The two of them walked a little farther from the banquet hall. Jack Welch said, "Here's the thing, Simon. I heard you're planning to build a thermal power plant in Ukraine. Last time, you went with Westinghouse for the nuclear power plant unit, so this time, surely there's no reason not to work with General Electric, right?"
Due to the power shortage in Rivne Oblast, apart from the ongoing construction of Unit 4 at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, the Westeros Group was also planning to build a 2,000-megawatt thermal power plant in Ukraine.
Unlike the $15 billion investment required for the 950-megawatt Unit 4 at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, the cost of a thermal power plant was much lower. However, even with a lower construction cost, the 2,000-megawatt thermal plant was still estimated to require around $500 million. This was a project big enough for Jack Welch to personally intervene.
When Simon heard Welch bring it up, he didn't respond directly. Instead, he asked, "Jack, the General Electric team should have contacted Rivne by now, right?"
Welch nodded. "Of course. But their response was that they plan to use local equipment and solutions. Simon, to be honest, I admit the industrial strength of the former Soviet Union, but things are not what they used to be. Also, you must know that General Electric's power generation units are far superior to anything the former Soviet Union could offer."
"But they're also much more expensive," Simon said, then shook his head and smiled. "Jack, the last time with the Rivne nuclear power plant, to be frank, it was a state-owned enterprise in Ukraine. Along with a few other factors, that's why they used Westinghouse's equipment. This time, though, it's mostly my personal investment, so I have to consider costs. So, unfortunately, it's not going to work."
The cost of the 4th unit at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant was originally only supposed to require a $500 million investment. However, due to the involvement of Westinghouse, the Ukrainian nuclear power company, and the Ministry of Energy, it ended up ballooning to $800 million. Despite the shady dealings behind the scenes, this money would eventually be paid by the financially struggling Ukrainian government.
Now that Simon was handling it himself, he wasn't going to let this become a money pit.
Compared to nuclear power, the technical difficulty of thermal power was much lower. Local Ukrainian enterprises could easily handle it, and with the planned $500 million investment, there might even be some savings. Simon's plan was to take this opportunity to restructure the related engineering technology, since this thermal plant might not be the last one.
Jack Welch, seeing Simon's refusal, didn't give up and made another attempt. "Simon, I'm offering you a really good discount."
Simon shook his head again, smiling. "Jack, perhaps you can guess my plans for Ukraine. This thermal plant is not the only one, but Ukraine is very important to me—this is about more than just business."
By saying this, Simon made it clear that Welch understood some of the underlying factors, and thus, Welch did not press further. However, he couldn't help but ask, "Simon, it seems like you're planning to create something like a, uh, an economic special zone there, like what China has, right?"
"Exactly."
"Then we must have other areas where we can cooperate."
"That's certain, Jack. By the way, if General Electric is looking to build factories in Eastern Europe, Rivne Oblast would be a good choice."
Welch hadn't expected Simon to quickly turn the conversation around to his own business, but he smiled and nodded. "Of course, I'll definitely consider it if there's a suitable project."
With that, Simon thought the conversation was over and was about to move on to socialize with other guests. But Welch stopped him and said, "One more thing, Simon. About Time Warner. To be honest, Warner Brothers' performance this past summer was abysmal."
Welch was clearly referring to the fact that Warner Brothers didn't have a single film that made over $100 million at the box office during the summer season. This was the first summer since General Electric had acquired Time Warner, and such a poor performance, while not directly caused by the parent company, certainly made Welch look bad.
Simon could only shrug. "Well, Jack, that's not my responsibility."
Welch, who had been venting his frustration, realized that Simon was right and that there was no reason to blame him. After all, could he really complain that Daenerys Entertainment was too strong and left no room for Warner?
As a legendary corporate manager, he didn't have the habit of blaming others like that.
Moreover, if it had been another Hollywood studio executive, they might have already started talking to Simon about potential collaborations.
