120 billion MNT allocated for Ipotek loans in 2018 www.mongolia.gogo.mn

Under the proposed 2018 state budget, 120 billion MNT will be allocated for Ipotek loans.

The allocation for the 2017 state budget was 111 billion MNT. Since the implementation of the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility program, the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) has been financing Ipotek loans with bond financing.
The government has been responsible for financing in the form of coupon payments and 9 billion MNT distributed to commercial banks from the state budget each month. The BoM is financing 16 billion MNT in Ipotek-backed bonds and 25 to 35 billion MNT in loan financing is being allocated to commercial banks.
The government is expected to be in full control of the Ipotek loan program in 2018, as discussed with the IMF. The balance of Ipotek loans currently stands at 4.2 trillion MNT, with 77 percent of loans having a 5 and 8 percent interest rate and the remaining 23 percent of loans having bank financing.
In September 2017, 49.6 billion MNT in loan financing was granted to 808 borrowers, which brings the total number of Ipotek borrowers to 92,600. Ipotek loan approvals fell by two percent compared to September 2016.

Rio Tinto joins race for stake in world’s largest lithium miner www.mining.com

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) is said to be weighing an investment in Chile’s Chemical and Mining Society (SQM), the world's largest lithium producer, becoming the latest in a long line of companies interested in grabbing a stake in the Santiago-based miner.

According to Chilean news site El Mostrador (in Spanish), the Anglo-Australian giant is eying the 32% interest in SQM that Canada’s Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (TSX, NYSE:POT), the world’s largest producer of the fertilizer by capacity, has to sale to be allowed to merge with smaller rival Agrium (TSX, NYSE:AGU).

The Saskatoon-based potash miner is working with Goldman Sachs and BofA Merrill Lynch to sell its stake in SQM (worth about $4.5 billion at current market values), and so fulfill some of the conditions imposed by regulators in China and India to approve the company’s friendly merger with Agrium.

El Mostrador suggested Tinto Rio had already made a bid, potentially trumping Chinese companies Sinochem, Tianqi and GSR Capital, all of which had also expressed interest in SQM.

The news came on the heels of PotashCorp and Agrium announcing Tuesday that China’s ministry of commerce had approved the merger, but required the sale of PotashCorp’s minority holdings in Arab Potash Company and SQM within 18 months of closing, and Israel Chemicals Ltd. within nine months.

SQM, which has a market value at just over $15 billion, produced roughly 44 million tonnes of lithium carbonate last year and is developing new projects in Chile and Australia.

Rio's current incursion in the lithium market is mostly limited to its 100%-owned lithium and borates mineral project in Jadar, Serbia, which is still in the early stages of development.

While the company’s chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques has not ruled out acquisitions in recent comments to the market, he has also noted the company would only consider opportunities that make a "smart buy"
That’s why purchasing a stake in SQM would not be inconsistent with Rio's current strategy, said Investec in a note to clients, adding that such move would only provide a foothold in a sector where the company has some exposure, but with Jadar still many years away, "if it is developed at all".

Sources familiar with PotashCorp’s stake sale said in September that US chemical company Albenarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) had already expressed its interest in acquiring a piece of SQM.

If successful, such deal would give the Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm a leading position in Chile’s lithium sector, something the country’s government would try blocking at all costs.

Laws enacted in the 1970s and 1980s classify lithium as a “strategic” commodity for Chile on the grounds it can be used in nuclear-fusion power plants. While the South American nation is very unlikely to build one of those facilities any time soon, controls on lithium production remain and only two companies — SQM and Albemarle — are currently allowed to mine the white metal used in electric car batteries.

PotashCorp-Agrium merger to close by year-end

Meanwhile, the PotashCorp-Agrium merger is moving forward with the companies saying Tuesday they expect the deal close by year-end. To expedite the process, Agrium has agreed to sell its Idaho phosphate production facility for $100-million to fertilizer company Itafos. The move aims to address concerns of US regulators about the tie-up.

The companies said that the new company, to be called Nutrien, would create the world’s largest potash miner worth about $36 billion, including debt.

The merged firm is expected to achieve $500 million of annual operating synergies.

Nutrien will also be the second biggest producer of nitrogen fertilizer with operations in 18 countries and more than 20,000 employees worldwide.

