Political parties demand to nationalize OT www.ubinfo.mn

Amid fraud charges in Mozambique and Guinea, Rio Tinto is facing another turmoil in one of its major projects. After the bribery allegations of Mongolia’s ex-finance minister Bayartsogt Sangajav, who is currently under investigation of Swiss prosecutors and Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia, Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, Civil Will-Green Party, Green Party and Mongolian National Democratic Party held a press conference on the issues concerning Oyu Tolgoi investment agreement. The coalition is demanding the Government officials to terminate the investment contract and investigate the people involved. With the case being added up to Rio’s current challenges, Mongolian political parties are looking to detach Rio from its (as Rio Tinto's copper and coal group chief development officer Craig Kinnell described in 2015) biggest and best project across the group. The representatives of four political parties, including the former president Enkhbayar Nambar, claimed that Rio Tinto undervalued the resources of Oyu Tolgoi at USD 400 billion at the time of signing, which was allegedly evaluated at USD 600 billion by international organizations.

Revised law on labor submitted to Parliament Speaker www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The revised Law on Labor has been submitted to Parliament Speaker M.Enkhbold by Minister of Labor and Social Protection S.Chinzorig.

Hong Kong and Mongolia sign agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters www.info.gov.hk

The Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, and the Consul-General of Mongolia in Hong Kong, Mr Samdan Erdene, signed a bilateral agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters (MLA agreement) in the Central Government Offices today (March 26) on behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Government of Mongolia respectively.

S. Korea, Mongolia discuss cooperation on economy, social exchange www.yonhapnews.co.kr

SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Mongolia on Monday discussed ways to step up cooperation on a range of sectors, including the economy, development and exchange between the peoples of the two countries, the foreign ministry here said.

New project launched to create 84 thousand jobs www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ An official launch of a project ‘Mongolia Employment Support Project’ took place on March 26 with an aim to encourage youth to create jobs and to develop their businesses.

Policy interest rate cut by one percent www.gogo.mn

Monetary policy council of the Bank of Mongolia made a decision to cut the policy rate by one percent and it is set at 10 percent.

Mongolia-South Korea intergovernmental commission convening www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Intergovernmental Commission between Mongolia and South Korea is holding its third meeting at the State House today.

The battle for China’s growing gas demand www.rt.com

Russia, in its efforts to develop its gas sector in as many geographical locations as possible, is also earmarking increased gas exports to China.
Russian natural gas giant Gazprom said that gas from its Siberia fields could start moving through pipelines to China within the next five years. The disclosure came as Gazprom representatives discussed the development of the Kovyktinskoye field with officials from the Irkutsk region in southeastern Siberia. The talks took place in Moscow on Tuesday.

Gazprom is shaping a major gas production center in the Kovyktinskoye field, which is unique in terms of its gas reserves (2.7 trillion cubic meters), Gazprom said. The energy giant is also preparing Kovyktinskoye to move from pilot development to commercial production.

In 2017, two exploratory wells were drilled and 3D seismic surveys covering 2,400 square kilometers were performed. Efforts are being made to design the site structures and facilities for production purposes, as well as having gas transmission capacities, Gazprom said in a statement. It is planned to start feeding gas from Kovyktinskoye into the Power of Siberia gas pipeline in late 2022, with a section of the pipeline to be laid in the Irkutsk Region.

Gazprom already has in place a 30-year sales agreement with state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) that calls for 1.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas per year through the pipeline.

CNPC, with a market cap of $229 billion, is the world’s third largest oil company and China’s largest oil and gas producer and supplier.

Nearing completion

On Wednesday, Gazprom said that the Power of Siberia pipeline had reached a 75.5 percent completion rate, which it called the most ambitions gas project in the global gas industry. Gas shipments from the project to CNPC are scheduled to start on December 20, 2019.

The disclosure also comes as China’s natural gas demand is increasing amid a government mandate requiring at least 10 percent of the country’s energy mix used for power generation to be derived from gas. Further mandates are set for the year 2030 and beyond. China has been trying to offset stagnant air pollution in its major urban centers by replacing coal needed for power generation with gas as well as for industrial and manufacturing end-users.

This increased gas demand caught global LNG markets by surprise this past winter, resulting in gas supply shortages for both residential and industrial consumers, particularly in Northern China.

China’s winter gas usage spike sent spot LNG prices in the Asia Pacific to three-year highs, breaking the $11/MMBtu mark, before trending downward again as cold weather subsided in Northern Asia.

China’s LNG imports hit record levels in January, totaling 5.18 million tons, compared with the previous record of 5.03 million tons set in December, up 51.2 percent from January 2017, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. China is the fastest growing LNG market in the world. Late last year, it passed South Korea to become the world’s second largest LNG importer after Japan.

China’s increased LNG usage could potentially help global LNG markets reach supply and demand equilibrium earlier than the often-forecasted date of 2022 or even later. Other variables in the equation include increased Qatari output, which will see the country raise its liquefaction capacity from 77 mtpa to over 100 mtpa within the next five years, as well as a so-called second wave of LNG project development in the US that will start to come on-line after the start of the next decade. Australia, for its part, will soon have as many as ten major LNG export projects operational.

In an effort to go long on gas and not get caught flat footed again during another cold winter, CNPC also plans to build eight gas storage facilities with a total capacity of 21 billion cubic meters (bcm), China’s state run news agency Xinhua said.

The gas storage facilities, located in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, will cost more than 21 billion yuan ($3.3 billion dollars), said Ma Xinhua, general manager of PetrolChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company, a CNPC affiliate.

