Kudrin did not dare to take it lightly. This was his first time dealing with Mikhail, and he had already heard that the young deputy speaker did not like to play by the rules.

The Department of Energy suffered a big loss at his hands back then!

From minister to deputy minister, they were almost "cleaned"!

With the lessons learned from the past, he would rather keep a lower profile than have any conflict with the young deputy speaker...

…………

He reached out to avoid hitting the smiling man. Kudlin's status and real power were not much lower than his own, and he still respected him so much. Wang Ye also treated him politely and stood up with a smile.

He stretched out his right hand and said: "Finance Minister Kudrin, welcome. Please sit down. There are some things I don't understand about this fiscal budget, and I want to ask you for advice. After all, there will be an Economic Committee meeting soon. When going up for discussion, it is better to clarify the areas of doubt in advance to avoid having to make modifications later, which would be troublesome."

Kudlin quickly held Wang Ye's hand and said with a smile: "Speaker Mikhail is right. If you have any questions, just ask. My work in the recent period is this financial budget report, so you can feel free to Call for help!"

The two sat down separately, and Wang Ye opened the "2004 Government Expenditure Budget Report."

Pointing to the row of numbers, he asked in a brisk tone: "Are the fiscal expenditures for next year a bit conservative?"

At first, Kudrin didn't react.

Because according to his past experience, every year in the Duma, the people who argue and argue basically think that the expenditure budget set is too high!

Or they are dissatisfied with the specific division of the expenditure budget. Some departments are given too much, and some departments are given less.

But no one has ever said that the expenditure budget they set is less...

So he said smoothly: "This number has been verified by the expert group of the Ministry of Finance after repeated discussions. If you want to ensure the smooth operation of various institutions next year, you must have this budget. It is not high anymore..."

Wang Ye interrupted him, smiled and said, "I mean, too little!"

Kudlin was stunned on the spot, staring at Wang Ye dumbfounded, not knowing what to say for a moment.

He looked at Wang Ye with doubtful eyes, as if he was wondering if he heard wrongly.

Wang Ye smiled and nodded, meaning that he heard correctly.

Kudrin also reacted quickly. He pursed his lips, quickly organized his words, and then said in a sincere tone: "Thank you Speaker Mikhail for understanding the difficulties of our government departments. I... am very touched. !”

This is not a lie. Wang Ye is willing to allocate more funds to him. How could he not be grateful?

After a pause, Kudlin continued:

"really!

This expenditure budget is very tight. When we first drafted this budget, we racked our brains and deducted a little from this department and a little from that department.

Those who should be buttoned must be buttoned, and even those who shouldn't be buttoned were gritted and buttoned.

To be honest, even if the Duma successfully approves this budget, I will still have to face questioning from various agencies and departments after I return.

If you can increase your budget, that would be great!

In this way, we will have more room to operate, and the financial constraints of many departments can also be alleviated.

But...

The fiscal revenue for next year will only be so much. If we increase the expenditure budget, we will be in debt again.

No debt, no expansion of debt, this has been negotiated long ago..."

As he spoke, he stopped, wanting to see Wang Ye's reaction.

If your expenses exceed your income, that means you are in debt!

This is a big problem, and he doesn't dare to take responsibility, so this problem must be explained first.

Otherwise, even if Speaker Mikhail continues to support his work, it will be in vain and he will do countless things.

Wang Ye waved his hand casually, "It doesn't matter. Don't think about the income and debt issues for now. I'll take care of it. You just need to tell me what the overall budget should be for each department next year if they don't want to worry about funds. ?”

Kudrin immediately beamed with joy after hearing this, because Speaker Mikhail was willing to take on the biggest problem, which was who was responsible.

Then what else does he have to say!

He quickly said: "This question is very simple. In fact, if it reaches three trillion rubles, it will be very generous!"

This number is exactly what Wang Ye thought.

Because Kudlin is also a professional, even if he got the opportunity to increase the budget, he would not dare to "open his mouth".

The amount stated must be reliable and feasible, otherwise, it will not only appear that he is too amateurish, but will also make Speaker Mikhail unhappy, and maybe the matter will go south...

Three trillion rubles!

If fiscal revenue can successfully reach 2.8 trillion next year, the debt will be 200 billion rubles, which is still within the tolerable range.

If the economy breaks out next year, then maybe we won’t have to go into debt!

Although for a big country like Damao, the fiscal revenue set every year will basically not differ much, provided that there are no special circumstances.

But after all, Da Mao's fiscal revenue mainly relies on energy exports, which are relatively volatile and have many uncontrollable factors.

There is indeed the possibility of an upset...

Wang Ye nodded. The expenditure budget of 3 trillion rubles was 500 billion more than the original 2.5 trillion.

So, the next key question is how to spend the extra money!

Looking down at the budget expenditure, Wang Ye seemed to say casually:

"I met with Korokoli from the Internal Affairs Department and Shao Yigu from the Security Bureau two days ago. Both of them complained to me, saying that the department's budget was too tight and they were unable to pay wages.

But these two departments are related to social security and national security issues, so we have to pay attention to them.

In next year's fiscal budget, my suggestion is to allocate more funds to these two departments. "

Kudlin immediately understood and said: "Speaker, you are right! These two departments are indeed hard-working, with many staff and heavy tasks. The increased budget of 500 billion, otherwise... give them an additional 100 billion each ruble?"

This is the bargain.

Wang Ye supports him in increasing the financial budget by 500 billion, but part of it must be given to the internal affairs department and the security bureau.

The specific amount is negotiable.

Definitely not the full 500 billion, and Kudlin wouldn't be happy either, because that would be tantamount to using his hand and name to help Wang Ye's "good brother" benefit!

But you can't give too little, and Wang Ye won't agree to it...

He tentatively mentioned the amount of 200 billion, which was not a lot, but definitely a lot!

Wang Ye frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "It's not enough! Each of the two departments should be given an extra 150 billion. The domestic security situation is relatively tense now."

Kudlin can't refute this. In the past two or three years, some things have indeed happened in the country. Everyone from top to bottom is concerned about security issues. Wang Ye has found a good reason for this...