November 08, 2017 trading report www.mse.mn

On November 08, 2017, 174,946 shares of 52 firms listed as Tier I, II, and III were traded. 27 firms’ shares increased in price, 17 decreased and 8 remained unchanged. Juulchin Govi JSC /JGV/ was the top performer, increasing 15.00 percent, whereas UB-Buk JSC /BUK/ was the worst performer, decreasing 14.30 percent.

Russian Altai Republic interested in Mongolian livestock sector www.news.mn

Located in western Siberia, the Russian Altai Republic shares more than just a common border with the mountainous west of Mongolia: both are important agricultural regions, well known for ecologically pure products and the “Altai” brand. On Tuesday (7 November), the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) hosted a business meeting for a trade delegation from the Republic. The two sides exchanged views on mutually-beneficial cooperation in energy, heating, agricultural facilities, wheat, flour and fodder production, seabuckthorn oil processing and rail transportation. Representatives from over ten companies are in the Russian delegation; clearly, top of their agenda is the Mongolian livestock sector.

Mongolia aspires to level up its ties with Kazakhstan www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Foreign Minister D.Tsogtbaatar received Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Mongolia K.I.Koblandin, on November 7.

Centerra Gold stock price increases by 2.03 percent www.mongolia.gogo.mn

The Government of Mongolia has stated that audits are being conducted of the nation's strategic mines, under the direction of Parliament's State Budget Committee, including the Boroo and Gatsuurt mines.

After the government's statement was made, on November 6, stock prices for Centerra Gold (full owner of the Gatsuurt mine) rose by 2.03 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange, reaching 8.05 CAD.
Centerra Gold updated the Gatsuurt project's technical and economic feasibility study last October, and it is estimated that the project holds 1.3 million ounces of open-pit mining gold reserves.

Goldman Sachs loses clients’ money over failing investment in Venezuelan ‘hunger bonds’ www.rt.com

The US banking giant Goldman Sachs bought $2.8 billion worth of bonds issued by the Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA for just $865 million. However, what seemed to be a great deal, is now making Goldman's a loss.

In May, Goldman bought the PDVSA bonds maturing in 2022 for 31 cents on the dollar. Venezuela's opposition-controlled Congress criticized the purchase as “making a quick buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people.” The assets were dubbed “hunger bonds.”

November 07, 2017 trading report www.mse.mn

On November 7, 2017, 122,558 shares of 32 firms listed as Tier I, II, and III were traded. 19 firms’ shares increased in price, 11 decreased and 2 remained unchanged. Autoimpex JSC /AOI/ was the top performer, increasing 15.00 percent, whereas State Department Store JSC /UID/ was the worst performer, decreasing 8.26 percent.

British Parliamentarians to pay official visit to Mongolia www.mongolia.gogo.mn

British parliamentarians who are members of ‘’Inter-Parliamentary Union’’ led by Rt Hon Lord Howard of Lympne are paying an official visit to Mongolia from 4 November to 10 November.

This is the first visit by British parliamentarians since 2011, when the Memorandum of Understanding between the British All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mongolia and the Mongolia-Britain Parliamentary Group of State Great Hural of Mongolia was signed.
They will meet H.E Mr.Khaltmaa BATTULGA, President of Mongolia; H.E Mr. Miyegombo ENLHBOLD, Chairman of the State Great Hural of Mongolia; Mr. Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Foreign Minister of Mongolia; Mr. Nyamaa ENKHBOLD, Minister of Defence; Mr.Sukhbaatar BATBOLD, Member of Parliament and Chair of Mongolia-Britain Parliamentary Friendship group and various other officials.
The parliamentarians will discuss various areas of the Mongolia-Britain relationship such as democracy, good governance, human rights, trade and economic relations and the promotion of cultural and educational exchange.

Mongolia's liver cancer crisis: 'No other country has a problem like this' www.theguardian.com

Danzan Purev beams as he shows members of a support group photos of his infant nephew on his iPhone. The 68-year-old geologist is charismatic and jokes with the others gathered in the room in Ulan Bator. But his mood changes as he begins to recount his long experience with hepatitis, a disease that has blighted his life.

Purev was diagnosed with hepatitis B and C in the early 1990s. By the end of the decade his health and quality of life had deteriorated, leaving him constantly sick and fatigued. He had to sell his business to finance a trip to Korea to undergo treatment, which was not successful. “Financially, I just went down,” he says.

