Vol 5 Chapter 47: , Oil price

The loan negotiations between Bulgaria and Russia began quietly, and Bulgaria's 10-year plan to invest in the largest transportation and transportation was also put on the agenda.
Rolex Dodd said cautiously: "Today's entry into the core of the conference-transportation, including railways and roads, is estimated to have a total investment of 60 billion lev.
Article 1. The Baghdad Railway will resume work and extend it to the Persian Gulf region. The total investment is estimated to be 1.85 billion levs;
The second is to build a railway from Asia Minor to Jerusalem, ordered to be the Holy City Railway, and the total investment is estimated to be 2.86 billion lev;
Article 3. Build a railway around the Arabian Peninsula, complete the connection with the Baghdad Railway via Iraq, and complete the connection with the Holy City Railway via Jordan. The estimated total investment is 9.84 billion levs;
Article 4. Build a total of 72 branch lines along the Baghdad Railway and the Holy City Railway, with an estimated total investment of 4.56 billion lev;
The specific branch lines include the St. Francis Railway, the Tamar Railway, the Yao Ri Siqi Railway...
Article 5. Build a railway around the southwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula to connect our home borders. The estimated total investment is 2.84 billion lev;
Article 6. In order to strengthen the control of the colonies, the Ministry of Communications decided to build 13 railways in the African colonies, with an estimated total investment of 1.86 billion levs;
Including: Nigeria Railway, Libyan Railway, Namibian Railway, Kenya Railway
...
Article 36. The Ministry of Communications plans to implement expressways to cover counties in the local area within ten years, third-level highways to cover towns and villages, and fourth-level highways to connect 80% of the local villages. The estimated total investment is 180 1.97 billion lev; (not limited to the source of funds)
Article 37. The Asia Minor Peninsula Highway Project. The Ministry of Communications plans to invest 7.86 billion levs to build expressways between the major cities of Asia Minor Peninsula; (the source of funds is not limited)
Article 37. Highway plans for special areas, including important ports, industrial bases, industrial raw materials production areas, and military key areas. The Ministry of Communications plans to invest 9.68 billion levs to implement a railway and road coverage plan for these areas; ( (Limited to domestic funds)
..."
After reading it, Rolex Dodd joked: "I finally finished reading, I can also breathe a sigh of relief. Looking at the numbers on this, I thought it was an extra zero. I was so scared that I seemed to be sure that there was no error three times. Only then did I dare to read it out!"
Sure enough, the Bulgarians' humorous cells were not very good, and the atmosphere was alive. There was still no one laughing out below. It seemed that many people were still invading the number of 60 billion.
Rolex Dodd did not continue to talk nonsense, and directly said: "Congressmen who have questions now, please raise your hands!"
As soon as his voice fell, his hands were all raised from below. Almost 90% of the parliamentarians raised their hands. It seems that there are not a few people who have questions.
Rolex Dodd said without surprise: "Well, the gentleman in the middle of the first row, please ask!"
The man named stood up and said angrily: "Mr. Beshir, please tell me the value of building a railway around the Arabian Peninsula. With all due respect, although the Arabian Peninsula is vast, there is sand besides sand!
We have invested heavily in it, where is the return? The nomadic peoples on the island can provide us with 300,000 heads of cattle and 1 million sheep each year at most. This requires us to exchange food for food. This investment of 10,000 years will not recover the cost! "
Beshir Ivanov replied calmly: "First of all, I have to correct one point. The Arabian Peninsula is not just sand. In terms of strength, the desert only occupies one-third of the peninsula. Although the remaining land is mostly wasteland and mountains. , But not completely without economic value!
In addition to economic value, we must also consider military value. The Persian Gulf is the most important port for us to enter the Indian Ocean. In the future, it will be the largest military base of our navy!
Preparations for oil exploration in Iraq have now begun, and transportation must also be carried out at ports in the Persian Gulf. In the future, Bulgaria’s main source of oil will be the Persian Gulf.
To protect our overseas colonies, the navy set off from the Persian Gulf much faster than the Mediterranean.
Perhaps you still don’t know that our overseas colonies can already achieve a balance of revenue and expenditure on the whole, and it will not be long before they can make up for the country!
Moreover, there are still mineral resources we need in the colony. Once developed, it will completely change the current situation of our lack of mineral resources!