However, after quietly studying Daenerys Entertainment's external collaboration projects, Welch realized that although other Hollywood studios had made a lot of money from working with Daenerys, they had, to some extent, lost their independence. This could be harmful to the long-term development of a company.
The current situation in Hollywood was largely a result of these studios inadvertently helping Daenerys grow by collaborating with them over the years.
The most typical example was probably the DC movie universe plan.
Thinking about it now, Welch felt uneasy. Even though the big profits from the DC movie universe plan went to Warner, the initiative was entirely in the hands of the young man in front of him. Though Daenerys Entertainment had a smaller share of the profits, it was primarily from distribution commissions. However, they had used most of Warner's resources to make money for themselves while saving on production and promotional costs, allowing them to continue developing their own projects.
Jurassic Park, The Conjuring Universe, Pixar's animation series, and more.
Even now, Warner was too afraid to cut ties.
Because Daenerys Entertainment held one major bargaining chip that was just as valuable as DC—Marvel. If things turned sour between the two, Daenerys Entertainment could simply hold onto the core superhero rights for DC's three major heroes and prevent Warner from continuing its DC series development. Meanwhile, Daenerys could go ahead with its Marvel movie universe.
All in all, this was a frustrating situation.
After a moment of reflection, Welch remembered the phenomenal reality show "American Idol" that had aired on ABC, another Daenerys Entertainment property. He couldn't help but feel even more exasperated, but he raised his glass to Simon.
Simon understood the situation. He could sense Welch's frustration and raised his glass in return. Without saying much more, he led Maria and Ulyana away to a different part of the room.
The party continued until about 1 AM.
Simon left the hotel with the two women and arrived at the parking lot. The bodyguards opened the car doors. Ulyana got in first. As Simon was about to enter, Maria tugged at his sleeve. "Can I ride in the back car?"
Simon hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside. "You and Ulyana should sit together. I'll sit in the back. I need to talk to A."
Maria blushed slightly. She nodded and got into the car.
A moment later, as the car started, Maria hesitantly asked Ulyana, "Are you really pregnant?"
Ulyana lazily leaned against the leather seat and replied, "Otherwise, would he come over here?"
Maria paused before asking quietly, "What are you going to do?"
"What do you think he will do?" Ulyana kicked off her shoes and curled up in her seat to make herself more comfortable. She gazed out the window and said, "We don't really have a choice. But I can pretty much guess what's on his mind."
"Hmm?"
"He wants you to raise this child."
Maria widened her eyes, instinctively glancing at Ulyana's belly. She couldn't help but say, "That can't be right."
Ulyana didn't seem to care. "What else can we do? It's obvious that you're better at raising children. Your kids are all doing so well. Anita got into the National Technical University, and the three boys, Victor and the others, were able to adjust to the private school system right after arriving in the U.S. In comparison, Anna and Nick are still stuck at home learning English."
"Actually… Anna and Nick are doing well too."
"I know my own children," Ulyana replied, not accepting Maria's reassurance. "So, having you raise this child wouldn't be a bad thing. If I could, I'd even be willing to give you Anna and Nick. I came to the U.S. just to enjoy life. Everything else is secondary."
Maria hesitated again. "This... isn't good."
Ulyana suddenly laughed, exuding more charm. She gave Maria a glance and teased, "You're not trying to tell me to 'stay strong,' are you?"
Maria quickly shook her head. "No, I wouldn't interfere with someone else's life."
Ulyana didn't continue the conversation but turned away, sinking into silence.
Inside, she was a little melancholic.
It was all this damn world's fault. If the Soviet Union hadn't collapsed, she should have lived like a princess for the rest of her life, gaining some prestigious titles through her intelligence and then leisurely enjoying her life.
But who would have expected the collapse of a superpower to come so suddenly?
Even with two children, if she could have maintained her previous lifestyle, she could have spent some effort raising them properly. However, in recent years, their family had been struggling to even afford food. With the massive gap
between what her children needed and what they had available, it was a miracle they managed to survive at all.
Simon's offer was like a ray of hope to her, and she wasn't about to turn it down.
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