118: Chapter 118 Over $100 billion in available procurement funds

Major General Zaha followed General Faraj's orders and quickly contacted Li Yi.

"Major General Zaha, are you urging the delivery of the first batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles?" Seeing the call from Major General Zaha, Li Yi assumed that since Syria had just paid with oil and natural gas, they wanted to get the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles as soon as possible.

"If the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles could be delivered as soon as possible, that would be for the best." Major General Zaha was naturally happy to see the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles arrive in time.

"It is estimated to take another two days." Li Yi had no choice but to say.

"There is another matter. We intend to continue procuring a batch of weapons and equipment. The scale of this procurement will be very large, but we will also require a relatively urgent delivery time." Major General Zaha stated his purpose.

"As long as you can pay the deposit in time, we can complete the delivery quickly." Li Yi was not worried about the delivery issue.

"Then when will you have time? We need to discuss the specific details of the procurement." Major General Zaha wanted to complete the negotiations as soon as possible.

"Then let's make it 9:00 AM tomorrow. Still in Beirut." Li Yi had intended to return to Pengcheng, but it seemed he would have to postpone.

"No problem." Major General Zaha said quickly.

The next day, the negotiations began promptly at the agreed time.

Major General Zaha stated his position right away, saying, "The scale of funds we are using for this procurement is very large. Therefore, we need to complete the delivery quickly, and subsequent orders must also be given priority for delivery."

Li Yi naturally had no objections to this, saying, "As long as your procurement funds exceed 50 billion USD, we can promise that the delivered weapons and equipment will prioritize your needs."

50 billion USD was just the amount of funds involved in the quantity of weapons and equipment Major General Zaha intended to procure this time; the procurement funds Syria was using far exceeded this amount.

Major General Zaha said quickly, "The procurement funds Syria is using this time are at least 100 billion USD, so we must require priority delivery and guaranteed quantities."

"No problem. So, specifically how much procurement funds are you using this time?" Li Yi asked curiously, as it was said to be over 100 billion USD in procurement funds.

"600 million barrels of oil and 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Among them, we will pay 300 million barrels of oil and 90 billion cubic meters of natural gas within one month, and for the following three months, we will pay 100 million barrels of oil and 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas each month." Major General Zaha threw out a bombshell order.

"So much?" Li Yi was also stunned by the huge order thrown out.

"We have leased quite a lot of oil and natural gas from Russia. This is the oil and natural gas that Russia will deliver to us in the first year." Major General Zaha did not hide it; he knew that there were very few countries that could provide so much oil and natural gas.

"Then we have calculated the amount of procurement funds you can use." Li Yi wanted to finalize it as soon as possible.

Currently, the international oil price is 71.9 USD per barrel. With over 500 million barrels of oil, calculated at a 30% discount on the international oil price, the price is 50.33 USD per barrel. The value of 600 million barrels of oil is 30.198 billion USD.

The international natural gas price is 684 USD per 1,000 cubic meters. With over 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas, calculated at a 28% discount on the international natural gas price, the price is 492.48 USD per 1,000 cubic meters. The value of 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas is 73.872 billion USD.

The total value of the oil and natural gas Syria is using this time is 104.07 billion USD. It is already a huge order exceeding 100 billion USD.

Li Yi told Major General Zaha the calculation results. Major General Zaha calculated it, and it was a bit higher than the expected amount, so he quickly agreed to determine the total available procurement funds based on this price.

Major General Zaha then immediately reported the procurement plan finalized with General Faraj to Li Yi.

After reading it, Li Yi asked, "Isn't the procurement of armored vehicle ammunition a bit low? 400,000 shells, based on a consumption of 4,000 shells per day, can only support 100 days. If large-scale combat occurs, the consumption speed will be faster, and it won't even last two months."

Major General Zaha shook his head and said, "We are only procuring this many shells for now. If the consumption of shells is too high in the future, we will place another order for procurement then."

Li Yi refused to give up and continued, "The quantity of machine gun ammunition is also on the low side, only 100 million rounds. According to the configuration of 3,500 rounds of machine gun ammunition per armored vehicle, you have procured 8,000 armored vehicles. Just to equip these armored vehicles once requires 28 million rounds. 100 million rounds can't support many battles at all."

Major General Zaha still shook his head firmly and said, "We will continue to procure more when it's not enough. We don't intend to procure too much ammunition for now."

Li Yi had to give up on persuading them to procure other supporting missiles. Since they weren't even willing to increase the procurement of shells and machine gun ammunition, it was impossible to persuade them to procure more supporting missiles.

Li Yi calculated the total price of Syria's procurement plan, and the total payment amount was 46.46 billion USD. Major General Zaha agreed with this as well. After all, he and General Faraj had calculated the funds involved in the procurement plan.

After seeing that Major General Zaha had no objections, Li Yi said, "Syria's total available procurement funds are 104.07 billion USD. This procurement plan uses 46.46 billion USD, leaving 57.61 billion USD, right?"

"That's right." Major General Zaha felt that having more than 50 billion USD left was a bit too much.

"Do you want to continue procuring? We also have fighter jets for sale, and naval vessels like destroyers can also be sold." Li Yi wanted to make Syria consume more of their procurement funds.

"No more procurement. We don't have enough pilots and naval officers, so we can't equip fighter jets and naval vessels. Besides, our main combat targets now are the USA troops in Syria and the Opposition Armed Forces they support. We don't need to use fighter jets and naval vessels for the time being." Major General Zaha was not tempted by Li Yi to continue buying.

"Alright then. Since the procurement funds you are using this time exceed 100 billion USD, we will speed up the delivery. It can be divided into two batches. The first batch will be delivered after we receive the 300 million barrels of oil and 90 billion cubic meters of natural gas you pay, and the second batch will be delivered after we receive the 100 million barrels of oil and 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the second month."

Li Yi decided to finish delivering the weapons and equipment procured by Syria within two months, and then wait for an opportunity to continue inciting Syria to procure new weapons and equipment.

"That works. Just deliver the weapons and equipment for the first and second batches in equal quantities." Major General Zaha did not have a specific requirement for the quantity of delivery. Since it would all be delivered within two months, it didn't make much difference.