Empire of the Ring

The Ural Mountains and the Pacific coast were known as Siberia. Eventually, it was divided into Ural, West Siberian, East Siberian and Far Eastern regions, which were a vast area with the east-west distance of 7,000 kilometers and with the north-south distance of 3,500 kilometers.

Among them, the woodland of coniferous trees was called the Taiga region. The region was filled with densely grown deciduous trees, fir trees, spruce trees, birch trees, pine trees, and western cedar trees.

Except for mountainous areas, most of the area was wetlands, and in the summer they turned into muddy water, allowing logging only in the winter when the ground was frozen.

Despite his doubts, Youngho had come to look at the region because the US CIA was also actively pushing it, but he now grew fond of the land especially after he heard about diamond stones near the rivers and lakes. He had only thought that diamonds were produced only in mines. He was quite intrigued to hear that diamonds were found near the riverside.

Klimov told him that the only period that diamonds could be collected was the summer season once the snow and ice melted. Since Youngho would be able to make money by logging in the winter and collecting diamonds in the summer, buying the land did not sound like a bad idea.

“These are diamonds?”

“Yeah. He said that he mobilized soldiers to collect 540 of them for five years.”

“Then it’s not only him who knows about it.”

“He told the soldiers that he likes to collect shiny stones. For every shiny rock the soldiers collected, he gave them one cigarette pack in exchange, and then he collected all of them in a glass bottle to display it in his bedroom.”

He treated the gemstones casually so no one thought that they were valuable diamonds.

“That guy is clever. But if we start developing the land, he won’t be able to reach there. Why would he tell you about this?”

“He said that we can’t even go into the muddy field during the summer, so he will collect it for us for 50 dollars each.”

If the commander of the district decided to play tricks to interrupt Youngho, he could restrict access to the area for safety reasons as the land in the summer period turned into a giant swamp. Officially, Youngho would have no reason to refuse the military commander’s order to go there in the summer since logging business was only possible in the winter. He had no choice but to comply with the commander.

“He’s openly asking for a bribe.”

“He was rather acting seriously. He was ready to do some business.”

“Maybe that’s good for us after all. I wouldn’t want to search the swamp region and suffer from mosquito bites to pick up some stones. They don’t worth my time and effort. It’s better to pay him the money for diamonds.”

“I know but I’m just a little frustrated since I don’t know how much I should be paying for a rough diamond stone.”

“Can I have a few? I’ll check its price when I go to Almaty next time.”

Jong-il treated it with little consideration. It was only a solid stone that cost 50 dollars each, and there was no proof that it was a really rough diamond. Also, he thought that the commander would not have sold it for 50 dollars each if it was a real diamond.

A carat of diamonds weighed 200 milligrams. The cost of processed diamonds traded in New York—the world’s largest diamond trading market—was around $7,000 per carat. The price of a diamond was determined by its color, clarity, flaws, design, and cut.

Most of the diamond stones collected were for industrial use, and stones that could be processed as jewelry were classified more, closely evaluated and sold to stone dealers in each country through the London Diamond Syndicate which was the Central Selling Organization of diamonds in London.

The British Central Selling Organization handled more than 80 percent of the world’s stones and decided their prices. Therefore, the individually owned raw gemstones were no more than hard rocks.

Youngho decided to do logging business and forest development anyway. Thus, he needed to build a strong relationship with the local army commander by making a deal with him. After buying the rough diamond stones, he thought that he could at least sell them for industrial purposes in the worst case scenario. The diamond deal was an unexpected event, but his focus had to be about the logging business.

Now that he was determined, the first step he needed to take was to make a business plan and report it to Yaniv; he would then report the progress to Michael in the CIA’s European chapter.

***

Kim Chun after watching some videos and photos was excited saying that the state would be getting good timber from now on.

“It won’t be easy to transport them here from Siberia. It’ll be best for us to process the wood in the pulp and paper factories in the city of Krasnoyarsk for now.”

“What does that mean? You can’t even use wood to your heart’s content when you own a logging business? I mean, we’ve got the need at the state right at the moment because we need them to build houses.”

“You can order wood from Volgograd and transport them on a ship if you need it now. What are you worried about, Commissioner Kim?”

Kim Chun’s mind was preoccupied and busy by the construction of new houses for Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan. It was quite inconvenient in Kazakhstan that building materials had to rely solely on imports. It took too long to transport them by land, so the best transportation method was using ships, but the river and sea were already frozen hard because of the cold weather. Even with icebreakers, the broken ice was a nuisance because it prevented a ships’ navigation.

“My dream was to live in a tree-lined area since I was young.”

“I see. You don’t see many trees in Atyrau.”

“No, it’s not only that. I envied Russian people who heat their houses with wood. Most Kazakh people used oval briquettes, and the smell of them gave me a headache all winter long.”

“Kazakhstan is full of oil. Are you saying you didn’t use oil ever?”

“Because it was during the Soviet era. All of the oil produced was taken to Russia, and Kazakh people couldn’t even touch it. But now, I feel like we’re paying back to Russia since we can get wood from Siberia.”

Kim Chun’s words were filled with resentment.

The Soviet Union had scratched away all the resources from Kazakhstan in the past, so it was understandable that Kim Chun felt that he was taking revenge on Russia.

Although Kazakhstan was free from Russia, its economy was still controlled by wealthy Russians, and people hated that. If there was a way to bring timbers from Taiga forest into Kazakhstan, the Kazakh government would welcome it with open arms.

This made Youngho think. In order to make that happen, he would have to consider Russia’s logging policies. If he had to sell all of the logs to Russia, he wanted to refuse to get involved in the business. One thing that concerned him was that Russia recently was restricting timber exports and was focusing on pulp and paper manufacturing.

