The State Committee for Physical Education and Sport, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the Russian Figure Skating Federation, and the Steppe Arena LLC organized a figure skating show of the best Russian figure skaters at Steppe Arena, Ulaanbaatar on May 6 and 7, 2023. I thought this show might be held soon, so that in January when Japanese figure skaters such as Hongo Rika, Hiroki Honda, and Tsunehito Karakawa came to perform in Mongolia, I watched the Japanese figure skaters eagerly waiting for the arrival of the world-star Russian figure skaters. I saw Russian stars on May 6 and as a journalist, I was proud to report from this wonderful ice show.

Having waited since January, I went to the Steppe Arena at 3:00 p.m. which was two hours before the beginning of the ice show. The tickets for the ice show were sold between 30,000 and 150,000 MNT depending on the seat, and all the tickets for the two days were sold out within the first 72 hours after the ticket sales started on April 11. When I arrived, some other people had already arrived and were waiting by the entrance. Thirty minutes later, the doors opened and the spectators entered. While waiting for the ice show, I walked inside the Steppe Arena with a great sense of wonder. There were eight food booths and one food corner inside the arena, selling fast food such as sandwiches, hotdogs, burgers, coffee, tea, water, and sodas.

There was a booth with the banner “Eeltei Yertunts” or “Propitious Planet” NGO, and mothers of disabled children who make stuffed toys and organize activities and donations for disabled people. The stuffed toys thrown to the ice field cost 20,000 to 35,000 MNT, and coming with stuffed toys from outside is prohibited. Throughout much of the 1990s, flowers were the signature conclusion of figure skating, according to the 1992 Olympic Champion Kristi Yamaguchi. That pairing came to an end in 2001 when US Figure Skating banned flowers, citing debris and safety concerns (related to the September 11 attacks and subsequent anthrax scares). While there is no universal ban on flowers, many other organizations have adopted the same position. Fans have adjusted to the decision, viewing stuffed animals as a unique opportunity to provide personalized gifts to some of their favorite athletes. However, Astra flower shop was selling flower bouquets between 40,000 to 100,000 MNT.

The show started at 5:15 p.m. At the beginning of the figure skating show, 17 skaters, including 16 Russian skaters and one Mongolian skater, came out and performed their opening performance together. When figure skaters were skating, the audience did not even blink an eye, and figure skaters were performing single and duo performances. After that, the first figure skater, Mongolian junior athlete O.Misheel, came to the ice rink. She performed the song “Love Story” with a light rhythm. Her best techniques were Salchow and Sit Spin. I thought that pretty girl will, one day, become a good figure skater. Spectators cheered loudly for the only Mongolian athlete participating in the show.

Behind her, 15-year-old Adeliia Petrosian danced like a swan on ice to Barbara Pravi's French song “Voila”. It was like watching a future Olympic champion as she performed two triple Axel turns and brought her song to life. After that, Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii appeared in a fairy-tale version of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake for a duet performance. For the first time watching such a pair of figure skates, the audience was in tears. It was truly amazing and left the audience speechless. After Dmitri Aliev, Petr Gumennik, Mark Kondratiuk, Sofia Akateva, Evgenia Tarasova and her partner Vladimir Morozov performed. The first part of the show ended.

One of the best parts of the show, which gave the audience an unforgettable memory, was the performance of Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov on the song “Life” by Mongolian singer Sarantuya. The audience never imagined that they could get such a precious feeling of love and wanting to fly in Mongolian songs. Throw jumps, and lifts, the relationship between them, the way they feel about each other, and their facial expressions were outstanding and beautiful.

The intermission of the ice show was 20 minutes, and the audience had long queues in the toilets and food booths. There were two restrooms on the right and left side of the arena hall. During the ice show, eight cleaning staff were working to ensure the cleanliness of the audience seats, the arena, and the restrooms. Volunteers directed spectators to seats, restrooms, and food booths. While watching these, I saw 5-year-old Ts.Amina came to watch the ice show with her father. She had been skating for a year and was excited to see Kamila. His father N.Tsengelbayar said, "I have two children, 12- and five-year-old. I try to get my children to play sports from an early age. When my children grow up, they do not have to become great athletes, but they will be able to have hobbies and spend their free time in the right way. My youngest daughter loves to skate. Having such a beautiful ice palace is a big step for the development of ice sports in Mongolia.”

