On 7 January, Kohler visited the Soviet Union in his capacity as chairman of the CDU and met separately with CPSU leaders in Moscow.

In the name of his visit, Switzerland strengthened cultural exchanges with the countries of the East, and invited musicians from the Soviet Union to attend this year's Lucerne Classical Music Festival.

But the matter had already been negotiated, and his real purpose was to act as a lobbyist for Hoffman's investment bank.

On 8 January, after receiving the news that things were going well, Jonas flew on his Piaggio small business jet to Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia.

He was accompanied by Ursula, a capable general, as well as the head of the asset management center, Wolff, and the secretary general of the Federation Council, Berg.

There has never been a car brand in Switzerland, and REHAU, the largest manufacturer of auto parts, mainly supplies accessories to German car brands.

Although Switzerland is in the heart of Europe, more than 60 percent of its land is mountainous, and less than 30 percent of its land is inhabitable, excluding water and roads.

In addition, less than 10% of the land in Switzerland has a half-metre-deep layer of soil, and only such land can grow food, while the rest of the land has only a thin layer of soil, which can only be used for grass.

Such a resource-poor country does not have the foundation to become an industrial country in itself.

But the Swiss never gave up on the industrial dream and have always been committed to developing a Swiss-led industrial union.

Nestlé, for example, has only one headquarters in Switzerland, but dozens of countries outside of Switzerland have large plantations and supply bases.

For example, Novartis and Roche, two door-to-door pharmaceutical groups, are also among the top five multinational pharmaceutical companies in the world, with a large number of industries in countries around the world.

ABB Group, from the 70s to 2019, was the world's largest electrical components company, and most of its industries are also abroad.

Switzerland is also home to the world's largest cement producer, and the majority of factories are also abroad.

In addition, there are Liebherr, as well as the world's leading industry hegemons such as Artic, whose development bases are all abroad.

If only Switzerland relies on tens of thousands of square kilometers of land and a population of six or seven million, it is simply impossible to cultivate more than a dozen world-class industry hegemons.

Switzerland is best known for its banks, and although UBS and Credit Suisse have not yet developed into world-class commercial banks, there is no bank that can compare with them in the field of private banking.

In addition to the two banks, Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Re Group, and Chubb Insurance Company are also world-class financial giants.

Compared with other countries, Switzerland has a natural capital advantage, and can integrate the industrial system through finance and deploy around the world.

It can be said that if Jonas had been born in a country like England and Germany, it would have been impossible for him to get the full support of the government to develop his business empire outside the borders.

Jonas's success in investing in the Austrian stock market last year was impressive.

Through a stock market crisis, Jonas directly controlled dozens of Austrian auto parts companies and now owns Steyr, Austria's largest car factory.

This also allows politicians to see a new investment model, that is, to use Switzerland's financial advantages, with Switzerland as the lead, to improve the industrial system in countries where there is a shortage of capital and technology.

At this time, the Czech Republic became an excellent target.

Today, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are still one country, and after World War II, they were the eighth most economically powerful country in the world.

But decades of faulty development have led to the decline of this once industrial power.

Skoda, which was once as famous as Krupp's military factory and automobile factory, has been unable to keep up with the development of the times after more than ten years of capital and technology disconnection.

The military factories were still supported by the Soviets, and the Skoda cannon was still the most reliable heavy weapon.

But the replacement of cars is very fast, and the Skoda car, which was once the pride of the Czech Republic in the fifties, would have gone bankrupt long ago if it had not been for the desperate support of the government.

Bankruptcy is out of the question, and more than 20,000 workers in the factory need a job.

However, the people of the Eastern Camp have limited spending power, and in terms of cheapness, Skoda does not compete to win the Polonaise and Lada cars.

In terms of technology and comfort, they are already a generation behind the cars of Western Europe.

From the sixties, when they introduced the Skoda 1000MB model, it has been almost twenty years since the 85s, and not a single new car has been released.

At this time, the olive branch invested by Hoffman Investment Bank was regarded as a lifeline by them.

The plane landed at Havel International Airport, and at the customs exit, Jonas met with officials from the Czech Ministry of Automotive Industry, the Central Committee of the Czech Communist Party, the Škoda Automobile Plant, and the security services.

Siroki, the head of the CPZ, did not slack off in the slightest for the young Jonas, shook Jonas's hand, and said cordially: "This morning, we received instructions from the CPSU that we should open our minds and be compatible before changing the arduous task of industrial reform that the Czech Republic is now facing. ”

Jonas also expressed his kindness. "Hoffmann Investment Bank is an ambitious company, and we have a clear understanding of and preparation for the changes in the automotive industry today. We are willing to work with people of insight from different countries and different ideas to find a win-win path together. ”

As long as the CPSU does not stop the predicament that Skoda is now facing, Jonas has a great hope of winning the pride of the Czech nation.