More LNG deals needed

China is also keen to lock in more LNG supply deals, with numerous producers, including American producers. Last month, US-based LNG exporter Cheniere Energy announced that it had signed two long term LNG supply and purchase (SPA) agreements with CNPC. Under the SPAs, CNPC subsidiary PetroChina International Company Ltd. will purchase approximately 1.2 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Cheniere’s Corpus Christi export terminal under construction in Texas. Cheniere said that the deal will help it move closer to expanding the site.

A portion of the supply will begin this year with the balance beginning in 2023, Cheniere said. The term of each SPA continues through 2043. The purchase price for LNG will be indexed to the Henry Hub price plus a fixed component.

The long-term SPAs follow a MoU reached in November between Cheniere and CNPC during President Trump’s trade visit to Beijing. “We expect these agreements to support the development of Corpus Christi Train 3, and we are now focused on completing the remaining necessary steps to reach a final investment decision later this year,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s President and CEO.

The SPAs mark the first-ever long-term deal between an American LNG exporter and a Chinese state-owned energy company. Cheniere was the first American company in the Lower 48 to export LNG and has already sold several LNG cargoes to Chinese companies on a spot basis.

Reuters, citing analysts, said that the deal should move Cheniere to the top of the pack of companies competing to build the next generation of US LNG terminals to meet possible supply shortages in the early 2020s.

China launches crude oil futures trading www.chinadaily.com.cn

SHANGHAI - China on Monday launched trading of the yuan-denominated crude oil futures contracts at the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, which is the first futures listed on China's mainland to overseas investors.

D.Mandakh: Number of foreign investors in Mongolia is increasing www.news.mn

This time we have interviewed Officer of Visa and Permit Department at Mongolian Immigration Agency, Mandakh.D, in order to inform foreign investors in Mongolia and foreign nationals who are willing to invest.

-Who is considered as the foreign investor in Mongolia?

-According to the Law of Mongolia on the Legal Status of Foreign Nationals, a foreign investor is defined as Mongolian citizen living abroad, a foreign national and a stateless person, who is investing in Mongolia. Also, the Investment Law of Mongolia clearly specifies the investor's definition and its rights and responsibilities.

-What kind of visa is issued for foreign investors in conformity with which regulation?

-There are 11 classifications of visas which apply to foreign nationals depending on the purpose of entry to the Mongolian border. For example business, investment, study, tourism, private purpose and so on.

The foreign investors shall enter Mongolia with 'T' visa. A foreign investor and senior management staff to work in a joint venture, branch or its representative office of foreign-invested entity may apply for “T” classification visa. The visa issuance is resolved in accordance with “The regulation on the issuance of Mongolian visa” ratified by the 338th government resolution and “The regulation on a residence of foreign nationals to Mongolia and its registration”, the government resolution numbered 340.

-What are the requirements of your agency to foreign investors? What should the foreign investors concern when applying for an investment visa and residence permit?

Generally, any country requires basic requirement which comprises of the creation of employment, a reality of investment, and a status of tax payments. Under the framework of this standard, our agency’s core requirement from the investors is focused on the actual investment, a creation of new jobs and tax payment history of foreign investors. All those relations are regulated by the government resolutions namely “The regulation on the issuance of Mongolian visa” and “The regulation on a residence of foreign nationals to Mongolia and its registration”.

When the foreign investor applies for investor’s visa and residence permit in Mongolia, it is essential to consider its documents completeness at an initial stage. Any permit or document issued by an authorized organization shall be revised whether the applicant has edited, forged or counterfeited it. You can find the list of documents to comprise which is available at our agency’s official website www.immigration.gov.mn and may contact a call center 1800-1882.

-The government of Mongolia has announced its commitment to attracting foreign investment. Is there any visa facilitation for foreign investors in this regard?

-The foreign investor receives longer residence permit rather than other types of visa applicants. The following things should be concerned to issue or extend residence permit for up to 3 years in compliance with the amendments of 2016 in the Law of Mongolia on Legal Status of Foreign Nationals. Herein: the permit from an authorized institution, an operation of the entity, status of tax payment and letting agreement as well as number of new employment they avail.

Our organization has introduced 'Appointment service” dedicated to foreign investors since 2017, which applies to international standard. By doing so, we have eased the public service which saves the time and energy of foreign nationals. So far, the world has been using technological advances and high speed of internet everywhere.

-Foreign investment has dropped in recent years, though it seems to revive. Could you mention the latest statistics and information?

-The number of foreign investors with a residence permit for the year of 2016 to 2017 has increased. For example, a foreign investor with residence permit is 967 in 2016 whereas 1121 in 2017. The number of residence permit extension is 2178 in 2016 and 2565 in 2017, which means it has increased respectively.

-Do you have any additional notice about the rights and obligations of foreign investors?

-I would like to notify few things related to a request for a residence permit. A foreign investor who requests to get residence permit of Mongolia shall enter with “T” classification visa of an investor and must be registered within 7 working days and apply for the residence permit within 21 calendar days to the Mongolia Immigration Agency right afterward the entry to the Mongolian border. The foreign investor must arrive at Mongolia Immigration Agency by himself/herself or may send his/her accredited delegate with necessary documents to extend the residence permit.

When extending the residence permit, the foreign investor’ status of tax payment and a regularity of action shall be revised, moreover, the entity’s functioning office and implementation of foreign investment in the country shall be reviewed in essential cases by officials of the Mongolia Immigration Agency.

Please consider if the entity is deemed to have no certain function or avoided to pay tax or forged some document shall be the subject to cancel the foreign investor’s residence permit.