Chapter 180: Gorbachev's Invitation

I don't know when it started, the crop production in the Soviet Union began to embark on a road of declining year after year. The collective farm system that once played a huge role during the Great Patriotic War has also gradually declined. This also prompted more and more farm members to abandon their land and flock to big cities with their families to make a living. The final result is that the population of the big cities is increasing, but the food provided in the stores is getting less and less. Everything seems to be an inextricable loop. As the secretary of the Central Committee in charge of agriculture, Gorbachev is trying to reverse all this bad.

Not long ago, Gorbachev just visited Canada, one of the world's major grain exporting countries, to understand and examine Canada's advanced agricultural production and management experience. There is a reason why Canada was chosen instead of other places, because Canada and the Soviet Union have many similarities in dimensions, climate, etc., which are more informative. But just before Gorbachev's visit, US President Reagan accused the Soviet Union of being an evil country, which cast a big shadow over this visit.

Originally, when Gorbachev went to Canada, he had to negotiate a food import agreement with the Canadian government, but the attitude of the United States made Canada hesitate. In the end, Yakovlev relied on his personal relationship with the Canadian Prime Minister to win the agreement for the Soviet Union. The import contract of 2 million tons of wheat per year was signed. Although Gorbachev's move has won him great prestige in the political arena, Gorbachev, who focuses on agriculture, understands that this amount of food is simply a drop in the bucket for such a huge country. Obtaining a steady source of food became Gorbachev's biggest problem before he brought Soviet agricultural production back on track. But now a piece of good news has reached his ears. The Moscow Trading Company under the Moscow Communist Youth League Committee has easily obtained Canadian wheat flour. How did they do it?

The news was told by Yakovlev to Gorbachev. Yakovlev was originally invited by the Moscow Youth League Committee to visit and investigate. Yakovlev accidentally discovered a company just formed by the Youth League Committee called Commodity trading company of the Moscow trading company. Yakovlev asked to visit out of curiosity and interest. What he didn't expect was that this humble trading company could import Canadian wheat on a large scale. Yakovlev, who participated in the whole process of Gorbachev's negotiations in Canada, was shocked at the time. He did not expect that the hard work of the two in Canada was not as good as that of a group under the Moscow Youth League Committee. Enterprise, what the hell is going on here?

So Yakovlev, who was pleasantly surprised, immediately told Gorbachev the news. Gorbachev didn't believe it at first, but he had to believe it when he saw the name of the country of origin on the grain package. up. Later, he sent someone to find out from several food companies that cooperated with this company that the wheat and wheat flour sold by this company were 10% lower than the price Gorbachev negotiated in Canada. Qiao Fu was completely convinced, and he really wanted to know how the Moscow Trading Company did it.

Gorbachev hadn't condescended to visit Seryozha in person. He asked his secretary to send an invitation letter to Seryozha, which was enough to make Seryozha feel honored. And Seryozha did not expect that he could attract Gorbachev's attention so quickly. He didn't know that it was his wheat business that aroused Gorbachev's interest.

The place where Gorbachev met with Sergei Shalisha was located in the White House in Moscow, where the new Supreme Soviet was built in 1981. Gorbachev's office is also located here. Seryozha was ushered in by the staff here, and he walked around the maze-like building for a long time before arriving at the destination of the trip.

When Seryozha walked into Gorbachev's office, Gorbachev was sitting in his seat waiting for him. Before Seryozha could speak, Gorbachev motioned for him to sit on the seat opposite him. Seryozha carefully opened the stool and sat down gently. To be honest, he felt more nervous than ever here.

"I came to you today to ask you how the Moscow Trading Company got its Canadian wheat?" Gorbachev asked blankly. Seryozha felt a little panic in his heart. He thought that Gorbachev had discovered something, but he still forced himself to calm down and said without any pretense: "We purchased it through normal overseas trade!"

"But why are your prices so much lower than those purchased by the government?" Gorbachev asked with a blank expression.

"What do you mean by government procurement?" Seryozha asked puzzled.

Gorbachev just remembered that the contract with Canada had not been disclosed to the public, lest the public misunderstand that food prices would increase or other rumors would cause panic. He opened the drawer, took out a copy of the contract, turned to the price page and placed it directly in front of Sergei Sha!

Seryozha took the document, and it first took a look at Gorbachev's expression, as if he didn't intend to incriminate him. Then I took a look at the price list in my hand, which involved quotations for some agricultural products, mainly oats and wheat, but the transaction prices were really scary high, and the contract was for ten years. It was obvious that someone had been tricked.

"Secretary, this price..." Seryozha didn't know how to proceed, because he knew that as long as he said what he said, he would offend the person who signed the agreement. So he thought for a while, and continued: "This price is still very fair!"

"I would like to know why your Moscow trading company can purchase such low-priced agricultural products?" Gorbachev asked seriously.

"The method we adopt with our partners is barter trade, which is to exchange domestic oil and cotton with the other party for farm products of equivalent value! You also know that there is a huge spread between the purchase price of oil in our country and the international oil price, and the same is true for cotton. So, but the price of food is exactly the opposite, and this will be beneficial to both parties!" Seryozha explained to Gorbachev.

"That's right!" Gorbachev nodded thoughtfully. Then he continued to ask: "Which one is your overseas cooperative company?"

"The Romanov Trading Company headquartered in Switzerland!" Sergey replied simply.