1 ZANDANSHATAR GOMBOJAV APPOINTED AS PRIME MINISTER OF MONGOLIA WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      2 WHAT MONGOLIA’S NEW PRIME MINISTER MEANS FOR ITS DEMOCRACY WWW.TIME.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      3 ULAANBAATAR DIALOGUE SHOWS MONGOLIA’S FOREIGN POLICY CONTINUITY AMID POLITICAL UNREST WWW.THEDIPLOMAT.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      4 THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND (UNICEF) IN MONGOLIA, THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR SUPPORTING THE BILLION TREES MOVEMENT, AND CREDITECH STM NBFI LLC HAVE JOINTLY LAUNCHED THE “ONE CHILD – ONE TREE” INITIATIVE WWW.BILLIONTREE.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      5 NEW MONGOLIAN PM TAKES OFFICE AFTER CORRUPTION PROTESTS WWW.AFP.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      6 GOLD, MINED BY ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINERS OF MONGOLIA TO BE SUPPLIED TO INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY COMPANIES WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      7 AUSTRIA PUBLISHES SYNTHESIZED TEXTS OF TAX TREATIES WITH ICELAND, KAZAKHSTAN AND MONGOLIA AS IMPACTED BY BEPS MLI WWW.ORBITAX.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      8 THE UNITED STATES AND MONGOLIA OPEN THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MN.USEMBASSY.GOV  PUBLISHED:2025/06/12      9 MONGOLIA'S 'DRAGON PRINCE' DINOSAUR WAS FORERUNNER OF T. REX WWW.REUTERS.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/12      10 MONGOLIA’S PIVOT TO CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS: STRATEGIC REALIGNMENTS AND REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS WWW.CACIANALYST.ORG  PUBLISHED:2025/06/12      БӨӨРӨЛЖҮҮТИЙН ЦАХИЛГААН СТАНЦЫН II БЛОКИЙГ 12 ДУГААР САРД АШИГЛАЛТАД ОРУУЛНА WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/15     ОРОН СУУЦНЫ ҮНЭ 14.3 ХУВИАР ӨСЖЭЭ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/15     МОНГОЛ УЛСЫН 34 ДЭХ ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙДААР Г.ЗАНДАНШАТАРЫГ ТОМИЛЛОО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     SXCOAL: МОНГОЛЫН НҮҮРСНИЙ ЭКСПОРТ ЗАХ ЗЭЭЛИЙН ХҮНДРЭЛИЙН СҮҮДЭРТ ХУМИГДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.ITOIM.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     МОНГОЛ БАНК: ТЭТГЭВРИЙН ЗЭЭЛД ТАВИХ ӨР ОРЛОГЫН ХАРЬЦААГ 50:50 БОЛГОЛОО WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     МОНГОЛ ДАХЬ НҮБ-ЫН ХҮҮХДИЙН САН, ТЭРБУМ МОД ҮНДЭСНИЙ ХӨДӨЛГӨӨНИЙГ ДЭМЖИХ САН, КРЕДИТЕХ СТМ ББСБ ХХК “ХҮҮХЭД БҮРД – НЭГ МОД” САНААЧИЛГЫГ ХАМТРАН ХЭРЭГЖҮҮЛНЭ WWW.BILLIONTREE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     ЕРӨНХИЙЛӨГЧИЙН ТАМГЫН ГАЗРЫН ДАРГААР А.ҮЙЛСТӨГӨЛДӨР АЖИЛЛАНА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     34 ДЭХ ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙД Г.ЗАНДАНШАТАР ХЭРХЭН АЖИЛЛАНА ГЭЖ АМЛАВ? WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     “АНГЛИ ХЭЛНИЙ МЭРГЭШЛИЙН ТӨВ”-ИЙГ МУИС-Д НЭЭЛЭЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     Г.ЗАНДАНШАТАР БАЯЛГИЙН САНГИЙН БОДЛОГЫГ ҮРГЭЛЖЛҮҮЛНЭ ГЭЖ АМЛАЛАА WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/12    

Events

Name organizer Where
MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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19.5% of Russian oil giant Rosneft sold in ‘biggest privatization deal of 2016’ www.rt.com

 
The sale of Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft's share package to the natural resource trader Glencore International and a Qatari sovereign wealth fund for over $11 billion has become the biggest privatization deal of 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
 
“That is the biggest privatization deal, the biggest sale and acquisition in the world’s oil and gas sector in 2016,” the president said, referring to the Rosneft share sale during the meeting with the Rosneft CEO, Igor Sechin, a statement published on the official Kremlin website said.
 
