“I am not a dictator,” said Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the PM, during a heated session that lasted more than four hours.

“Some of you are thinking and are afraid that I might turn into a dictator – I assure you I won’t.”

In a council meeting earlier this month, Khurelsukh demanded that several high-ranking officials step down for various reasons, including incompetence, resulting in the vote to oust him from office.

One member of the prime minister’s cabinet resigned over corruption allegations.

The move to boot Khurelsukh comes just over a year after the prime minister was named to replace his predecessor, Jargaltulgiin Erdenebat.

In September 2017, Erdenebat too faced parliament over allegations of corruption, such as providing illegal cash allowances to voters, and was sacked along with his cabinet.

Political instability has been a constant problem for the young central Asian democracy, which passed its first constitution in 1992 after decades of communist rule.

The country has been through 15 different cabinets in the years since, each lasting an average of 1.5 years.

Citizens understand hazardous waste as only toxic chemicals. But even widely used batteries are hazardous. It is important that citizens have knowledge on possibilities to recycle their waste, Head of Environment and Natural Resource Management Department of the Ministry G.Nyamdavaa highlighted during the conference.

He also added that our country disposes medical waste at certain level, nevertheless, it cannot remove chemical agents. Therefore, having sites for burying and recycling hazardous waste is becoming a pressing issue for us.

Hence, it is impossible to export hazardous waste, there is necessity to recycle it at home and dispose in a way of not causing adverse impact to the nature. A survey says that the country produces 10 thousand tons of hazardous waste nationwide a year, of which only 10-20 percent are recycled.

“Revised law on Waste was adopted by the Parliament in 2017 and it became possible for GASI to oversee entities that produce hazardous waste. The entities are now aware of damage and importance of hazardous waste management,” said U.Ulziitsetseg, Senior environmental inspector at GASI.

At the end of the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, GASI and EBRD released recommendation on reduction of hazardous waste in Mongolia to submit it to the Cabinet and other relevant organizations.

Although the indicator was MNT 42 billion in surplus in September, the surplus shifted into a loss of MNT 240 billion within a month. As for the same period of last year, the balance sheet of domestic commercial banks was at MNT 220 billion in surplus.

Also, the amount of non-performing loans (NPL) reached MNT 1.9 trillion which is 11.9 percent of total gross loans. Total amount of NPL jumped by MNT 600 billion or 45 percent month over month.

Mongolian Bankers Association, in its February 2018 report, explained that the loss is related to the measures under the Asset Quality Review, which was organized within the frames of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.

At the completion of the sixth review under the Extended Fund Facility program, the IMF team warned, “The undercapitalized have until end-December to raise the necessary new capital and failure to do so will face Central Bank intervention or be resolved as per the Banking Law.” The BoM informed that the undercapitalized banks increased their assets by MNT 140 billion as of yesterday. Furthermore, a BoM spokesperson noted that 2-3 banks are currently in systematic risk.

Analysts highlighted the fact that the percentage of NPL to total gross loans entering double-digits means is an alarming signal for the financial system. Due to inflation reaching 7 percent in Ulaanbaatar city, NPL to total gross loans totalling 12 percent and rapid depreciation of MNT rate, the BoM raised the interest rate to 11 percent from 10. On the contrary, the Parliament approved the 2019 State Budget with MNT 11.6 trillion expenditure and MNT 2 trillion in deficit. Local media outlets are pointing out that this will further increase debt pressure starting from 2021 when sovereign bond repayments are due.

Nearly 50 districts across the four western provinces were left without power. According to the Mongolian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), 13 power lines with a capacity of 330 kW were torn down by the strong winds.

According to the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, strong winds and heavy snow are expected to hit large parts of the country over the coming days.

The Adani Group, owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, said Thursday that its Carmichael mine in Queensland state will be "100% financed" through its own resources.
Construction of the project, which has been repeatedly delayed by protests from politicians and environmentalists, can now begin, Adani's mining chief Lucas Dow said.
"We will now deliver the jobs and business opportunities we have promised ... all without requiring a cent of Australian taxpayer dollars," Dow said in a speech in Queensland released by the company.

The proposed use of Australian taxpayer dollars had enraged opponents of the mine, who say it will be a "death sentence" for the Great Barrier Reef because of the high levels of carbon pollution that coal produces. Large parts of the reef have already been destroyed by rising ocean temperatures linked to global warming.
Adani has significantly scaled back its ambitions for the mine. It had projected production of 60 million tons of coal a year, but says now that it will peak at 27.5 million tons.

