The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 537: The Soviet Union is very stable (please subscribe to the monthly ticket)

Up to now, no Chernobyl nuclear accident has occurred. Liu Tao can only attribute it to the good economy of the Soviet Union and sufficient funds to maintain nuclear power plants.

The beneficiaries of the first oil crisis were definitely not just the oil-producing countries in the Middle East.

The Soviet Union was also definitely a major beneficiary.

One very important reason why the Soviet Union was able to reverse the situation and enter a situation where the Soviet Union attacked and the United States defended was that the Soviet Union could obtain a large amount of funds from oil trade every year.

The Soviet Union has always been a major oil-producing country. In addition to its own use and that of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet Union's oil was exported to Western European countries. Western European countries were the main destinations for the Soviet Union's oil exports.

Since the 1973s, the Soviet Union's oil exports to Western Europe have increased rapidly. In particular, when the first oil crisis broke out in , an energy crisis broke out in the West and oil prices in the international market soared, the Soviet Union took the opportunity to increase its oil exports to Western countries.

1970年出口量不到4000万吨，1975年增加到5300万吨，增幅达到了惊人的32.5%。到了1976年，苏联对西欧国家出口石油达到了5900万吨，增幅达到了11.3%。1979年的时候，更是增加到6920万吨。

The Soviet Union surpassed the United States to become the world's largest oil producer in 1976 and has held the top spot for the past decade.

At present, the Soviet Union produces 1300 million barrels of oil per day, of which about 30% is exported. Moreover, the Soviet Union does not export crude oil like the Middle Eastern countries, but often exports refined oil. According to the current Soviet oil production and export volume, the Soviet Union can earn nearly $1500 billion a year from oil exports.

Among the Soviet Union's foreign exports, oil exports accounted for a very high proportion, reaching more than 70%.

In many Western European countries, the total export value of Soviet oil, natural gas and petrochemical products is very high, and it is not uncommon to exceed 50% or even 70%.

For example, Italy, Sweden, Austria, West Germany and other countries have a rate of over 80%, and even France has reached over 60%.

In 1979, the Soviet Union sold oil to Western Europe at a price of US$10 to US$14 per barrel, making a profit of US$134 billion.

Now that the price of oil is over $35 per barrel, the foreign exchange earned is even greater.

These foreign exchange earnings were more than enough to meet the Soviet Union's needs for importing food and industrial consumables from the West.

Every year the Soviet Union imported large quantities of machinery, equipment, food and raw materials from Western Europe.

So even though NATO and the Warsaw Pact would engage in verbal battles every now and then and curse at each other from time to time, the fact is that the Soviet Union and Western Europe had very close economic exchanges in private.

This was also the Soviet Union's intention. In addition to earning foreign exchange, the Soviet Union exported oil to Western European countries for political purposes. The Soviet Union hoped to deepen Western European countries' dependence on it for energy by exporting large amounts of oil.

Faced with cheap and stable Soviet oil supply, Western European countries with huge energy needs found it difficult to refuse. Since the 70s, almost all Western European countries have imported large quantities of Soviet oil, and many countries are long-term and stable customers of Soviet oil.

Although international crude oil is the same, you have to know that the Soviet Union transported oil and natural gas to Western European countries through pipelines, and the transportation cost was much lower.

The Soviet Union is doing well now, and the Warsaw Pact is still very stable. It can be said that the high oil prices are a major reason for this.

This is also an important reason why the United States is trying hard to suppress oil prices.

Because the United States discovered that the Soviet Union earned a lot of foreign exchange through oil exports and had increasingly close economic ties with Western European countries. Even though the Soviet top leaders were caught up in a power struggle, the Soviet Union was doing fine. This is simply unforgivable.

What makes the United States even more angry is that the Soviet Union has now successfully lobbied Western European countries to pay for the construction of new natural gas pipelines and oil pipelines.

If this continues, the two sides will probably be as close as wearing the same pair of pants.

Just when Liu Tao was about to leave Beijing, a piece of news quickly spread throughout the world, causing a sensation in the United States and the world.

That was the 'Iran-Contra affair'!
The secret sale of weapons by the United States to Iran was revealed. Once the secret was made public, the world was shocked. Reagan was widely criticized in the United States. He encountered his own "Watergate scandal".

You must know that since the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty, the United States and Iran have become enemies, transforming from former close allies to mortal enemies.

The United States has wielded the stick of sanctions, freezing Iran's assets in the United States, and banning the import of Iranian oil, the sale of weapons to Iran, etc. Over the years, the American media has portrayed this enemy and mortal enemy as a tyrant dictatorship, a backward system, etc.

Americans hate this bitter enemy and mortal foe no less than they hate Libya and Gaddafi.

However, in this situation, Reagan secretly unfrozen Iran's frozen assets and sold weapons to Iran.

This is simply unbelievable.

And many people feel that they have been kept in the dark and deceived.

Americans were burning with anger and kept criticizing the Reagan administration.

Liu Tao looked at the news with a gloating expression.

I would rather die than have my friend die. The more chaos, the better!

Only when things are in chaos can you fish in troubled waters.

If the big brother is as steady as a rock, how can the younger brothers under him have a chance to turn the tables and become the boss!

Liu Tao left the capital humming a song and returned to Lu Island.

After arriving at Lu Island, local staff took Liu Tao, Zhao Guoping and others to enjoy a seafood dinner, and then they visited Gulangyu Island together.

These days, Zhao Guoping has completed most of his inspections and discussions.

Developing and building a modern port is not an easy task. It requires a lot of capital investment and local cooperation.

Ludao is blessed with a unique geographical location.

Ludao is very close to Kinmen, which was an important reason why Ludao was chosen for the "mini three links".

As for the three links, Ludao is one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Many people in Taiwan can take a boat to Ludao, and then enter the mainland from Ludao to return home to worship their ancestors, invest, travel, etc.

It can be said that the reason why the higher authorities asked Panshan Group to invest in the construction of Ludao Port was for the sake of Treasure Island.

This is not only a political task, but also involves a lot of interests.

Liu Tao is very optimistic about Ludao Port. Once it is well developed, Ludao Port will have a better future than Rongcheng Port because Ludao, Narcissus City and Licheng are located in the largest plain in the entire Fujian Province and also have the largest number of overseas Chinese.

Moreover, with the agreement reached between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Straits Exchange Foundation, direct shipping, air transport and postal services between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been fully launched, announcing the arrival of the era of "three links" between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Liu Tao believed that as long as Ludao Port was successfully developed, the entire Ludao Port would be a golden hen that laid eggs, no less valuable than the port in Hong Kong.

Now that Panshan Group has a large amount of funds, it is natural to invest it.

The investment and construction of Rongcheng Port and Ludao Port is a political task, but it does not prevent him from making profits for the future development of Panshan Group while completing this political task.

After staying in Lu Island for three days, Liu Tao and his team left Lu Island. As for the specific planning, design and implementation, there will naturally be a special team to operate it.

(End of this chapter)