Sechin informed Putin about the closing of the share package sale and said that the Russian state budget will receive more than a trillion rubles ($17.5 billion) from this deal, and the acquisition of the Russian Bashneft oil company by Rosneft in October.
Under the deal signed with Glencore and the Qatari fund, the natural resources trader and the fund acquired 19.5 percent of the oil company’s shares for €10.5 billion ($11.3 billion). The two buyers formed a joint consortium, in which both of them hold a 50 percent stake, to buy the Rosneft share package. As a result, both of them got 9.75 percent of Rosneft shares each.
 
Together, they hold the third largest stake of Rosneft shares as more than 50 percent still belong to the company’s largest shareholder – the state-owned oil transportation agency Rosneftegaz, while another 19.75 percent is owned by BP.
 
Sechin also informed Putin that Rosneft held talks with more than 30 companies, sovereign wealth funds, professional investors and financial institutions from Europe, Americas, Middle East and Asia before signing the deal.
 
Putin congratulated the Rosneft CEO on the successful closure of the deal and expressed hope that the attraction of new investors and managers would “improve corporate procedures, increase transparency and contribute to the capitalization growth.”
 
Rosneft is Russia’s biggest oil company with the majority owned by the Russian government. In March 2013, after buying TNK-BP, Rosneft became the world’s largest publicly traded oil company. It also purchased 50.755 percent of the shares in the Bashneft oil company, one of the largest Russian crude oil producers, on October 14.
 
The signing comes as the Kremlin looks to raise money to tackle Russia's biggest budget deficit since 2010. The initial goal was to reduce it to three percent of GDP, but different agencies estimate the deficit could hit 3.6-3.9 percent this year, slowly reducing to 3.1 percent next year and 2.2 percent in 2018.
 
 
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Norway likely winner from OPEC-Russia oil production cuts www.rt.com

Western Europe’s biggest crude oil producer is likely to benefit from the deal between OPEC and Russia to cut output. Norway has refused to cut production and expects to see a surge in investment in its declining oil sector.

According to Tord Lien, the country’s oil and energy minister, while Norway’s offshore industry is set to drop for a third straight year in 2017, it will receive a boost from the OPEC-Russia deal. He didn’t specify the extent of the expected investment surge.

“What OPEC has done is good. It’s good in the short-term for producers, good for investments in the oil industry and the global energy supply, so it’s also good for consumers in the time ahead,” Lien said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Investment in the Norwegian oil sector is expected to reduce to $18 billion, which is 34 percent less than two years ago when crude cost over $100 per barrel. Falling oil prices have also cost the country 40,000 jobs.

Norway has refused to cut production because it has already fallen by more than 50 percent since the peak in 2000. However, it is still due to grow for the third consecutive year.

On Wednesday, oil prices continued to slide from the 16-month highs seen on Monday with Brent oil trading 31 cents down at $53.62 and US WTI trading at $50.62.

Both OPEC and Russia produced a record amount of oil in November, casting doubt that in the race for market share they will be able to stick to the agreement reached.

"We will see whether belief in the (OPEC production) deal will hold. There is a big discrepancy right now between expectations, perception, and reality,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, as quoted by Reuters.

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Starbucks courts millennials with $10 coffee at new Reserve bars www.reuters.com

 
Starbucks Corp co-founder Howard Schultz's plan to build a new prestige brand is a bet that moving upscale can raise the profile of the world's largest coffee brand with millennials like Megan Sauers.
 
Schultz in April will step down as chief executive to focus on building 1,000 new "Reserve" brand stores. Over time there also will be as many as 30 large, showcase Reserve Roastery and Tasting Rooms in major cities around the world.
 
Starbucks last week announced that Schultz was moving into the role of executive chairman in April to focus on the project. Analysts expect more details at a meeting in New York on Wednesday.
 
The transition marks a turning point for Starbucks, which introduced millions of people around the world to higher quality coffee and espresso drinks and now must find a way to avoid being labeled pedestrian when compared with upscale rivals like Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia, which are popping up in U.S. cities.
 
"Starbucks is the millennials' parents' coffee house and Starbucks is acutely aware of that," said Ric Rhinehart, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
 
Starbucks' Reserve projects are "a reminder that they did this first and they do this best," said AB Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore.
 
The company already has added Reserve bars to a handful of Starbucks shops in major cities including New York.
 
Reuters visited one such cafe on Manhattan's Upper East Side, which offered $10 cups of coffee made in glass siphons, $10 "flights" of Reserve brews and nitro cold brew via a separate Reserve menu.
 
Twenty-four-year-old Sauers came in for her standard Starbucks caffeine jolt and discovered the new brand.
 
"I'd probably just stick to the regular, I'm not too picky," said Sauer, a recent transplant from Ohio. But she showed the kind of aspiration that Starbucks seeks.
 
"If I had the money to spend more toward coffee I'd do it," she said, calling the Reserve bar a great idea for the neighborhood. "I think people want it, too.”
 
