Samsonov took a theatrical pause, and then said calmly, “Atlas.”
When the members grasped the meaning of what they had heard, there was a deafening uproar in the conference room. To make a deal with Gradbank’s main competitor, give up to them a great package of assets… That was unbelievable!
Samsonov waited for the noise to subside, and then started explaining calmly. As it turned out, he had conceived the operation a long time ago and made a secret of it for security reasons. The idea was to provide the bank, at the expense of its most dangerous competitor, with financial resources that could decide the matter in favor of Gradbank. Besides, Atlas was becoming the owner of assets that, although very valuable potentially, required considerable urgent investments to maintain the current liquidity and complete the necessary reorganization. That was going to tie the hands of Atlas even more.
“But the Atlas people are no fools. Why did they swallow that?” wondered the board members.
“Well, they didn’t – not off the bat; it took a while to bring them around. I had to do some seducing,” Samsonov replied. “Finally, greed took the better of them. They’ve long had an eye on this business of ours for which they have a greater need than we do since Atlas is after control over the city. As to the contest, they’re totally confident of winning it, so they decided to kill two birds with one stone. Then again, it would be a shame for them to miss such a chance. Mind you, I let them have the assets for half the price.”
“What?! …”
“Yes, for half of what they’re worth. Otherwise, Atlas would never rise to the bait – as you said, they’re no fools.”
Once more, there was a terrible uproar in the conference room. Agitated in the extreme, the board members spoke all at once, their heightened tones rising to shouting. The double oak doors were incapable of blocking the noise; it could be heard all around the floor. Apparently, it was for that eventuality that Sinitsin had cleared the place of all the staff.
In order to dampen the emotions a bit, Samsonov ordered a break.
After the break, the opposition launched a new attack. They believed that they had it in the bag since the director himself had admitted to squandering the bank’s assets. It appeared to have been a desperate move on his part – an attempt to break a hopeless situation he was in. Apparently, the director had lost his grip, and all it took to topple him over was one good final push.
Again, Samsonov quite politely gave the floor to everyone. Then, when the steam had been let off, he said, “Now, my dear colleagues, I ask you to kindly give me your attention. I’ll tell you how we are going to win the contest for Zaryadje XXI.”
And he did. Deliberately, point by point, he expounded the project financing scheme that had been suggested by Nina. He omitted some important details but presented the main points very clearly and colorfully.
The board members were stupefied – they had not heard of anything like that. The board consisted of financiers and lawyers. They showered Samsonov with technical questions. Samsonov answered them all calmly one by one, and as he was doing that, the board began to realize that the idea was not a groundless fantasy, but rather a real, although incredibly bold plan.
One more thing became clear. With the means gained from the sale of the utility business, Gradbank had enough resources to carry out such a plan while Atlas, drained of those means, was no longer up to anything like that.
The prospect of winning the contest loomed before the board, with all the ensuing huge opportunities which dwarfed the city utility assets to a mere trifle.
It was clear to everyone that Samsonov had won, and the opposition had been beaten. His antagonists tried to muddle the case by raising some other questions, but Samsonov was no longer polite. Not listening to anyone, he put his (and Nina’s) plan to the vote. The plan was approved by sixteen votes to five.
The defeated opponents suggested canceling the stockholders’ meeting scheduled for the next day, but now Samsonov himself insisted on holding it. He also demanded that a vote of confidence be taken in him as director.
“In this critical time, what the bank needs is cohesion,” he argued. None of the board members dared to dispute that.
The stockholders’ meeting was held in an elite out-of-town hotel located in a beautiful countryside. Contrary to the expectations, it did not last long.
Before the meeting, Samsonov was approached by the five remaining dissenters.
“You win, Pavel Mikhailovich. Let’s make peace. We’ve decided not to speak against you at the meeting.”
“Glad to hear that, my friends, but that’s not good enough,” Samsonov responded cheerfully. “I said that the bank needed cohesion. It seems, you didn’t quite get my point. I’m going to propose some changes to the board roster. I’m afraid, you won’t find your names on it.”
The former opponents were choked by anger, but they were men of business and knew when they had lost a game.
“Pavel Mikhailovich, there’s no point in wasting us. Name your price.”
“Really, why waste you?” Samsonov replied as cheerfully. “I just wanted the board to be solid for the contest. To act as a clenched fist, so to speak. This means that at the meeting, each of you in turn must take the floor and speak in support of the project Zaryadje and me as director. I hope you will be convincing.”
The opponents took the floor and were quite convincing. Pavel Mikhailovich Samsonov and his policy were given an almost unanimous vote of confidence.
He called when Nina was in the kitchen, about to fry some eggs. It was the first time she heard his voice on the phone, and she did not recognize him.
“Nina?”
“Who’s that? … Papa, is that you?”
“No, sorry… It’s Samsonov,” said the voice.
Nina dropped an egg which she had had in her hand. The egg broke and spread out on the floor as an ugly yellow pool.
“Pavel Mikhailovich! …”
Taken by surprise, she could not utter anything else.
“Nina, you remember that we’re partying tonight?”
“Partying? …”
“What’s wrong with you, Nina?” laughed Samsonov. “You don’t know anything? Shame on you. How can you be so indifferent to the life of your company?”
Finally, Nina came to herself and realized that Samsonov was referring to the results of the board meeting and stockholders’ meeting. She really did not know anything – she had slept through it all and was just about to call Gradbank to inquire about things.
“I’m sorry, Pavel Mikhailovich. Did it go well?”
“Very much so. Some bad guys tried to knock us over, but we beat them off and now we’re back in the saddle.”
Samsonov was not bragging, but he was not hiding his triumph either.
“I am very glad,” Nina said.
In fact, she was happy for her man, although it meant an end to her dream of becoming the only employee of the befallen Pavel Mikhailovich.
“We owe a lot of our victory to you,” Samsonov added seriously. “You are our hero. I’ll reward you for that, trust me.”
“It’s nothing, Pavel Mikhailovich, you don’t have to…” Nina murmured, showing due modesty. In fact, she was in seventh heaven.
“Well, then, it’s eight o’clock at…” Samsonov named one of the city’s most expensive restaurants which was hired up completely by Gradbank for the night.