Out of strategic security considerations, we have to strengthen the control of the Arabian Peninsula, so the railway around the Arabian Peninsula is imperative! "
Everyone fell into silence, as if it was worth it.
That's right, after the deal with the British, the Bulgarian colony was not completely at a loss. The newly-added relatively wealthy colonies were still profitable every year, and the colonies in Africa finally achieved a break-even.
Of course, Asia Minor, Iraq, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula are not included in the calculation. These areas are construction areas, otherwise they are still losing money.
Seemingly aware of this, Beshir Ivanov once again added: "This century is the age of the ocean. If Bulgaria does not want to stay in the Mediterranean forever, then going to the ocean is inevitable, and the Persian Gulf strategy is what we have taken. first step!"
"Marine Strategy"! This reason is undoubtedly more convincing than the least. It can be said that ambitious countries all over the world are fighting for it!
There are successes and failures! The British Empire is the most successful one, and everyone is vying to follow suit.
The Russians worked hard for more than a century and finally broke out of the Baltic Sea. As a result, a civil war broke out and declared defeat.
The Germans were even more miserable. The world's first army power, dominating Central Europe, ended up being blocked by the British as they marched towards the sea, and they were smashed into the sand!
The Americans' ambitious ocean plan was just beginning to be successful. As a result, it ushered in the "American Flu". It was beaten up by the whole world and split.
Now it's Bulgaria's turn, how should the maritime strategy go? It is definitely impossible to fight directly against the Germans and Americans.
From suppressing the expansion of the navy, they knew that the government did not intend to stand up to challenge the supremacy of the British Empire. While this relieved everyone, they could not help but regret it!
Rolex Dodd's voice sounded in everyone's ears again: "Third row, the tenth gentleman on the left, please speak!"
The old man stood up and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Beshir, what is the government's maritime strategy? Is it convenient to disclose?"
Beshir Ivanov thought for a while and said: "This is not a secret. The marine strategy formulated by the Bulgarian government is based on economics. There is no plan to participate in the world dominance. We do not have that What a strength!"
The old man continued with satisfaction. This answer is very reassuring. With Bulgaria's current strength, as long as it does not come out to challenge the British Empire's world dominance, it is appropriate to become a regional hegemon!
Rolex Dodd said again: "Whoever has questions now, please raise your hand!
The second row, the first gentleman on the right, please ask questions! "
The man said directly, "Excuse me, Mr. Bashir, is it necessary for us to build railways in the African colonies? Of course, I am not talking about all the railways in it, but the economy in some areas is so bad that I can’t see the construction. Where is the value of the railway!
If it is to maintain the rule, those rotten lands should not be peeped by the powers! As for the indigenous people, I don't think they can threaten our rule! "
Beshir Ivanov smiled and said: "The problem is very simple. Now those areas have no value. They will be valuable when the railway is built.
You should also notice that our investment in the African colonies is not large. The main purpose is to improve the transportation in some areas and facilitate our development of local mineral resources.
No matter how many plantations can be developed locally, it will be profitable in the long run. These investments will recover the cost within five to ten years after the railway is built! "
Although he didn't say anything, everyone understands that the biggest cost of railway repairing is manpower, and cheap labor is available. The cost of railway repairing in Africa is much lower than that of locals.
The same is true for mines and plantations in the back. Using cheap local labor to reduce production costs, even if the freight is higher, it is still profitable!
Rolex Dodd's voice broke the silence: "First row, the gentleman on the far right, please ask questions!"
The man asked questioningly: "Mr. Bashir, our Ministry of Transportation has invested so much this time, have we considered our financial affordability?
Sixty billion levs, even if it is divided into ten years, is 6 billion levs per year. This has almost spent our entire fiscal year! "
Beshir Ivanov said calmly: "It's not almost. Our fiscal revenue this year is less than six billion Levs? We will probably break through next year!
We can all declare bankruptcy if we rely on government investment. After all, in addition to the Ministry of Transport, there are other departments that everyone is asking for money.
Everyone knows that our Bulgarian railway company has already achieved profits. Although there are only four to five billion yuan per year, this is also a return!
This time the railway will still be dominated by government investment, while the road will be dominated by private capital. At that time, we will invite bidding from all over the world and hand over our domestic roads to capitalists for construction.