Reserve stores will exclusively sell and serve exotic, small-lot coffees that can cost $50 per 8-ounce bag. Executives expect customers to stay longer and spend more, driving twice the financial returns of typical Starbucks stores, which have average unit sales of about $1.6 million annually.
 
Reserve likely has room to set prices higher than Starbucks. Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia shops in Los Angeles charge $4.50 for their 12-ounce lattes, versus $3.25 at Starbucks.
 
Starbucks' 1,000 Reserve stores could boost company revenue if they hit targets, said Bernstein's Senatore, who cautioned that Schultz's new project has investment requirements that could become less attractive in a slowdown.
 
And as Starbucks has already learned, moving upscale carries its own risks.
 
"There is always a market for what is different, special and rare, but the minute you become so available that anyone can get what you are selling, you lose your cachet," said market researcher Robert Passikoff, president and founder of Brand Keys.
 
 
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Chinese coal-rich province closes, restructures 25 coal mines www.xinhuanet.com.cn

 
TAIYUAN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Shanxi Province, which supplies about a quarter of China's coal, shut down or restructured 25 coal mines this year, cutting 23.25 million tonnes of coal production capacity.
 
The results surpassed the target of closing or restructuring 21 coal mines and reducing 20 million tonnes of production this year, set in August as part of a plan to cut overcapacity between 2016 and 2020, according to local land and resources authorities.
 
At the end of October, Shanxi's coal enterprises had inventories of 30.84 million tonnes, 4.91 million tonnes lower than a month previously.
 
In addition, the enterprises ended a 26-month run of losses in September.
 
China plans to cut coal capacity by about 500 million tonnes from 2016 to 2020.
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Apple supplier Foxconn is in talks to invest in the U.S. www.cnn.com

One of Apple's biggest suppliers is in talks to invest in the United States.
Taiwan-based Foxconn is a giant contract manufacturer that plays a key role in assembling iPhones for Apple (AAPL, Tech30), employing hundreds of thousands of workers in mainland China.
"We are in preliminary discussions regarding a potential investment that would represent an expansion of our current U.S. operations," Foxconn said in a statement provided to CNNMoney.
The company was responding to the appearance of Foxconn's name on a document carried by a top Japanese tech CEO in a meeting Tuesday with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

After the meeting, Trump took credit for a planned $50 billion investment in U.S. startups by the Japanese company, Softbank (SFTBF), that he said would create 50,000 jobs.
Photos showed SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son holding a document with the logos of both his company and Foxconn's.
"Commit to: Invest $50bn + $7bn in US, generate 50k + 50k new jobs in US in next 4 years," the document said.
foxconn terry gou
Foxconn founder Terry Gou speaking at a shareholders meeting in Taiwan in June.
That led to speculation that Foxconn could be planning to invest $7 billion in the U.S. to create 50,000 jobs.
But Foxconn declined to provide any further information.
"While the scope of the potential investment has not been determined, we will announce the details of any plans following the completion of direct discussions between our leadership and the relevant U.S. officials," it said.

Foxconn declined to comment on whether the possible investment is linked to Trump's election.
Trump tweeted that Son told him Softbank's investment would not have happened if Trump hadn't won the U.S. election. After the meeting, Son said he told Trump he would like to "celebrate his presidential job" because Trump has made deregulation part of his platform.
But it wasn't clear how much of the money Son pledged might have ended up in the U.S. anyway.
In October, weeks before the election, SoftBank and the government of Saudi Arabia announced plans to form a $100 billion fund to invest in technology companies around the world. Son told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that the money he promised Trump would come from the huge fund.
It wasn't clear why Son was carrying a document with Foxconn's name on it. The two companies are separate but have worked together in the past. Son is known to be friends with Foxconn's founder, Terry Gou.
-- Jill Disis and David Goldman contributed to this report.

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E.Amartuvshin becomes Cultural Envoy www.en.montsame.mn

 
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister of Foreign Affairs Ts.Munkh-Orgil handed opera singer E.Amartuvshin the certificate of Cultural Envoy of Mongolia on December 6. State Honored Artist E.Amartuvshin has shown brilliant successes in international competitions.
 
The FM highlighted an importance of appointing the citizens, who are promoting Mongolia and shaping its image to the world, the cultural envoys in disseminating Mongolia’s culture to the world.
 
The practice has been embodied by the Ministry since 2015. The cultural envoys contributes greatly to progressing cultural, historic, humanitarian and scientific interactions with many different countries of the world.
 
E.Amartuvshin won the second place of the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Audience Award of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.
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Trump's impact on metals and mining in one chart www.mining.com

 
Ahead of the US presidential election great hopes were pinned on the performance of the gold price should Donald Trump prevail. A few analysts saw a Trump victory sending gold to $1,500 or well beyond.
 
After a brief surge to $1338 an ounce on election night, gold's nearly $180 an ounce collapse has unnerved the entire sector – even those companies enjoying the bounce in base metals that started way before Trump even became the Republican candidate.
 