The second part of the ice show began, and the figure skaters performed their performances which they were performing during the World Championship and the Olympics. Another memorable performance was Mark Kondratiuk’s performance with a Mongolian deel and hat on a German Dschinghis Khan song. We are grateful for such a performance out of respect for the people of Mongolia. 17-year-old Kamila Valieva, the star of this show, performed as “Wednesday” movie’s main character in her last performance on Lady Gaga’s Bloody Mary song. Mongolians supported the young star the loudest, it was like a tribute to the Olympic champion. She fell while performing the first part of the ice show, but the audience cheered her up. Because her performances can touch people’s hearts, everyone interested in figure skating in Mongolia loves her. In this way, the ice show that lasted for 3 hours ended.

We all saw that Russian figure skaters are really on another level. They usually skated on Russian songs. We saw how much effort, time, and work went into their performances. The Russian dominance in figure skating is paramount and unmatched. No country comes close to the athletes of Russia in any world championships and global tournaments. Russian skaters are the best and have swayed the figure skating world with their distinctive style of play and performance. The fusion of their technical abilities with artistic innovations in their performances has stunned and mesmerized the world. Decades have passed but the supremacy of the athletes in this region has not gone down or diminished. Russian figure skaters have raised the bar and every time they appear in a prominent tournament, they look better than before. But what makes them so exceptional and a potent force in the figure skating world? Russia develops the best skaters because the country has adopted skating as its heritage. They have the best talent identification and pioneering training, and coach kids at a very young age when the body is so agile. Their figure skaters can perform some difficult jumps with grace.

After the ice show, there was a long line of spectators who wanted to take pictures with the athletes and get autographs with Russian skaters. Mongolian people feel and know the beauty of sports, especially figure skating. For two days, over 5.000 people watched that ice show at the Steppe Arena. More than 200 people participated in the organization of this show, including more than 40 Russian athletes and coaches, as well as working in the back office of live TV. Also, congratulations to J.Sanchir, who worked as the director of the show program, and all the back office workers of Steppe Arena, and organizers. You guys have delighted the Mongolian people and inspired the children and young people who are interested in figure skating.

While watching such a beautiful performance, I had a secret wish that Mongolian figure skating would reach such a level like Russians and want to support our country’s athletes to participate in international competitions. Russia’s world stars “shot” in Mongolia. I hope Mongolian stars will “shoot” in the world soon.

Construction Development center presented information about the revival of the construction industry and

housing prices during a press conference. Founder of Barilga.mn G.Batsukh said, “The construction industry’s growth and decline lags behind the growth and decline of the economy. There was a small bump during the pandemic and the construction works have not started much. However, construction work is now starting and recovering from this month.

During the pandemic, the demand for housing and real estate increased thanks to the 10-billion economic stimulus program, the increase in the amount of mortgage loans and the influx of cash. The prices of new and old apartments have increased accordingly. There is no regulation to control this as there is a secondary trading of the real estate market. As for citizens, they are responsible for the rise and fall of prices based on the principle of supply and demand.”

The price of building materials rose by an average of 85 percent during the pandemic. The cost of the budget has also increased by this amount, so the price of new housing has definitely increased. There are also companies that have raised their prices on building new houses. In 2023, the amount for mortgage loan dropped, and there a monetary policy to reduce cash in the economy was carried out. In accordance, the prices of apartments and real estate are decreasing.

G.Batsukh then said, “It can be understood that the prices of apartments are expected to drop as the prices of imported construction materials are decreasing.”

He also gave information regarding whether the import conditions have returned to normalcy and noted, “70 percent of the total import goods and materials come from Zamyn-Uud port. As the road port opened, the turnover of goods has improved, and the cost of transportation has decreased. However, the carrying capacity of the truck is limited. In the past, 50 tons of cargo was loaded on one truck, but now it is limited to 25 tons. This increases the cost of transportation. Cargo transportation is not as large as it was before the pandemic. As for railway, there are not enough wagons in China, and there is a one-month waiting period.”

