Chapter 836 Katerina

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Quickly combing the thoughts in his mind, Simon looked at Victor Meresis on the sofa opposite the reception area, and said, "Vic, um, do you mind if I call you that?"

The middle-aged man said: "Of course not, Mr. Westeros."

Simon continued: "Vic, I have seen your resume, graduated from the University of Lisbon, served in the Portuguese special forces, and has been doing import and export trade between Portugal and Angola for more than ten years, and also owns a coffee plantation in northern Angola. I also know about the Meresis family, who, as first-generation immigrants, used to run a coffee plantation in the area of ​​land I now own in Cuando province in southern Angola Then, in 1975, everyone knows what happened, because of independence and the civil war, more than half a million white people in Angola were forced into exile, you were lucky, you were 19 years old, you were studying at the University of Lisbon, unfortunately, your parents and a The younger brother and sister accidentally encountered an armed conflict during the escape."

Victor Merises listened to Simon's words, his eyes never looked away from Simon's, his expression was full of determination, and a touch of sadness that still lingered after many years.

After Simon said this, he still stared at the middle-aged man on the opposite side: "Vic, I hired you because I found that more than one-fifth of Angola's meager 500 tons of coffee exports in the past year were you in Angola. That coffee plantation in the north. I know you're a very good person and I like good people. But since you brought up what just happened, I first need to know what you want from me, revenge ?"

Victor Merises did not directly answer Simon's question, but said: "My father was my idol when I was very young, he was a cowboy and adventurous, our family used to have a family in Cuando. 18,000 acres of coffee plantations that can produce 5,000 tons of the highest quality Arabica coffee every year, all of which my father spent 20 years building from scratch, my childhood memory is the coffee trees all over the mountains. Then, all this in Disappeared in 1975. Revenge, of course I thought about it, I spent two and a half years to finish college, and then I chose to join the army, just to return to Angola to avenge my family. But when I returned to Angola, it took three years Time to investigate the events of the year, but nothing came out. Mr. Westeros, maybe you can imagine this kind of scene, a group of monkeys gathered in the wild jungle, it seems that there is no difference, who can pick out an enemy from these monkeys. So I chose another path. My father told me when I was very young that if someone took something from you, it must be doubled back. I have been doing this all these years, but unfortunately, still I started from scratch. After more than ten years, I can only achieve the current level, until someone contacted me and said that you need a person to take care of your own plantation. It happened that the coffee planting area also included the plantation of our family. in."

Simon patiently listened to Meresis's story and asked, "So, do you want to take back the plantation that once belonged to your family?"

Victor Meresis shook his head and said: "No, it is destined to be only my memory, even if I go back to the same place, everything will be different. Mr. Westeros, what my father told me is that if someone from What you take away here, double grab back. Therefore, I only need you to provide me with a platform. As for how much I can take back, it depends on my own ability. Of course, in this process, I guarantee that you will not gain more than I get less."

"Very good," Simon nodded slightly, and added: "However, you have to understand one thing, Vic, the first thing I need is a person in charge of a coffee plantation."

"Certainly, Mr. Westeros, and, I assure you, there is no one better than me. Because the head of a coffee plantation you're asking for is much more than just growing coffee, 150,000 acres. The land is much larger than our family’s plantation back then. It is not something that a pure farmer can manage. There are also many things to consider, whether it is dealing with the relationship with the authorities, recruiting labor, and I have experience in the sale of coffee after receipt, and even the security of the plantation.”

"Would you mind telling me about your longer-term plans?"

"Actually, you are already doing it, Mr. Westeros, through the arms deal with the Angolan government, infiltrating all aspects of this country, which is exactly what I want to do these years, but my strength is too weak to be contacted at all. To the top of this country. As long as you are willing to hire me, first of all, I can spend three years to take care of the plantation in Cuando province. Because of the war, the coffee growing areas around Cuando have been completely abandoned , it takes exactly three years to grow coffee from scratch to the first harvest. After three years, if you are satisfied with the results of my work, Mr. Westeros, I hope to get more support from the Westeros system , to be involved in some other industries in Angola.”

