Coercion by Tim Tigner Read Free Book Online Page B

found work to do.  Podoltsev, like most communist bureaucrats, was more concerned with preserving his own privileged status than with promoting his business or protecting his people.  Vasily had that very characteristic in mind when he put Podoltsev in place: it maximized his control.
    Walking across the office, Vasily paid the director no attention.  Instead, he watched the woman Podoltsev was speaking with as she turned to look over her shoulder.  Her face flushed and she too scrambled to her feet.
    Vasily had been affecting people that way for several years now.  His progressive policies had turned around Siberian industry and made him the darling of the local press.  Still, he had not gotten used to the stares.
    He extended his hand.  “Good morning.  I don’t believe we’ve met.  I’m Vasily Karpov.”
    “Orlova, Luda Orlova.  I’m a Senior Accountant here at SibOil.  It’s a privilege to meet you, General.”
    “Please, call me Vasily.”  He flashed her a smile.  “And tell me, Luda, what have you done to put such a sour look on your director’s face?”
    “It seems we have an accounting discrepancy, Vasily,” Podoltsev hastened to say.
    “Why don’t you tell me about it, Luda.”
    Luda lowered her eyes and then gave a glance over at Podoltsev, who returned a single nod.  “Our customer in Libya, the Libyan Oil Company, paid us twice for our shipment this month, ten million dollars instead of five.  So I placed a call to LOCo accounting to find out if they wanted us to refund the money or credit it to next month.  When the operator asked who was calling, I said I was from SibOil and she put me straight through to their president.”  She paused and looked up nervously for a second before returning her eyes to the floor.  “Before I could say a word, LOCo’s president began apologizing for the mistake.  He said that his CFO had been in an automobile accident while he himself was out of town, and that the substitute accountant didn’t know that half the money for SibOil was supposed to go to Knyaz.”
    Karpov canted his head and raised his eyebrows in query.  No wonder Podoltsev looked pale, he thought.
    “I asked the president of LOCo why he would send half our money to a company named Knyaz and he said ‘ What do you mean why?  That’s what we’ve always done.’  At that point, I didn’t know what to think and I didn’t want to risk offending him, so I said, ‘Is there anything I can do for you?’  He said, ‘Yes.  Give Podoltsev my apologies and tell him it won’t happen again.’”
    “And that’s when you came to see Podoltsev?”  Vasily asked.
    “Yes.  Well, it took me a while to get in to see The Director, so I did some calculations while I was waiting.”
    Vasily watched from the corner of his eye as Podoltsev squirmed his way from pale to red.
    “We’ve been working with LOCo since we first started pumping oil.  If they’ve been sending half our money to Knyaz all these years as their president said, then as of this month, Knyaz would have four hundred fifty five million dollars of our money.  I know that’s a ridiculous idea, especially since all our oil is accounted for, but I wanted to be thorough.”
    Vasily flashed his eyes in admiration and gave Luda a little chuckle.  “So tell me, Luda, what do you think really happened?”
    “I think LOCo has SibOil confused with another of its suppliers.  Knyaz is also a Russian name, although I’ve never heard of them.  Perhaps he thinks we’re all the same.”
    “I’m sure you’re right,” Vasily said.
    Luda continued.  “But there is still the issue of the extra five million dollars.  The daily interest is more than I earn in a year.”
    “Well, that will surely teach them not to make the same mistake twice.  Tell me, Luda, where was your boss during all this?”
    “Mr. Ivanov is at an accounting seminar in Moscow all week.”  She looked frightened.  “I would normally have left