Of course, the national brand of Skoda must be preserved, and employees cannot be fired without cause.

These two points are insisted on by the Czechs, but Jonas does not care.

Skoda is the second car company after Mercedes-Benz, and the brand's reputation in Europe is quite good.

Although they are now experiencing difficulties, this is due to political and institutional reasons.

In the next 87 years, they launched the Favorit model, which also showed good market power after being acquired by Volkswagen.

As for the skilled workers, Jonas cherished it too late, how could he be willing to fire.

The new factory in Huaxia needs a lot of skilled personnel, and Jonas is even considering sending their retired workers back to Huaxia.

Therefore, for other companies, it is difficult to agree to these two conditions. Because this will bring brand differentiation and a heavy burden to the company, but it is not a burden for him.

In the future, Volkswagen's acquisition of Skoda was half sold and half given away at the beginning, and later the wholly-owned holding did not cost much money.

The key reason is that Volkswagen agreed to these two conditions.

The car headed east into the city, which is known as the most beautiful city in Europe.

From the fifteenth century, the Czech principality and the Kingdom of Bohemia, where the Czech Republic was located, became one of the richest countries in Europe.

Prague has developed since that era, and in the centuries since, the city has not been traumatized, although the region has undergone several changes of power.

The city is a museum of history and, in the future, the first city in the world to be declared a World Heritage Site.

Accompanying Jonas in the same car was Plzeň, the minister of the Ministry of Motor Industry, who spoke German so fluently that he did not need an interpreter for him.

Along the way, he introduced Jonas to the monuments of Prague and was clearly proud of the city.

Compared with the politeness and detachment in Jonas's car, there is a lot of hypocrisy between the two Siroki, who are in the same car with Berg.

Both of them are old politicians, and there are countless topics to talk about the relationship between the two parties and the relationship between the two countries.

The chairman of the Skoda joint council, who was in the same car as Ursula, and the secretary of the Skoda company, who was in the same car as Wolff, had more enthusiasm between them.

They know the current situation of Skoda best, and they also know that the current Hoffmann investment bank from Switzerland is their greatest hope.

Although Hoffmann Investment Bank is not a full-fledged car company, it is precisely because of this that Skoda is sure to gain attention.

This can be seen from the development trajectory of the Steyr factory.

The Steyr factory has the most advanced automotive technology and technology accumulation in Central Europe, but under the pressure of Germany, they can only survive as an OEM.

They have complete and mature technology and are surrounded by the largest parts industry base in Central Europe, but they cannot produce their own cars.

But immediately after being acquired by Jonas, Steyr began to develop in faraway China, and their cooperation with the second automobile brought bright future to the factory.

The convoy drove into a group of villas in the woods by the Vltavar River, and when he saw the red cross sign at the entrance, Jonas couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

Plzeň proudly explained: "This is the best sanatorium in Prague, and the leaders of the CPSU came to the Czech Republic and stayed here. For Mr. Hoffmann's arrival, we, the Czech Ministries, are sincere enough. ”

Jonas smiled: "I also hope that our cooperation can be successfully reached." ”

He couldn't help but say: "At present, the CPSU is supportive, which means that there is not much obstacle to our cooperation." ”

Although this is his casual remark, it is also true.

As the Czech Republic closest to the West, they share a border with Western Europe and are not unaware of the development of the West.

The Czech Republic, which was originally at the same economic level as West Germany, has lagged far behind West Germany in recent years, and even Austria is inferior.

When the Soviets did not object to their plan to cooperate with Hoffman Investment Bank, they were even more afraid that the Soviets would backtrack and re-obstruct the negotiations.

Therefore, many of the negotiation terms are not taken seriously, and can even be called generous.

After Jonas promised not to fire workers for business reasons without cause and to keep the Skoda car brand, the negotiations went very well.

Hoffman Investment Bank will invest $200 million to acquire 50 percent of Skoda's shares, including the Mlada Boleslav main plant, and three other branches in three other cities.

In addition, Jonas will invest $200 million in Huaxia to jointly build a car production plant with Skoda, and this factory, Hoffman Investment Bank, holds 70% of the shares.

Skoda has a stake in a production line for technology, production, including industrial transfer, and occupies 30% of the shares.

Since Jonas already owned 50 percent of Skoda, the Czechs' interest in the Huaxia factory was only 12.5 percent.

If we add up to the 50 percent stake in China, the Czechs actually acquired 6.25 percent of the shares with their brand and technology.