Once back in Mongolia, he was unable to afford hepatitis drugs, and began to lose hope as the disease continued to affect his liver. “I was really scared,” says Purev. “My dad and all the relatives on my dad’s side died of liver cancer and liver disease. I didn’t want to be one of them. I just wanted to keep fighting and cure myself.”

Fortunately, he heard about the non-profit Onom Foundation, which offers screening and treatment for hepatitis. Today he is cured of hepatitis C, has low levels of hepatitis B, and the health of his liver, which at one point was two-thirds non-functional, has improved.

Purev has been lucky. According to the World Health Organization, Mongolia has the world’s highest rate of liver cancer, as well as the highest mortality rate from the disease. Each year, liver cancer and liver cirrhosis account for 15% of all deaths. Chronic hepatitis is the most common risk factor in developing liver cancer, and 400,000 of Mongolia’s 3 million citizens are diagnosed with a hepatitis virus.

The National Cancer Centre, which this year will begin performing liver transplants. Photograph: Hannah Griffin
The WHO says hepatitis cases spiked in Mongolia in the 1970s and 80s, when syringes were regularly reused and dental and surgical practices were not always hygienic. Additionally, the country has high rates of “hepatitis B and D super-infection”, which occurs when someone with chronic hepatitis B becomes infected with hepatitis D.

“There is no other country in the world that has a problem like this,” says Dr Naranbaatar Dashdorj, co-founder of the Onom foundation, which runs group therapy sessions for those like Purev living with hepatitis in Mongolia’s capital, as well as providing hepatitis screening and treatment to thousands of people.

But the government is waking up to the health crisis, pouring significant money into screening and treatment in an attempt to reduce cases of liver cancer. By 2020, ministers want to eliminate hepatitis C and significantly reduce liver cancer and cirrhosis deaths.

Last year, parliament ploughed 23.4bn Mongolian tugrik (£7m) into the country’s health insurance scheme to subsidise hepatitis medicine. This year, the government allocated MNT 226bn for screening and treatment until 2020. This money also covers free hepatitis testing for those between the ages of 40 and 60, who make up the bulk of liver cancer patients. This will be extended to a younger cohort in 2018.

This cash injection will reduce patient costs drastically. After subsidies, patients pay between $3 (£2.25) and $13 (£9.70) for hepatitis B medicine, and between $65 and $215 for hepatitis C medicine. Before subsidies were introduced, medicines could cost thousands of dollars.

“In the area of treatment Mongolia is making really good progress in screening the people, identifying people with chronic hepatitis,” says Narantuya Jadambaa, a technical officer in Mongolia for the WHO. “But we need more work also to stop the transmission within the whole society. It would require more efforts and even more financial support as well.”

The National Cancer Centre, a busy hospital where Mongolians from all over the country come for diagnosis and treatment, performs 450 liver surgeries a year. This year, it will start performing liver transplants. Dr Chinburen Jigjidsuren, the centre’s general director, says in the past two years approximately 160 Mongolians have travelled overseas for transplants. He hopes more people will now stay in-country for surgery. About 70 people are on the government waiting list for a liver transplant.

Dr N Yumchinserchin, head of the intervention radiology department at Mongolia’s National Cancer Centre
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Dr N Yumchinserchin, head of the intervention radiology department at Mongolia’s National Cancer Centre, explains that their angiographic equipment is outdated. If the equipment fails, it would be difficult to find spare parts to repair it. Photograph: Hannah Griffin
But a major factor in reducing liver cancer deaths is early diagnosis. Many Mongolians are not diagnosed until they are late-stage and inoperable. Jigjidsuren says many people travel from their rural homes to the capital only to be told there is little that can be done. He hopes the centre can establish a system to connect provincial health centres by internet so patients can have online consultations with doctors prior to coming to the city. “We are trying to avoid this problem and trying to establish a good system,” he says. “I hope that Mongolia will be an example to the world [on] how we fight liver cancer.”

Myamjav Jargalsaikhan, 63, is another member of the Onom foundation’s support group. He was diagnosed with hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis 30 years ago, and had been receiving treatment each year. In 2013, after retiring from a 40-year career as a technical engineer at a printing company in Ulan Bator, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Just as he was ready to enjoy a more carefree life after years of hard work, he was sidelined.

“Any plans I had made for the future just all stopped,” he says. But unlike many other patients, Jargalsaikhan’s liver cancer was operable, and he has been cancer-free for three years. Despite all the challenges, he considers himself fortunate. “I really consider myself lucky to have had the disease for so many years and survived it.”