The Siberia job : based on a true story
(Book)

"Based on a true story."

Texas businessman John Mills and his Czech companion, Petr Kovac, travel to the furthest reaches of post-Soviet Russia to acquire vouchers for the country's national oil company, Gazneft, moving town to town with suitcases full of cash, until the Russian mafia and Gazneft catch wind of their successes.

After the demise of the Soviet Union, the newly established Russian government privatized its industry by issuing vouchers to all of its citizens, allowing them the chance to be shareholders in the country's burgeoning businesses. For the country's rural populations living in abject poverty, the vouchers appear to be little more than pieces of paper, totally separated from the far-off concept of potential future fortunes. For Texas businessman John Mills and his Czech companion, Petr Kovac, the seemingly valueless chits suggest a lucrative potential, worth much more than what the current owners are willing to sell them for. They acquire vouchers for the country's national oil company, Gazneft, roving from town to town with suitcases full of cash. But the plan has complications- and when the Russian mafia and the oligarchs in charge of Gazneft catch wind of their successes, the stakes become suddenly more deadly. -- adapted from jacket