During the flight, Wang Ye had not been idle.
He held a thick folder in his hands, flipping through it. Inside were the résumés and background materials Elena had gathered in advance on the relevant figures in each place they would be visiting.
All the key figures were included, even opposition figures with considerable popular support. Everything was there!
Because Ukraine would also be holding presidential elections next year!
The current president, Kuchma, had already served two consecutive terms, a full ten years.
The old fellow was quite a formidable character too.
During his ten years in office, he had maneuvered smoothly between all sides, wavering back and forth while maintaining fairly good relations with both Russia and Europe and America.
And although the domestic economy was not doing particularly well, it had at least grown every year, which was barely acceptable.
If he had to point out a flaw, it was that during Kuchma's time in office, numerous oligarchs had also emerged—more than in Russia, if anything...
It was said that he had already made it clear that he would not participate in next year's election, nor would he endorse any "successor." Instead, he would let the major factions compete freely. Whoever won was fine; it had nothing to do with him anymore.
The three candidates currently enjoying the strongest support were Yushchenko, Yanukovych, and Tymoshenko!
Put simply, Yanukovych was one of their own, Yushchenko stood on the other side, while Tymoshenko had yet to show any obvious leanings.
Before the visit, Gebliev had spoken with Wang Ye on behalf of the Kremlin.
He had subtly suggested that during this visit, Wang Ye should try to build some momentum for Yanukovych and offer him some advice.
Because "he" hoped Yanukovych could win next year's election!
Wang Ye understood immediately