Prior, as part of the Ulaanbaatar City Urban Transportation Project (Ulaanbaatar Metro project) a study on metro development was conducted in 2013-2014 with non-refundable aid of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Even though the report was discussed at the Citizens' Representative Khural and approved by the National Security Council and the Japanese Government decided to issue USD 600 million soft loan, the project was stalled due to economic capacity and financial capabilities of the country.

According to the officials, we now have economic possibility of establishing metro by 2030, as reflected in the Urban Development Policy. Thus, the previous project has been resumed. It is estimated that USD 1.5 billion will be required to construct a metro in the capital city. Relevant officials noted financial issue can be resolved through domestic and foreign investment, public–private partnership and concession agreements.

The 17.7 kilometer underground line estimated to be established from the Officers' Palace to the Sonsgolon Bridge along the Peace Avenue connecting east to west. Suburban districts were planned to be connected with extended roads. Prior it special and electric bus (RTI and BTI) roads were planned to be set up in the capital previously.

The metro establishment in Ulaanbaatar city, which has over one million residents, would create 150 thousand jobs and increase the city’s budget revenue by 30 percent. It is predicted that by 2030, the capital city population will reach 1.7 million.
M.Anudar

Total cost incurred due to criminal acts reached MNT 103.4 billion, less than 15% of which have been compensated, says NSO.

A trend to note was the slump of administrative court decisions. Administrative court finalized a total of 786 cases in the first six months of this year. This is down by 26.5% compared to last year and twice as less than that of 2016. The preceding couple of years were remarkable as Parliamentary and Presidential elections took place, sparking rise in such cases led by government officials, most of whom claimed to be fired illegally as a result of change in administration.

According to the information provided at the Judicial General Council’s website, only election related administrative cases totaled 72 in 2016, when the Parliamentary election took place. The statis­ tics come out at a controversial time when amendments to the General administrative law is being highly debated. 92 percent of lawyers oppose the expected amendment to the law as it aims to free the Government from all judicial parties. This will mean citizens and entities will no longer be able to turn to court to claim their rights.

In this transaction, Frontclear borrowed USD 30 million in US Treasury bonds from the EBRD and then on-­lent them to the State Bank LLC in Mongolia against Mongolian local currency government bonds in a collateral swap transaction. Front­ clear guaranteed the transaction to EBRD. With the US treasuries in hand, State Bank LLC borrowed funds in a repo transaction with ING Bank N.V. Singapore branch.

"State Bank is delighted for successfully executing this inaugural transaction that provides possibilities to prac­tice the financial instrument in line with international best practice and facilitates development of interbank money market in broader perspec­tive in Mongolia" said Chinbat Lkhagvasuren, Director General of Treasury Department at the State Bank of Mongolia. State bank of Mongolia expects the long term, USD denominated financing will help increase affordable business loans in Mongolia.

"We are planning to install the device on 25 buses within July in the first phase," Khurelbaatar Bulgaa, deputy head of the Ulan Bator city's transportation department, told Xinhua.

According to Khurelbaatar, the installation of diesel particulate filter (DPF) on public buses has just started with non-refundable aid by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.

He added that the filter can remove 80 percent of diesel particulate matter.

"The filter should be cleaned after every 250 kilometers. A public bus runs in the capital city 200-300 kilometers per day. So, we decided to install the three DPFs on a bus in order to not disrupt the operation of public buses," he said.

Currently, more than 930 public buses are operating in the capital Ulan Bator, he said, and the cost of the installations of three DPFs on a bus is some 40 million Mongolian Tugriks (16,200 U.S. dollars).

Air pollution is the most pressing issue in Ulan Bator where more than 800,000 residents, over half of the city's population, live in slums. They have to rely on burning raw coal and other flammable materials such as plastics and old tires to stay warm and cook meals during the six-month-long winter season.

The Mongolian government announced in March that it would impose a ban on the burning of low-grade coal for domestic use in the capital beginning on May 15, 2019.

Since the early 2000s, the government of Mongolia in cooperation with international organizations have carried out a number of measures directed at reducing air pollution in Ulan Bator. However, the city has not seen a significant reduction in air pollution levels.

The city's air pollution on Jan. 30 exceeded 133 times above the safety level set by the World Health Organization.

Rosneft reported a sevenfold increase in its net profit for the first quarter of this year on the back of higher oil prices, event though production was lower. The company accounts for about 40 percent of Russia’s total oil production, which has made it key for the production cut Russia agreed with OPEC.

Now that production is once again on the rise following loud complaints from some of the biggest importers of crude, Rosneft stands to benefit more than smaller companies.

The company has made it clear that despite the production cuts, it was eager to boost production both domestically and internationally. It has also launched an ambitious overhaul that should see Rosneft buy back $2 billion in stock, slash capex by as much as 20 percent and raise its working capital by US$3.15 billion (200 billion rubles) by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the company is growing in places like Kurdistan and Nigeria. In May, the company announced the discovery of a potentially huge oil field in southwestern Iraq, and a month later, media reported that Rosneft would be partnering with a Nigerian company to develop 21 oil blocks across Africa.

Rosneft doesn’t have a significant presence in Africa except for a 30-percent stake in the giant Zohr gas field offshore Egypt in the Mediterranean, as well as some prospects in Mozambique.

Gaining access to more projects in Africa could be an important development for Rosneft to expand its global footprint, especially since US sanctions on Russia are not seen to be an issue in this region.

972-apartment building for rental purpose is under construction in Buyant Ukhaa-2 apartment complex. A portion of the USD 500 million loan from South Korea will be spent on the program.

Furthermore, the corresponding Ministries are studying possibilities and experiences from Asian countries and exchanging views with them on attracting investment from international market by issuing certified mortgage bonds. It is estimated to be possible to issue bonds secured by asset-backed loan of MNT 4.2 trillion. 
M.Anudari

By using the drone, it will become easy to monitor, document illegal activities and to estimate size of broken land using the special software.

The drone will be used not only in detecting illegal mining also in examining whether licensed entities are excessing amount of their field as well as combating with poaching and illegal logging.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation granted these drones to the GASI for inspection of artisanal and illegal mining activities.

B.Batchimeg

The tenth forum will be a major event for intensifying relations and development of neighboring areas of Mongolia, Russia and China and improving trilateral relations and cooperation as agreed by the heads of state of the three countries in the new circumstances of the implementation of China’s initiative One Belt, One Road.

The sides have regarded Erenhot as an active area for further deepening economic and trade exchanges within the One Belt, One Road initiative.
M.Anudari

Compared with the same period of previous year, total sown area decreased by 22.1 thousand hectares or 4.2 percent, thereof the wheat area decreased by 6.1 percent, industrial crops by 13.6 percent, medicinal herbs by 63.2 percent and potatoes area by 14.9 percent. However, fodder crops increased by 60.0 percent and vegetables by 3.9 percent respectively.

M.Unurzul