BUILDING MATERIAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED

At the press conference, Head of the Construction and Building Materials Production of the Construction Development Center D.Batnyam informed of the quality of building materials. His information stated, as for Mongolia, most of the construc-

tion materials are received from China and Russia.

Construction material price research is presented in two to three types. Due to the pandemic, the price increase in con-

struction materials caused enterprises difficulty. According to the minister’s order, a price survey of 890 types of construction materials was carried out, and the price increase of enterprises was also calculated.

Currently, the price of construction materials is relatively stable. Rebar prices fell by 12 percent, while cement prices

remained stable. However, the price did not reach the pre-pandemic level. In the future, the price of building materials will

decrease.

D.Batnyam says regarding the building material quality, “Attention is paid on construction quality and inspections are conducted. A recent reinforcement inspection revealed several irregularities. According to the Law on Construction, the quality of building materials is determined by the certificate of conformity. The requirement to obtain a certificate of conformity is imposed on domestic and imported goods.”

Taxation organizations collected MNT 9.3 trillion to the state and local budgets, exceeding by MNT 1.1 trillion the planned MNT 8.2 trillion, according to the 2022 Financial Report.

Head of General Department of Taxation B. Zayabal announced that tax revenue of MNT 10.1 trillion would be collected to the state budget in 2023 at the opening of Taxpayers' Days, annually organized by the Department.

The top 10 biggest taxpayers announced are as follows:

• "Erdenet Plant" State-Owned Company leads with MNT 1.216.2 billion

• "Erdenes Tavantolgoi" JSC MNT 990.1 billion

• "Oyu Tolgoi" LLC MNT 439.9 billion

• "Energy Resources" LLC MNT 289.3 billion

• "Tavantolgoi" JSC MNT 261.6 billion

• APU JSC MNT 212.1 billion

• KHAAN Bank MNT 197.4 billion

• Golomt Bank LLC MNT 137.4 billion

• "COAL" LLC MNT 104.0 billion

• "Tsairt Mineral" LLC MNT 98.6 billion

Last year's performance shows that companies and enterprises engaged in mining, processing, financial and insurance sectors paid the most taxes.

Overseas and domestic operations of the Mongolian tax organizations have been fully transferred to the digital platform. This year's Taxpayers' Days will be celebrated under the slogan "Let's have service digitally," said Head of the General Department of Taxation B. Zayabal.

According to the tax revenue performance data for the first four months of this year compared to the same period of the last year, the tax revenue increased by MNT 1.5 trillion. The budget revenue plan and performance also exceeded by some MNT 1 trillion. This is directly related to the recovery of the mining industry and the volume of exports.

As for VAT revenue, internationally it accounts for 30-35 percent of the total budget revenue. In the countries of the European Union, it makes 33-34 percent while in Mongolia, 24-27 percent of the total budget revenue is generated from VAT revenue. Last year, MNT 1.7 trillion was collected only from VAT. Approximately MNT 257 billion was spent on the two percent VAT refunds, some MNT 10 billion were allocated for prizes and lotteries, totaling MNT 270 billion.

While previously the General Department of Taxation used to announce the 10 biggest taxpayers, since last year it started to select the top 10 taxpayers in four categories, dividing taxpayers into the following four segments:

• 900 enterprises in the large segment,

• 300 enterprises in the medium segment,

• 30 thousand enterprises the small segment,

• 150,000 enterprises in the micro segment.

Yesterday General Department of Taxation announced the top 10 companies from four segments each. The top 10 micro companies by activity profile represent wholesale and retail trade, information and communication, construction, administrative and support services, scientific and technical, housing and food service sectors.

On 8 May, Finance Minister B.Javkhlan met with newly appointed International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Mongolia Tigran Poghosyan, who is in Mongolia on a two-week study visit.

The sides exchanged views on the current economic situation in Mongolia the intensification of cooperation between the IMF and Mongolia, as well as on future activities during the meeting.