Since Youngho would be only involved in logging, not in the timber processing industry, Russia’s restrictions in exportation would be directly related to his business. In that case, logs would have more added values only when the timber processing industry was involved. He might have to move away from being a simple supplier of raw wood by stretching into the processing wood business. If he could attract a U.S. company as a business partner, he would be able to save his face before the Russian government. Russia would never refuse to build a factory on its own land with foreign investments.

Although it was a country that was unstable due to lack of consistency in policy, it would not call for nationalization of all industries as ignorant as it used to be in this global era. If it did, Russia would be bogged down by economic sanctions, as well as suffering from massive international lawsuits.

When he was done thinking, Youngho called Michael in the European chapter.

“Chief. There must be a lumber mill or pulp and paper factory. There would be no gain for us if I involve in logging business only.”

“The headquarters thinks so too. Recently, Japan and China also announced that they will invest in the woodworking industry in Russia. Of course, American companies should step in.”

“The place near Krasnoyarsk is the best location for factories since it is easy to access. I’ll ask for the best site for factories.”

“You can hint at Russia that you’re going to attract an American lumber company.”

“How much would the investment amount be?”

“I don’t know yet but pulp and paper factory would be over 100 million dollars.”

“Mr. Yaniv will play the role of the agency if I introduce an American company to Russia, and I will have to invest some for the factory too.”

“Okay, suit yourself. The role of the CIA will be highlighted only when you step into this business. I hate to hear that we’re an organization that only eats up the national budget.”

Youngho smiled after he was done talking to Michael. He now had a good blueprint for the business.

***

“Hey, what’s up with Leon’s face?”

“He fell while I was looking away for a moment. He’s too active that I can’t watch his every move.”

Youngho returned from Siberia, and he saw a scratch mark on the bridge of Leon’s nose. He looked even more mischievous now. Since he liked to play wildly, he always had bruises or scratches on his body.

“I knew you’d be exhausted by him eventually. Even his aunt Zeynep has given up playing with him.”

“Speaking of which, the Archduchess said she doesn’t know whom he gets that from.”

“Are you saying that for me to hear?”

“Oh no, never.”

The follower couple denied Youngho’s speculation, but the couple had been getting somewhat big-headed because they were getting close to Fatima. Kim In-hwa claimed to be Fatima’s secretary now, which meant that she had entered an area where Youngho could not touch. Many royal princesses or queens had a personal secretary, but in the case of Fatima, who had no external activities, having a secretary was just a luxury. But Kim In-hwa now pretended to be her full-time secretary. Youngho was only pretending to be ignorant about this because he thought that having a close friend next to her would be good for Fatima anyway.

“I have a plan to go to Moscow to sign a memorandum of understanding for the logging business, but this time I will have to go with you.”

“I don’t speak Russian fluently yet. I’m not sure I can offer much help.”

“Foreign investment attraction documents are written in English, so don’t worry.”

“Russian officials must be good drinkers. I bet they’ll want to have a drink after signing the memorandum of understanding.”

“Of course. Since it is winter, they’ll want to drink up all night long.”

At Youngho’s words, Suh Min-seok’s face turned white. A cup of vodka could cause burning pain in the esophagus, and many people found it hard to endure that pain. In the beginning, Youngho had a hard time getting used to it too.

“If you want to live here, you should get used to drinking vodka. It’s rude when you frown in front of business partners because of a drink.”

“I know that but I still can’t help it. The alcohol is too strong. I suffered for days after drinking it in Volgograd.”

“That’s why you need to fill your stomach with dairy goods before drinking it.”

“Can we drink Zeynep Wine instead of vodka this time?”

“What are you talking about? When you’re in Russia, you follow the Russian rules.”

Youngho was scaring Suh Min-seok with nonsense because it was amusing to tease someone who felt like his younger brother. Suh Min-seok, who thought that he would be excluded from this trip with Fatima and Leon on his back, was disgusted to think about going to Russia and drinking vodka.

A few days later, Youngho’s group made it to Arirang Hotel in Moscow. Lee Chul-ho, who was the head of the security team of the hotel, greeted them at the hotel’s entrance.

“Boss. You are here. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“You must’ve waited for Secretary Kim instead of me.”

Kim Il-kwon’s younger sister Kim Sung-ryung was Lee Chul-ho’s wife now, which made him Kim Il-kwon’s brother-in-law.

“Goodness no, we’ve waited for you because we would all get our bonus pay once you are here boss.”

“Jeez, these people always want money from me.”

“My wife was also excited to hear that you are coming, Boss.”

“Why? Did your payment got delayed or something? I guess Kim Sung-ryung is now fully immersed in capitalism.”

Every time he visited a business site, he gave a small amount of money to express sincerity to his employees. Now whenever he forgot to give some to them, it was rumored that Zeynep Corporation was not doing well. Youngho believed that a little bit of recognition to employees on top of their regular salaries would boost the vitality of the organization. The monthly pay was fixed, but the bonus pay was extra money, which was like an unexpected gift. There would be no employees who did not like bonus payment.

“The staffs are very excited to hear that they are participating in the development of Siberian land.”

“Why is that? Are you going to help out with that?”

“I’m the one who works in Russia, shouldn’t I be the one to help you?”

“Superior, Lee Chul-ho, I can let you have everything but not Siberia!”

“Hey, Hong Sung-ki! What have you let me have so far?”

“Jeez, you’ve got to have some conscience. Think about what you took from me.”

Everyone was brightened up except for Suh Min-seok who looked like a cow that was dragged to a slaughterhouse.