Adani had initially said it would spend about $12 billion on the project, which also included a new railway line and an airstrip. It did not reveal how much the smaller mine will cost.
"The project stacks up both environmentally and financially," Dow said on Wednesday, adding that the company is working with regulators to get the remaining approvals it needs to start actually producing coal from the mine.
Angus Watson contributed to this report

According to Sechin, the company supplied about 40 million tons of oil last year, “thereby providing about 6.5 percent of China’s total raw materials demand.”

The CEO said: “Taking into account the mutual trade turnover on already concluded contracts, the total volume of deals between Rosneft and its Chinese partners will exceed $500 billion by 2035.”

He noted that “Beijing, in turn, is interested in ensuring its energy security and reliable supply channels.”

Statistics show that Russia was the largest crude oil supplier to China for the past two years on an annual basis. Exports of Russian oil to China have more than doubled over the past six years, up by more than 550,000 barrels per day.

In 2011, Russia began supplying China with crude through the Skovorodino-Mohe branch of the ESPO pipeline. That followed Rosneft, Transneft, and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signing agreements.

Rosneft and CNPC inked a 25-year oil deal in 2014 worth $270 billion under which the Russian company is expected to supply 360.3 million tons of crude to China. Since then, Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s biggest crude supplier.

Last year, Rosneft agreed crude oil deliveries with China’s CEFC Energy. According to the agreement, the Russian oil major will supply CEFC with 60.8 million tons of oil annually until 2023.

Within the agreement, road transporters of the two countries will be allowed to provide freight and passenger transport services under a permission. In addition, the agreement will enable Mongolian people and entities to carry out third-country transport operations through Hungary, creating a favorable environment for them to travel and conduct businesses.

Present at the annual meeting were, 21 ambassadors of the EU and its member states, including the Federal Republic of Germany, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Austria, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and representatives of the diplomatic missions of other EU member states that are accredited to Mongolia.

On behalf of the ambassadors, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the EU to Mongolia, Mr. Traian Laurentiu Hristea gave remarks, in which he noted that the EU attaches importance to its relations with Mongolia. Ambassador Traian Laurentiu Hristea underscored the EU ambassadors’ commitment to promoting bilateral trade and investment relations and working towards the diversification of the Mongolian economy, as well as cooperating within the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and Mongolia, which came into force on November 1st, 2017.

Moreover, Ambassador Traian Laurentiu Hristea stressed that Mongolia should continue to put efforts into improving investment transparency and the environment while requesting the Government to remain committed to the dialogue with the EU and its member states.

During the meeting, President Battulga answered the questions of the ambassadors and discussed the development of tourism and agriculture sectors in Mongolia and policies and ongoing works that are being implemented in these sectors. For instance, President Battulga expressed interest in inviting European tourism and agriculture specialists to Mongolia and learning from their expertise. Furthermore, the President emphasized the importance of productive celebration of the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations between Mongolia and the EU, which will fall next year.

At the end of the meeting, the ambassadors thanked President Battulga for the audience and the open discussion. The ambassadors also expressed their confidence in the continuation of the annual meeting and that bilateral relations will flourish on all levels.

Deputy Governor of the BoM Lkhagvasuren Byadran stressed in his opening remarks that the bank is planning to annually organize the event and expand its scope as interrelations of wealth makers play an import part in actualizing state policies by preparing demand-driven policies. The meeting further touched upon the implementation of the 2018 Monetary Policy and economic challenges.

Myagmarjav Luvsandach, CEO of the MCS Coca-Cola LLC, remarked, “It is essential for the BoM to provide information on monetary policy, economic and financial situation for businesses, which are operating in an economy that is highly dependent from domestic and foreign environments, to be able to plan ahead,” and suggested to hold the meeting semi-annually before the cycle periods, such as the approval of monetary policy.

“Coordination between banks and financial institutions are necessary in the implementation of monetary policy. The State and government bodies need to regulate this,” recommended Khuyagtsogt Ognon, Deputy Director of Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE), and highlighted that there are currently 220 firms listed at the MSE. “Over 180 entities have been delisted so far. The current financial and economic situations are the main reasons here. Furthermore, private entities are lacking transparency that leads to delisting,” noted Mr. Khuyagtsogt.

Regarding foreign exchange (FX) rate, Unenbat Baatar, Chief Financial Officer at MobiCom Corporation LLC, addressed, “Tech companies require high amount of investment in the short-term; however, the shrink in purchasing power of consumers is causing MNT-based operations to have FX costs. We need protection measures for national currency via flexible swap deals that are in line with corporate plans of private entities.” He then highlighted that political risks in businesses and economy stand at around 70 percent. Participants at the meeting shared the same view on political risks. Former Parliament member and current CEO of Economic research and Training Institute Demberel Sambuu warned that sudden announcement of the Parliament on economy and finance is affecting the stability of business and economy.