Chapter 154: Money, Bribes and Negotiations
When Anastasiya finished, Eleanor was astonished by how much the girl had absorbed about their future endeavour.
She asked curiously, "What about the budget allocation?"
Anastasiya responded with calm confidence, "We’ve planned for twenty billion U.S. dollars to complete the entire campus. Roughly five billion will go toward electricity and utility infrastructure, three for the metallurgical and crystal complex, nine for the trio of front-end fabs... including lithography tools, two for the back-end assembly and reliability labs, and one for the design center, logistics spur, and housing."
She paused briefly, then added, "The budget is flexible and can scale as process nodes shrink or output increases beyond the initial twenty-five thousand wafers per month. With every critical feedstock sourced from Russian soil, every utility generated in-house, and each stage of production housed behind a single fence, the plant will yield sovereign AI-grade semiconductors and satellite graphics engines. These products will leave the facility fully tested and ready for launch integration or field-rack installation."
Eleanor nodded, clearly satisfied. She looked fondly at the cheerful girl. "When do you want to return to Russia?"
Anastasiya said, "I think my work here is done. Maybe this week. I’ll let you know. I already asked Grandpa to secure the land we plan to buy, and he confirmed it with the authorities. The paperwork will be processed after I return. I also need to register a Russian limited liability company in Murmansk Oblast."
Eleanor asked, "Did Teresa receive the OFSI license already?"
"Yes," Anastasiya replied. "Though I was surprised to learn you need a license just to invest in Russia. But something confused me. Why does the paperwork say you’re not investing money but contributing non-monetary share capital? You’ve already sent your portion of the funds, haven’t you?"
Eleanor didn’t reveal how the money was actually sourced. Instead, she replied coolly, "Investing in Russia from the Kingdom or US is a bureaucratic nightmare. That’s why I transferred the money from offshore accounts. You probably didn’t check where it came from... it’s all from anonymous sources."
She paused, then continued, "There are sanctions in place. Regulations prohibit most new investments and technology transfers. If we want to move even a single dollar or piece of design IP, we need an OFSI license. That’s why we’re officially declaring that we’re not sending any funds or intellectual property to Russia. We’re simply sending our experts to help build the factory."
Anastasiya shook her head in disbelief. "So much trouble for such a small world. I’m amazed by how these puny humans complicate everything with their senseless pride."