"Which are exactly?"

"Mr. Westeros, in addition to coffee, my trading company has been exporting wood for many years. Angola is very rich in forestry resources, and produces many top-quality wood species, which happen to be the European countries that have increasingly stringent environmental protection requirements. Scarce. However, you must also know that my business is not big. Moreover, if I have the opportunity, I certainly hope to get involved in the more core Angolan mining field in the future. In fact, only these are the lifebloods of African countries.”

Simon waited for Mericis to finish, thinking for a moment, and said: "In this case, this job is yours. Moreover, I don't mind that you do two things, continue to maintain your current part of the import and export trade business, if this aspect Three years of waste,

It will be difficult to think about doing it in the future. Of course, if you don't think you can handle it, it's fine to focus on the coffee plantation. "

"That's the best way, Mr. Westeros, I just thought you might not like double use."

"So, do you mind if I take a stake?"

"I only need to keep a 30% stake."

"Smart decision, I can give you 5 million US dollars, accounting for 70%. Of course, this is not to buy your shares, but to inject capital. This money must be spent on the operation and expansion of the company. By the way, about timber exports , I can also introduce you to some business here, and in Ukraine, a company I have over there is just trying to get involved in the field of furniture manufacturing."

Even if you count the plantations in northern Angola, Victor Mericis' net worth is less than 1 million US dollars. Simon gave 5 million US dollars to buy 70% of the shares of the import and export trading company under the name of Mericis, a middle-aged man. It's a huge bargain.

Victor Merises did not promise Simon any more verbally. After listening to him talking about Ukraine, he honestly reminded: "Mr. Westeros, I think Ukraine should have no shortage of forestry resources, which are imported from Africa. Wood, it's not worth it."

Mericis said this, and Simon added another one in his heart. If it was someone else, he probably wouldn't remind them.

With a smile, Simon said, "Ukrainian wood is of course not lacking, but there are no top-quality woods in the primeval forests of Africa, and that's exactly what they need."

Simon went to Ukraine at the beginning of the year and suggested that Sergei Komorov could try furniture OEM, because Ukraine happens to have abundant forestry resources and the cost is relatively low. Komorov implemented Simon's suggestion well, not only shutting down a paper mill that had been seriously polluting and turning it into a furniture processing factory, but also successfully getting an OEM order from IKEA.

Not only that, in order to get involved in the field of furniture manufacturing, Sergei Komorov personally led a team to Western European countries for more than a month of inspections. He was inspired by it. The home furnishing brand of the Aldeck company happened to be mentioned in a call. Simon's naming addiction occurred, and he personally named Katrina company, which was still his preferred strategy for naming women.

This name did not refer to the "Game of Thrones" in memory. Simon first thought of Catherine the Great of Russia, and planned to name the company with reference to 'Victoria's Secret'. However, Yekaterin Na's English translation name is catherine. The name is a bit long, which is not in line with the strategy that companies with simpler names are more likely to succeed. In the end, I chose 'katrina', which is not too short, but easier to spell and remember than 'catherine'.

Because it is an Eastern European company, under the traditional prejudice, it is definitely not easy to open the planned Western European market. If it is positioned in the middle and low end, it is more likely to be limited to the corner of Ukraine. Therefore, Simon suggested that Caterina Furniture should start with high-end customized furniture. Build your reputation and follow up.

Sergey took Simon's advice and hired a furniture designer from the UK.

It is still in the brewing stage, and plans to launch the first batch of products by the end of the year.

For high-end custom furniture, excellent design is one aspect, and genuine materials are also more important. Speaking of which, the pear, batty, chicken wings and other woods that have grown for thousands of years in the virgin forests of Africa are definitely the top raw materials for solid wood furniture, not to mention the huge stock of sandalwood in Africa.

