Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 76 Foreign Exchange Reserves
Kyiv, Pechersk District, Arsenal Heights.

Igor sat by the window, a file folder on the table in front of him.

The door to the private room was pushed open, and a man in an overcoat and a leather hat strode in.

"Are you fucking crazy?"

Before the man even sat down, without any pleasantries, he immediately launched into a question.

Igor looked at him and asked gently, "Which one are you referring to?"

"Don't play dumb, you and I both know it's about Kherson."

The man looked furious.

"The heads of three officers, a colonel, a lieutenant, and a first lieutenant, were nailed to the flagpole, like a permutation of his mother's."

"Where do you think this is? Donbas? Or Africa?"

"Are you aware that this matter is now in the meeting minutes of the Presidential Secretariat?"

"I just received a call from the military region this morning. There really is some unrest in Crimea."

“Do you know what’s even more terrifying?” Igor added slowly, “It’s not that this matter has reached the General Office, but that you still don’t know who did it.”

"Don't try to play those games with me." The man slammed his hat on the chair. "Was it your men who did it?"

Igor spread his hands and shrugged: "He's not one of my men, I can guarantee that."

“You’re getting dirtier and dirtier, Igor.”

The man sneered, "Do you know how much effort I have to put into cleaning up your mess?"

“Even Western advisors sent messages saying that this is a sign of political terror.”

"You've done this to me, openly killing someone and then hanging it up—are you trying to completely break ties with the government?"

"Of course not, I have a valid reason."

The man was taken aback: "What did you say?"

Igor pointed to the file folder in front of him: "The information about Kovalenko was all found in his office."

"Including five lists of items that were diverted from military logistics and sold to private militias in the past seven months, two recorded phone conversations made by insiders in the audit office, and a letter of recommendation for the emergency transfer of supplies that he personally approved."

The man stared at the briefcase without moving. "What do you mean by this?"

"You said you wanted an explanation, so I'll give you one."

After a few seconds of silence, the man picked up the bag and took out the documents inside.

He examined it carefully for a while and quickly came to the conclusion: "This level is not surprising."

“I guarantee that at least half of this system—no, more than half—is doing things that are even more outrageous than this.”

Igor scoffed, "It doesn't matter what others do, as long as it saves everyone face."

The man fell silent.

After a while, he closed the bag and sat down, leaning back in his chair.

"Do you think you've got enough resources now that you're doing this?"

Igor didn't answer immediately, but instead asked calmly, "Without my help, how long can you stay in your position at the Ministry of Defense?"

The man's expression changed, and he was about to speak when Igor interrupted him first.

How many people have changed in this government in the past three months?

"The positions of Prime Minister, Chief of Staff, and Deputy Director of the Security Bureau kept changing."

"Whom do you intend to side with? That newly appointed minister? He can't even pronounce the Air Force Commander's surname correctly."

After hesitating for a long time, the man finally blurted out, "I never said that."

"Then you should cherish the time when you still have some influence."

"Some opportunities may exist now, but may not exist in the future."

Upon hearing this, the man seemed enraged, and his words became even sharper: "You want me to clean up your mess, but you're just trying to intimidate me with this nonsense?"

“This isn’t a threat, it’s a warning.” Igor stared at him, his gaze suddenly turning cold. “I have a question for you.”

How much foreign exchange reserves do you currently have?

The man's emotions were abruptly interrupted; he looked confused and didn't respond.

“I have the latest data, less than three hundred million dollars,” Igor continued, speaking to himself. “Do you know how much money I have in this country’s banking system?”

"Nearly 20 million, divided among three companies."

"It will make it easier for you to do your year-end accounting. Use it as a balancing fund to support your financial statements and delay the World Bank's loan review."

The man's face froze instantly.

"If I withdraw all the money tomorrow and transfer it to accounts in Warsaw and Bratislava, what do you think will happen to you and your colleagues?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm telling you a fact."

Igor leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice: "This country is still called Ukraine, not because you govern it well, but because people like me don't want to mess it up for the time being."

The man looked up, staring intently at Igor: "What do you want?"

"I need you to do three things."

"."

The man remained silent.

"First, regarding Kovalenko's case, you should chair a military coordination meeting and characterize it as an accident caused by disciplinary issues."

"No need for any extra explanations, just give most people a reason that is acceptable."

“Second,” Igor paused, “help me with my Cyprus accounts.”

“Limassol Bank, that’s the working capital I used to liquidate goods imported from Bulgaria.”

"You still have that connection with the central bank's foreign affairs office, right?"

“They temporarily froze it under the International Suspicious Funds Flow Act, and there’s nothing I can change.”

Don't give me that nonsense.

"That's a remnant of the Ministry of Finance's transparent financial policy. You know they just want some guarantees and kickbacks."

After finishing this long speech, Igor paused for a few seconds before continuing:

"Third, and most importantly—"

"—At the coordination meeting, I stated that no substantive violations were found in the past approval process for my project."

"And tell those newly appointed bastards to stop having wild ideas, especially those in the security department."

The man gritted his teeth and finally whispered, "For the last one, you have to let me think about it."

“No, you don’t need to consider it.” Igor suddenly moved closer to him, emphasizing each word: “How much will I pay you each month?”

These words were like a knife, piercing through the man's last vestige of hypocrisy and completely softening his stance.

"Three hundred thousand."

"US dollars, clean, tax-free, and arrives on time, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you should be even clearer about your position."

The man looked up at him, remaining silent for a long time.

Seeing that the time was right, Igor stopped trying to provoke him and instead sighed, sincerely advising him:

“Listen, Grisha, I don’t want to push you too hard.”

"But as you know, in this country, you can't get ahead by relying on the system, and relying on foreigners means they can turn on you at any time."

"Unfortunately, Ivanov and Chervenko never realized this."

"But I hope you understand who will truly help you."

The man's lips twitched, but he finally nodded and put the document away.

I will do my best to fulfill your request.

“Very good.” Igor stood up and picked up his coat from the back of the chair.

"I want to hear news from Cyprus at 7 p.m. tonight."

"do not let me down."

(End of this chapter)