At present, the profit channel designed by the government for them is to build gas stations and grocery stores on both sides of the road, and the government is responsible for helping them with land acquisition.
Of course, this is just an idea. What the final result will be is still to be discussed. We are not sure whether capitalists can accept this new cooperation model, nor rule out the possibility of setting up toll stations on expressways!
In this way, the total investment of the Guangxi Railway Project is 25.8 billion levs, and the government's financial allocation of 5 billion levs is almost the same. The railway company can provide more than 5 billion levs on its own, leaving the remaining 15 More than one billion levs, the railway company used these railways to borrow from domestic banks for construction! "
Fortunately, it is borrowing from a domestic bank. If you mortgage the right of way to a foreign bank, it is estimated that many people will jump out.
The man asked in surprise: "Mr. Bashir, can the gas station alone make a profit? We must know that the total number of motor vehicles in our country is two to three million, and there are less than one million cars. To recoup the cost by this, will the gas bill not rise to the sky?"
Beshir Ivanov explained: "The data you mentioned is not accurate. It was from last year. The growth rate of domestic motor vehicles is 38.6 percent, and the growth rate of cars is 100%. Twenty-five and four quarters!
Although it is impossible to maintain such a high growth rate, there is no problem with the total number of motor vehicles in the country exceeding 10 million within ten years.
On average, each car pays 1,000 levs a year for refueling, so their revenue is 10 billion levs. Of course, this also includes the maintenance costs of the road later.
This figure should be able to achieve a balance of income and expenditure. If capitalists want to make a profit, they may have to wait. When we do this in the future, every household has a car, they will make a profit. This is a long-term Invest!
If the capitalists cannot accept it, we will also consider allowing them to collect motor vehicle tolls on the highway to shorten their profit time! "
Like most people, Beshir Ivanov is not sure whether capitalists can make a profit by relying on gas stations alone. After all, oil prices cannot rise without limit, and too high a price will deter everyone from buying a car. Positivity belongs to killing chickens and getting eggs!
Bulgaria has a limited population. In their view, the country's 10 million motor vehicles have almost reached the limit. Under this number, there may be no problem in achieving profit, but it is definitely not that easy to make money.
Therefore, this business is destined to be done only by Ferdinand, the future oil tycoon. Even if the profit of the gas station is not enough to achieve profit, the oil company is making money, which is to cultivate the early investment in the market.
Everyone fell into contemplation, and suddenly someone raised their hand again. Rolex Dodd didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "The fourth row, the second gentleman from the left, please ask questions!"
The man said embarrassingly: "Mr. Beshir, is there a time limit for this?"
Beshir Ivanov asked suspiciously: "Are you asking the gas station or the toll station? If it is a gas station, I think there should be no time limit. After all, in addition to repairing the highway, the capitalists are also responsible for passing the village. Highway~EbookFREE.me~ The investment in this is too big, and we don’t know how long it will take them to pay back!
If it is an expressway toll station, there should be a time limit, and it does not undertake the construction of ordinary roads. The investment in the construction of expressways is not that big, and it is easier to make profits! "
There is no other way. If you only build highways and keep on ordinary highways, people can refuel and then go to the highways. If you don't monopolize the gas stations in the country, don't want to make money!
This is not just for the government to bundle business with capitalists, but for profit, they must do it!
The man continued to ask: "Then Mr. Bashir, what about agricultural vehicles? Ordinary family cars, those who can afford it are rich people, even if the oil price rises two or three times, they can afford it, but ours What about agricultural vehicles and transportation vehicles?
Ordinary people can't afford this expense, which will hit us now mechanized agriculture! "
Beshir Ivanov calmly replied: "This problem does exist, but your guess may not happen!
The first capitalists are not stupid, it is impossible to set a high price that most people cannot afford, and then they cannot sell the oil;
Second, there is the Price Bureau. The government will not sit back and watch the skyrocketing oil prices. For example, in the event of a skyrocketing oil price, the government will issue regulations to limit the price of oil for agricultural machinery and transportation vehicles.
What capitalists can completely control is the price of gas for private cars. This is a luxury item. As you said earlier, even if the price of gas rises by two or three times, they can accept it! "
Well, in this era, cars are still the standard equipment for the rich, at least they are only bought by the middle class, and there is no need for everyone to consider oil prices for them.
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