In Ukraine, more than 80 kilometers north of Rivne, the capital of Rivne Oblast, Simon and his entourage arrived the day after their arrival in the region. This location is home to one of the four nuclear power plants currently operating in Ukraine: the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant.
To transform Rivne Oblast into a "European factory," an abundant supply of cheap labor is only the most basic condition. If labor alone were sufficient, Africa might already have become the "factory of the world." Beyond affordable labor, for a region to develop, it needs a comprehensive infrastructure system.
At present, the biggest obstacle to Simon's plans in Rivne Oblast is energy, specifically electricity supply. Before the Soviet Union's collapse, Ukraine's annual power generation reached 290 billion kWh. However, following the collapse and ensuing economic downturn, Ukraine's annual power output plummeted to 170 billion kWh in 1994, a staggering 42% drop. Even the capital, Kyiv, frequently experiences power outages due to shortages.
The demand for electricity in the manufacturing industry is enormous, and Simon's first priority is to solve this problem.
The Chernobyl disaster, which occurred in Ukraine during the Soviet era, left the entire Ukrainian population deeply opposed to nuclear power. Former President Leonid Kravchuk exploited this sentiment when advocating for Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union, promising that after independence, all nuclear power plants in Ukraine would be gradually dismantled.
After Ukraine's independence in 1991, Kravchuk's government did fulfill this promise by immediately suspending the construction of new nuclear reactors and planning to shut down and dismantle existing nuclear power plants.
However, as Ukraine's economy rapidly declined, the power output from traditional thermal and hydroelectric plants continued to fall, leaving the country's four remaining operational nuclear power plants as the only reliable sources, providing around 50 billion kWh annually—30% of Ukraine's total electricity generation.
Under these circumstances, neither the Ukrainian government nor the public talks much about closing down the nuclear plants anymore. Without them, much of the country would be plunged into darkness at night.
Moreover, just last year, the Kuchma administration lifted the nuclear power ban imposed during the early days of independence and planned to resume construction on some previously suspended nuclear reactors.
The construction of nuclear power plants is extremely costly. A significant amount of money had already been invested in the reactors that were halted. If completed, these reactors could provide an additional 20 billion kWh of electricity annually.
However, even though the ban has been lifted, the main issue remains funding. The construction of nuclear power plants typically requires billions of dollars, and Ukraine's current finances cannot support such expenditures.
The other three nuclear power plants are unrelated to the Westeros system; Simon's focus is solely on the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant.
Construction of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant began in 1973 with two small 380 MW reactors. The third unit, with a capacity of 950 MW, began construction in 1980, followed by the fourth unit, also 950 MW, in 1986. The first three units were successfully completed and became operational, generating about 11 billion kWh annually.
Due to the Soviet Union's collapse, the fourth unit, which had been under construction for five years and was nearing completion, was suspended in 1991.
Not to mention the high costs of operation and maintenance, the complete construction of a single 950 MW unit would cost around $1.5 billion. Although the fourth unit was mostly completed, the costs for resuming construction, installing power generation equipment, and activating the reactor would still require $500 million.
However, if the fourth unit is completed, the additional 5 billion kWh of annual electricity, along with the revival of some local thermal power plants, would essentially meet the expansion needs of the Westeros system in Rivne Oblast for the next few years.
For Simon, $500 million is not a large sum, nor is it for other international capital giants. However, Ukraine, which last year had to dismantle all its nuclear weapons to barely secure $330 million in compensation from the United States, is now such a mess that no one wants to invest in a country that might go bankrupt at any moment unless there are sufficient guarantees and benefits.
The Westeros system can provide Ukraine with the necessary guarantees.
Unlike last year's low-key approach, Simon brought a large team covering various aspects to Ukraine this time.
For this visit to the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, besides the senior management from the Westeros system, there were also consultant teams from Westinghouse Electric and an investment team from First Boston, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse.
The former was invited by the Westeros system to conduct a series of technical assessments on the fourth unit of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, to confirm the feasibility and risks of resuming construction. The latter was involved in the financing issues related to restarting the fourth unit.
Incidentally, the leader of the First Boston team was Grace's husband, Bill Spohr.
For a Wall Street giant, this project is not huge, but for an individual, securing a project like this would be an impressive achievement.
Bill Spohr primarily handles stock trading at First Boston, but as one of the two presidents of the firm's securities trading department, completing a project like this would allow him to expand his influence into bond trading.
To welcome Simon's visit, Ukraine's Minister of Energy, Pavlo Lazarenko, personally attended, along with senior management from Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear energy company. Simon also noticed another "stormy" figure among the welcoming crowd, Yulia Tymoshenko.
Simon had no particular liking for either of these people, but that didn't stop him from engaging in friendly conversations with them along the way.
After a brief tour of the nuclear plant, the group had lunch in a public employee cafeteria at the plant, where Simon personally arranged a banquet for the senior management of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant.
After lunch, an assistant of Lazarenko suggested to one of the A-girls that they return to Rivne to discuss follow-up matters.
Even though many facts suggest that nuclear power plants are generally safe, most ordinary people still have an instinctive fear of such places.
Simon had no objections to this.
The long convoy left the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, with police cars leading and following to emphasize the importance of the visit. Of course, this scene would never be shown on the local Rivne TV station, which is controlled by the Westeros system. News reports would only mention that the Energy Minister and foreign investors visited the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, with Simon never appearing on camera.
The distance between the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant and Rivne city, about 80 kilometers, can be considered relatively safe.
Take the United States, for example; numerous nuclear power plants on the East Coast are located within about 100 kilometers of urban areas. But most people don't have much concept of this once they get used to it.