Simon and Victor Mericis talked for an hour and sent each other off, and it was already 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

Getting off work on time has nothing to do with Simon.

Meresis left, and Amy Pascal came to Simon's office to discuss the preparations for Universal Studios Europe on an impromptu basis.

Negotiations between Daenerys Entertainment and the Italian government about establishing Universal Studios near Rome have come to an end, and the group's agency team has begun to buy land around Rome.

At this stage of the matter, it is difficult for the information to be kept completely secret.

Recently, land prices in areas around Rome that may be used for the construction of Universal Studios have been rising, and some speculative capital has also begun to quietly join in to snap up the plots, intending to make a fortune after the news is confirmed. In order to reduce the cost of land acquisition as much as possible, Daenerys team made two sets of plans, located in the west and south of Rome.

Unlike Universal Studios in Los Angeles and other places, Rome is located in the Great Plains area in the middle of the Italian peninsula. Large land resources are not so tight. Both the west and south of the city are suitable for building Universal Studios. Although a major hemorrhage is unavoidable, when choosing between the two, some people can only make concessions if they want to cash out their land at a high level.

Of course, on the surface, it is second-line and first-line, and there will definitely be a tendency.

Daenerys executives and the theme park team prefer that the theme park can be built in the west of Rome, between Da Vinci International Airport and the main city of Rome, so that the most convenient transportation environment and maximum passenger flow can be obtained. If the western land plot is really not negotiable, the southern plan will be launched.

After leaving Daenerys Studios, it was already more than six o'clock.

Back at the Dumay Cape Manor, there were guests at home, Celia Miller, Simon's personal military assistant. She didn't go to New York during this time. Celia could only fly to Los Angeles to report to Simon in person. She didn't have time during the day. After making arrangements, I simply chose the evening. Military affairs are generally considered the private affairs of the Westeros family, and there is nothing wrong with discussing them at home.

As for Celia's decision to stay at the Dumay Cape Manor, it wasn't anything special.

The most notable thing about Dumei Cape Manor is now

room.

In addition to the shell villas, most of the cliff villas on both sides of the Dumei Cape Manor, which looks like a b2 bomber after a large-scale enclosure, have been reserved, and it is no problem to entertain hundreds of guests at one time. Of course, Simon was never the kind of person to be very hospitable, and the number of parties at home was very few, let alone invited too many guests.

Dinner is still being prepared, but there is no immediate business.

Janet and Celia are sitting on the sofa by the seaside glass curtain wall of the Shell Villa, drinking coffee and chatting together. They seem to be more familiar than Simon. In fact, it is the same. Janet is also there for many things about Weijia's private army. Staring, especially after the Westeros family's private intelligence team and the Wei family's private army began to merge, women need to take care of more things.

As soon as he came to sit down by the curtain wall, the baby son ran over with two black-backed ducks.

Some time ago, the little guy wanted to raise ducks, so Simon found two wild duck eggs for the child. They were the ones that were about to hatch. They came out of their shells a week ago. The habits of animals, successfully recognized the mother, um, it should be the father.

These days, my son and the two little guys are inseparable, and they have given names. One is Jack and the other is Emma. I can't tell which one is Simon, and I don't know whether the gender is right or not. Anyway, it's my son's pet. .

in spite of.

When he came to the front, he called Dad, and he didn't forget to say hello to Celia politely. Then he picked up a little duck and said to Simon, "Dad, Emma has grown a little more today."

Simon took the duckling with a smile, and took his son to his lap. The father and son had just said a few words when another duckling chirped next to him. Janet, who was sitting next to Simon, had already put 'Jack'. 'I grabbed it and played it with great interest. Women have no resistance to small furry things.

Of course, it's impatient to let Janet support her, only responsible for masturbating. .

Melbourne saw that her mother began to ravage her pets again. She didn't dare to snatch them. She looked at her father pitifully. Simon had to reach out to save the little thing in Janet's hand, and hugged him with two little things at his son's signal. Ducks dodged far away.

Mom is horrible.

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