Gold's now barely hanging on to double digit gains for 2016 and the performance of the metal since Trump's victory has dragged down precious metals. The exception is palladium thanks to its status as an industrial metal mainly used in automobile manufacture. Silver's slide since the election has also been relatively contained – some 50% of silver finds application in industry.
 
While zinc – up 70% since the start of the year after adding another 12% in value since November 8 – would benefit from president elect Trump's $500 billion infrastructure and fiscal stimulus plans, the change in sentiment towards industrial metals is nowhere clearer than in the copper price.
 
The bellwether metal's 2016 performance had been lacklustre compared to zinc, tin (+46% year to date), nickel (+34%) and lead (+28%), but the metal started to move even before the vote and is now 25% to the better for the year.
 
The world's second most traded bulk commodity after oil, iron ore (+16% since the election and 83% year to date) has defied expectations and while the price of the steelmaking raw material is influenced more by stimulus in top consumer China, Trump's infrastructure push should provide some support.
 
US coal prices are off their lows reached in September and October, but despite avowed support from the Trump team the positive impact on the domestic industry from a new administration is seen as limited at best. Seaborne thermal coal prices have also come off the boil, down more than 22% since the election.
 
Oil's resurgence is more an Opec than a Trump phenomenon, but the 13% jump over the past month retaking the $50 a barrel level is helping to bring price inflation across the mining and metals sector.
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Ford makes contingency plans in case of China year-end tax surprise www.reuters.com

 
Ford Motor Co (F.N) expects China to wait until the last possible moment to announce whether it will extend a tax cut on small engine cars set to expire at year's end and is making contingency plans for various outcomes, an executive said on Wednesday.
 
China's auto industry association, executives and analysts have warned of a potentially steep drop off in sales growth next year if the policy, which halves the purchase tax on cars with engines of 1.6 litres or below, expires as planned at the end of 2016.
 
A government official said in October that the country is considering extending the tax, originally instituted in late 2015 to stimulate the market as vehicle sales flat lined amid a weakening economy.
 
"If there is an announcement about a continuation, I would not be surprised if that announcement is made on literally the last day of year," Peter Fleet, Ford's head of sales and marketing for Asia Pacific, told Reuters in an interview.
 
In the face of such uncertainty, the U.S. automaker is planning for three different scenarios, he said: the tax cut expires, it is extended at a reduced rate, or continues in full.
 
"We're proceeding on the basis that the purchase tax incentive ends at the end of the year," Fleet said.
 
"We'll adjust our plans as quickly as we need to in the new year if there is a different set of assumptions."
 
Fundamental demand for cars will continue to be strong and the tax cut will only result in a marginal change in demand, he said, declining to give exact predictions for 2017 auto sales.
 
Ford is set to announce November sales results for China at later on Wednesday.
 
The tax cut spurred a strong rebound in the world's largest auto market this year with sales for January to October growing 13.8 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
 
Analysts predict flat or negative growth in 2017 if the tax cut expires as planned.
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Japanese and Mongolian decision makers showing up in "Invest Mongolia Tokyo" conference www.mongolia.gogo.mn

 
The conference highlights the Japan-Mongolia Economic Partnership Agreement and the strengthening of the strategic partnership between Mongolia and Japan.
This year, the new Mongolian Government introduces its action plan for the next four years with particular focus on those industries in which Japanese investors have an active interest and the areas that provide the most benefit to the two countries.
Panels:
The outlook of relations between Japan and Mongolia
The current condition of the Mongolian economy and what will be the key drivers for any recovery
The outlook for Mongolia’s mineral exports and implications for Japanese investors
Government Hour: Parliament Members to discuss current issues regarding Mongolia and relations with Japan
Privatization and opportunities in Mongolia
Green Infrastructure
The proposal to the Mongolian Government from Japan
Presentations:
Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Mongolia
General update on the construction and real estate sector in Mongolia
Japanese International Cooperation Agency's operations for the further development of Mongolia
Within the above mentioned items, the conference will also discuss topical matters such as the impact of Oyu Tolgoi underground mine on the economy, the looming 2017 government bond repayment, the economic and political priorities in 2017 for Japan and Mongolia.
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Amazon using robots at distribution center www3.nhk.or.jp

 
Leading Internet retailer Amazon has started operating Japan's first distribution center equipped with robots.
 
Amazon built the distribution center in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, to improve its delivery system in the metropolitan area. The center covers about 40,000 square meters.
 
Several hundred robots move shelves, where goods are stored, to workers who sort them for delivery.
The workers no longer need to walk to the shelves, so the robots are believed to greatly improve work efficiency.
 
Amazon Japan CEO Jeff Hayashida says the robots will help the Internet retailer expand and speed up its services.
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