Chapter 16 Natural Gas Negotiations

The three major international rating agencies have all given AAA credit ratings, which means that the financial derivatives created by Sergey Sha will have a larger market from now on. Some stable investment institutions, such as pension management Funds, enterprise annuity management funds and other investment institutions for the purpose of value preservation and appreciation are very likely to include Seryosha's subprime mortgage products in their investment portfolios.

Just after the rating agencies gave positive results, the first batch of sub-loan products packaged by Sanjin Club, which first entered the Japanese market, was also sold publicly in the international market. The Rothschild Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Bank in London together ate this financial derivatives worth about two billion US dollars.

After all, it is the first time to face the market, so the quality of Mikhail's subprime loan products is still good. Most of them are high-quality loans with guaranteed income, and only a small proportion of junk bonds are used as a foil. The world is optimistic about the Japanese economy and the Japanese real estate market. The rate of return brought by the rise in housing prices and land prices greatly exceeds inflation, bank interest, and even exceeds the interest level of some usury loans. For ordinary Japanese nowadays, investing in land, real estate and the stock market is much more affordable than working hard! Looking at Japanese newspapers, there are many housewives borrowing usury to invest in the stock market to become rich, and farmers selling land to live in luxury houses and driving luxury cars everywhere. Fueled by the media, the entire Japanese society has fallen into an impetuous atmosphere. Japan's land area is not large, and most of it is mountainous, but it has a population of 100 million. Everyone will feel that as the population increases, the economy grows. Land and real estate will go up forever.

Seriosha has now realized a problem, that is, the Sanjinhui, which he secretly controls, cannot eat Japan's huge subprime mortgage market at all. So he authorized his patent to the three British banks that supported him most at a patent fee of 5%, and jointly expanded the subprime loan market.

Because Serezha made a public speech at the Banking Association, he still has some influence on the British side. After the three relatively large and established banks in the UK joined Sergey's plan, some other banks began to contact Sergey to discuss cooperation. It can be said that the patent fee alone has made Sergey Made a lot of money.

Although subprime mortgage products have a great market in the UK, there is still a process of understanding outside the UK. Seryozha is not in a hurry about this. Anyway, he has already extended his tentacles into the Japanese financial market. The British are becoming the largest buyers of the products launched by the Sanjinhui. They will help Seryozha to transfer those subprime loans The products are gradually pushed to the US market.

Since Yakovlev was now in London, Seryozha could not always be busy with his own business. The work that should be done must continue. After Seryozha successfully won the coal trade negotiations, the natural gas negotiations have been difficult to break through. Because the Soviet-European natural gas pipeline project built before that led to France was severely obstructed by the Americans, it took two years longer for this project, which should have been completed a few years ago. In order to eliminate the interference of the United States, Sergesha urgently hopes that Britain can transfer part of the natural gas pipeline production technology to the Soviet Union. Because before this, although the pipeline manufacturer of this line project was Japan,

British and French companies, but the production factories are located in the United States. A series of interference actions by the United States not only affected the Soviet Union, but also seriously affected the interests of the United Kingdom and France as consumer countries.

This suggestion of Seryozha made Britain and France a little bit excited, but they were full of doubts. Sergesha didn't have any bargaining chips in his hands. He asked the comrades of the Soviet Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry to come up with the budget for the last phase of the project, including the Japanese pipeline quotation, supporting equipment costs, and installation costs. Count each item for the British. Use the data to tell them that if these equipment can be localized in the Soviet Union, the budget of the entire project will be reduced by about 30%.

In addition, Seryozha also found some public geological exploration data from the Soviet Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry. He clearly told the British that the natural gas development potential of the Soviet Union that was discovered by the Siberia Gas Pipeline currently built by the Soviet Union is not even one ten thousandth. It is understood that there are more abundant gas reservoirs waiting to be developed in Central Asia. If there is enough capital and technology, the Soviet Union will supply more than enough natural gas for the future consumption of the whole of Europe.

Seryozha now knows very well that the British care more about this natural gas pipeline than the Soviets. Now the British economy ranks at the bottom among the old industrial countries. The British economy needs cheap energy to support it. The Soviet Union is now the only choice for the British. In fact, it is not only the United Kingdom, but also countries such as France, Italy and Spain. Even West Germany, which is currently in the best economic situation, is trying its best to please the Soviet Union for the sake of natural gas. The United States asked these countries to boycott the Soviet Union, but it did not care about the various difficulties these countries faced economically, so this joint sanctions was full of loopholes.

Seryozha is currently somewhat capable in the UK. Not only does Ian McGrady, the director of the British National Coal Board, owe him a big favor, but he also knows the head of Barclays Bank, the main bank of the British Steel Company. Sergey has privately communicated with Ian McGrady and Mr. Atkins of Barclays Bank. If British Steel can persuade Congress to agree to transfer the production technology of natural gas pipelines to the Soviet Union, then Sergey will The share of the pipeline that was originally handed over to the Japanese was handed over to the British for production. After all, Ian McGrady was in charge of British Steel for two years before he became the director of the British National Coal Board. He had feelings for this company. The only regret of leaving British Steel is that he failed to make the company truly profitable, so Seryozha's terms are very attractive to him.

Fortunately for Seryozha, the current economic situation in the UK, the unemployment of workers, and the social turmoil caused by the strike all put Seryozha in favorable conditions. The Soviet-European gas pipeline project is not only beneficial to the foreign trade of the Soviet Union, but also can provide tens of thousands of jobs for the UK. This is a win-win situation.

Seryozha finally got the result he wanted. The Ural Heavy Machinery Plant received part of the steam turbine technology transferred from Alstom, and the Krivoy Rog-Lenin Iron and Steel Plant in Ukraine received the pipe production technology from British Steel. Negotiations on the natural gas agreement are thus complete. (To be continued..)