The car left the city center, and Alexandrovich received a call.
He wasn't surprised. After dealing with a few pleasantries, he took the initiative to invite the other party to the subsequent celebration dinner.
The bulletproof limousine arrived at the Ukrainian Grand Hotel where Igor, the power broker of Privat Group, was waiting for him inside.
Taking advantage of the ti before the celebration dinner started, Alexandrovich invited Igor into the eting room he had prepared earlier.
Igor sported a gray beard and looked dapper, a typical older handso man. He said with a smile, "Congratulations on your election victory."
But Alexandrovich responded with a smile, "It should be congratulations to us."
Igor laughed heartily, "How is the formation of your cabinet going?"
Alexandrovich seriously replied, "The personnel have basically been determined."
Igor nodded, waiting for him to make a statent.
Alexandrovich lowered his voice, "The things we've agreed upon will be attended to imdiately once I stabilize the situation after taking office."
Due to recent years of alignnt with Damao in the east, Igor had been sanctioned by Western nations led by the United States, and the impact on his business group had been substantial. He had supported Alexandrovich, also intending to use him to ease relations with the West.
There was no alternative; in the eyes of the arrogant Westerners, this Ukrainian tycoon was not considered a person at all. Being sanctioned was easy, but getting the sanctions lifted was difficult.
Igor had seen clearly by now; the democracy and freedom touted by the West were all nonsense. Not to ntion ordinary citizens of Ukraine and Russia—even billionaires who went there were rely fish on the chopping board.
It was the kind that delivered themselves to the door.
Alexandrovich added, "This matter is sowhat troubleso. Once I take office, I will need Mr. Igor to provide the necessary data and information, so that I can be more efficient in handling the situation."
Igor was satisfied with the attitude of the soon-to-be Great Commander, "I've already had people compile it; I'll give it to you later."
Alexandrovich stood up and bowed deeply, at a ninety-degree angle to Igor, "Thank you for Mr. Igor's support!"
This gesture greatly pleased Igor, who quickly stood up and helped Alexandrovich to his feet, "We are friends, and comrades in arms. From now on, we will fight side by side."
Alexandrovich grasped Igor's hand firmly, "We are comrades in arms forever!"
The celebration dinner began, and Alexandrovich and Orlina, as a couple, mingled skillfully among the crowd.
Since he ca from the entertainnt industry, his campaign team was also mainly composed of people from this circle.
These individuals were set to take up significant positions.
Alexandrovich would naturally reward them according to their contributions, having drawn up a list of important positions long in advance.
For example, the future Secretary-General was to be the producer Trofimov, the Mayor of Kiev would be his boxer friend, and a TV program producer with whom he had long collaborated would beco the head of the security bureau.
In short, this would be the first governnt to absorb a large number of TV and movie codians for important roles.
After the dinner, Alexandrovich and Orlina returned to their ho.
They entered the study and discussed so matters.
This study, per Bruce's suggestion, had undergone special modifications to block all electronic signals.
Orlina asked, "What does Igor want soone to do?"
"He wants to fulfill those promises, to forever be his friend and comrade..." Alexandrovich, of course, knew what that entailed, "He wants to always be a puppet for Privat Group."
Orlina was quite indignant, "Martin has helped us so much, and he never made any demands."
Alexandrovich raised his hand to interrupt his wife, "That was before; who can be sure about the future?"
"No matter what you do, I will support you." Orlina took her husband's hand, "But I must remind you, our foundation is in the West."
Alexandrovich spoke slowly, "I've promised the entire Ukraine to fight corruption, to regulate market order, to increase market reforms, to develop the Ukrainian economy."
He had already considered this, "Even if so promises can't be kept, I still need to show enough attitude, so I can secure that position. It's too difficult to develop the economy, to be honest, I also don't know how to develop it, but the first three items will easily show the Ukrainian people so results."
Orlina imdiately understood, "Going after the oligarchs?"
"Yes, just like I said last ti, go after Igor and the Privat Group!" Alexandrovich said, "This will show Ukraine and the whole world my determination for anti-corruption and market reforms!"
Orlina reminded, "We can't do it alone."
Alexandrovich said, "I'll offer the Privat Group to Martin and his allies, the Aricans will help us."
Admiration tinged Orlina's gaze as she looked at her husband.
Martin's side had debts to repay, after all, they decided to go the Western route, and while the Privat Group wanted to control them, wanted them to be puppets, they did not want to be puppets.
It was perfect, they could use the power of the Western group to suppress the Privat Group, and with the power they would soon control, the possibility of taking down the Privat Group was very high.
The assets of the Privat Group could also serve as a bridge to the West.
That night, Alexandrovich and Orlina talked nearly the entire ti, discussing until dawn.
...
At Los Angeles International Airport, a business jet with silver and red stripes landed on the private tarmac.
Several bodyguards, staying in Los Angeles, drove multiple Cadillacs over for the pickup.
Martin and his group got in the cars, heading straight for Beverly Hills.
Back ho, Martin first went to sleep with Lily and Elizabeth.
The two won were probably exhausted from the flight, taking showers and falling asleep as soon as they lay down.
Martin ca down from upstairs, where Bruce was waiting in the living room.
The two went to the study.
Bruce closed the door and said, "The results are out from Ukraine, Alexandrovich was elected by an absolute majority."
Martin replied, "An expected outco."
Bruce continued, "Alexandrovich called ten minutes ago, he has very important matters to discuss with us before taking office."
Martin didn't hurry, waiting for him to continue.
Bruce's words didn't stop, "He plans to consolidate power after taking office, then break through with anti-corruption and market reforms to rally the support of the Ukrainian people, especially the army. His target is the Privat Group; he's asking if the Western world can help him take down this oligarchic group."
He paused, then added, "If we can support him, he plans to send Orlina to Paris to et with our people face-to-face."
Martin had already discussed this matter with Louise and Kelly; the latter had used a fair amount of political connections that could effectively suppress so of the Ukrainian forces' backlash.
To put it simply, they could use the Western faction to strike at the Privat Group, which tended to side with Damao and the tsarist Eastern faction.
Martin thought for a mont and said, "Old Cloth, take a trip to Paris, et with Orlina."
This matter could involve several billion US dollars, and Bruce didn't hesitate, "I have an appointnt with them, I'll head to Paris this week."
Martin then contacted Louise and Kelly and went to et Louise in person.
The following week, Martin took a vacation for himself, throwing all his work aside, and devoted his ti to traveling around with Lily and Elizabeth.
They even made a trip to Hawaii.
anwhile, "John Wick: Chapter 3" continued its hot run in North Arica. After a month of screenings, the pace of harvesting box office revenue visibly slowed, with a North Arican gross of 456 million US dollars.
Overseas, possibly missing the world's second-largest movie market, overseas box office revenue was always slightly behind North Arica, currently at 366 million US dollars.
Negotiations for offline distribution were also ongoing; Netflix proactively approached Davis Studio, wanting to purchase streaming rights for "John Wick: Chapter 3" for a first-year offer of 80 million US dollars.
However, the deal was preconditioned on the film not being released on DVD within half a year of leaving cinemas.
The two parties were still negotiating, as Netflix's offer wasn't high enough.
Although since 2012, Hollywood's DVD inco had been declining year-by-year, situations where a DVD could sell over 100 million US dollars a few months before release were bygone; still, for a blockbuster's first year, DVD sales reaching sixty to seventy million dollars were not a problem.
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