To show the importance of the occasion, Simon personally attended the afternoon cooperation talks. However, he and Lazarenko only finalized the main cooperation framework, with the details to be worked out by the relevant parties.
The preliminary agreement was that after completing the technical evaluation of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant's fourth unit, and assuming it met the required standards, the Westeros system would facilitate a bond issuance for Energoatom to finance the restart of the fourth unit's construction and the renovation of the power grid between the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant and Rivne city.
By the time the talks ended, it was already 4 p.m.
A dinner was scheduled for the evening at the home of Sergey Komorov, the Westeros system's main representative in Ukraine.
After everyone had dispersed, Simon temporarily returned to his villa in the southern part of the city. Due to the overcast weather, it was already dark in Rivne by 4 p.m.
Upon returning to the villa, Simon showered, changed clothes, and then went downstairs. As he sat down in a cozy living room on the first floor, A-Girl entered with a folder.
After sending away the three girls who were cuddling up to him like kittens, Simon asked with a smile, "How did things go?"
Allison remained standing beside Simon and replied, "The message has been spread. Also, Boss, here is a list of key technical personnel from the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant compiled by our people. During negotiations with the Energoatom executives, Ms. Miller has already put forward our request to have Ukraine assemble a stronger technical team to support the construction and future maintenance of the fourth unit."
The lunch at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant had been a deliberate move on Simon's part.
After the meal, Simon had spread the word that the lunch had been personally arranged by Simon Westeros, and that Minister of Energy Lazarenko had been very displeased with the idea of dining with employees, seeing it as beneath him.
This was true, actually.
The primary purpose of this move was to win over the employees.
Simon himself is somewhat apprehensive about being at a nuclear power plant, and he wouldn't have visited unless it was necessary.
One of Simon's other goals in visiting the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant was to win over Ukrainian nuclear technology experts.
By creating the impression that Simon Westeros highly values talent and following up with other methods, the Westeros system could quietly recruit a group of relevant experts.
The Westeros family's "Sword of Damocles" project had never ceased.
This was a deep secret that Simon wouldn't reveal even to A-Girl.
After Allison finished her report, Simon took the folder from her without explaining anything. He was about to pat his lap, intending to teach the obviously sulking Allison a lesson when Celia Miller appeared at the door.
Seeing A-Girl silently turn and leave, Celia smiled and asked, "Did I interrupt something?"
Simon continued to pat his lap
and said, "It's pretty obvious. Come fill the gap."
Celia glanced around, then walked over and locked the door before coming to sit on Simon's lap, allowing his large hands to encircle her waist. "The Westinghouse team is eager to secure the contract for the power generation equipment for the fourth unit," she said.
Simon paused his movements and asked, "Can Westinghouse's equipment be fully compatible with Ukraine's reactors? This plant needs to serve our industries; we can't afford any mistakes."
Celia replied, "I made a few calls to consult on this. There shouldn't be any major issues, but the key is the cost. Westinghouse's equipment is twice as expensive as Ukraine's domestically produced equipment. Of course, Westinghouse's equipment has higher efficiency. According to their data, Ukraine's domestically produced equipment would generate about 5 billion kWh annually, while Westinghouse's equipment could improve efficiency by about 10%."
Simon said, "That's not a problem. As long as it's feasible, how to deal with Energoatom executives and Lazarenko is Westinghouse's responsibility."
Celia nodded. "That's what I thought too."
Simon advised, "Make sure to have someone thoroughly study this issue. Don't just take Westinghouse's word for it. Remember, our interests come first."
"I understand."
To complete the fourth unit of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, about $500 million of the $5 billion investment would go towards purchasing and installing power generation equipment. If Westinghouse's equipment is used, the total investment would increase to $8 billion.
As long as Westinghouse's equipment is feasible, Simon is more than happy to see Energoatom take on more debt.
The higher the debt, the stronger their dependence on the Westeros system.
Of course, everything hinges on the feasibility of the plan.
If Energoatom wants to restart construction on the fourth unit of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, they can't bypass the Westeros system's guarantees for financing. Without Simon's approval, no one would dare invest in the project. Without money, Westinghouse won't be doing any business.
So, the decision ultimately rests with Simon.
Seeing Celia nod in agreement, Simon thought for a moment and added, "Tell Westinghouse that the key to this lies with Lazarenko. He's a very greedy man, so don't be stingy. As long as they handle him, they can make back whatever they spend on this deal."
Celia agreed and asked, "What about our side?"
Simon said, "I've already had Sergey take care of it. You don't need to get involved or know anything about it."
Celia understood that Simon was considering her well-being, so she obediently nodded.
In Simon's memory, Lazarenko, who significantly influenced President Kuchma's career, was notorious for his greed. Essentially, if you didn't pay him, you couldn't get anything done.
However, if you paid enough, concepts like national interest became irrelevant.
Historically, Lazarenko would be promoted from Energy Minister to Prime Minister of Ukraine next year. But due to his conflict with Kuchma and his terrible reputation, he would be ousted within a year.
Then, this former Prime Minister would immediately turn against Kuchma, fleeing abroad after losing their power struggle. His close associate, Tymoshenko, would take over as the "people's champion," continuing to fight against the "corrupt Kuchma administration."
One news detail from memory illustrates just how greedy Lazarenko was.
After losing power, this pro-American Ukrainian official sought political asylum in the United States but was arrested by federal authorities on charges of money laundering. He posted a staggering $90 million in bail but still didn't escape, ending up imprisoned in the U.S., with all his personal assets confiscated.
Usually, those who switch allegiances can expect a reasonably decent end.
But not in the case of Ukraine's pawns.
It can only be said that too many were eager to defect, and there was simply too much wealth to be had.
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