The term of office of IMF Resident Representative in Mongolia Yoon Seok Hyun expires in early July this year. New Resident Representative Tigran Poghosyan will work in Mongolia for three years.

Previously, he served as the IMF Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan.

The U.S government will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.

This means starting May 12, noncitizen nonimmigrant air passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States.

For more information please visit: https://travel.state.gov/.../update-on-change-to-us...

Mongolia's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, rose 11.3 percent year on year in April, data from the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) showed Tuesday.

The increase was mainly related to the higher prices of imported goods, especially food products, the NSO said.

More than half of over 400 items of the landlocked country's consumer goods and services basket are imported, according to the statistical agency.

Mongolia has aimed at reducing its inflation rate to a single digit by the end of this year, the country's central bank has said.

Former Dayton Flyers guard Mike Sharavjamts received an invitation to the G League Elite Camp. The event will take place May 13-14 in Chicago. It precedes the NBA Draft Combine, which lasts from May 15-21 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Last year, 44 players were invited to the G League Elite Camp. Select players from the camp moved on to participate in the combine.

According to a press release, the camp “gives draft prospects an opportunity to display their skills in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives over the course of the camp by playing in five-on-five games and participating in strength and agility drills.”

Sharavjamts also has scheduled workouts with Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz and the Milwaukee Bucks, according to a report by the Mongolian Hoops Instagram account. Sharavjamts announced his decision to leave Dayton after one season on March 28.

The first Mongolian citizen to play Division I men’s basketball, Sharavjamts, a 6-foot-8 guard/forward was the only freshman on Dayton’s roster last season. He made the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie team, averaging 5.6 points and 2.6 assists in 30 games. He started 20 games.

Steppe Gold Ltd (TSX:STGO, OTCQX:STPGF) announced that it has entered into an arrangement agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Anacortes Mining Corp.

The Mongolia-focused precious metals company said Anacortes shareholders will receive 0.4532 of a Steppe Gold common share for each Anacortes share held, which represents consideration of about C$0.48 per Anacortes common share.

“We are very pleased to add one of the highest-grade undeveloped oxide gold deposits in the world to our development pipeline,” Steppe Gold CEO Bataa Tumur-Ochir said in a statement.

“Our vision is to build a 200,000 ounce gold equivalent production profile, with our ATO Phase 2 expansion project expected to come online in 2025 and the Tres Cruces Mine moving to production soon thereafter,” Tumur-Ochir added.

About the company

Steppe Gold Ltd is Mongolia's premier precious metals company producing gold from the operational oxide zone of the ATO Gold Mine.

The company has completed a feasibility study into expansion of the ATO Gold Mine to approximately 100,000 ounces of gold per annum from the development of underlying fresh rock ores.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Batmunkhiin Battsetseg paid a working visit to China on May 1-2, 2023 at the invitation of a member of the State Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Qin Gang.

-Foreign Minister, how would you define the purpose and the significance of your visit to the PRC?

-One of the priority goals of our Government is to intensify cooperation in all sectors and at all levels, and bolster our comprehensive strategic partnership after the pandemic with one of Mongolia’s two neighbors, the PRC. The PRC has defined their new development goals and appointed a new generation of leaders at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, 2022, and its “Two Sessions” in March, 2023. The purpose of my visit was to promote bilateral relations and cooperation, and establish working relations with the PRC’s new generation of leaders. During my working visit to Beijing on May 1-2, I met and held official talks with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and exchanged views on a wide range of issues regarding Mongolia-China relations, and reached concrete agreements, which asserted to the importance of the visit.

It is important to maintain high-level mutual visits and meetings between our two countries, and both sides have been able to organize and maintain a frequency of such exchanges even during the difficult period of the pandemic.

One of the outcomes of my visit was that the two sides agreed to organize Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene’s official visit to the PRC in the near future.

-What were the concrete issues that were agreed?

-President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh paid a state visit to the PRC in November 2022, during which he met with President Xi Jinping. Both sides reached an agreement at the highest level on issues such as promoting and developing bilateral relations and cooperation in the new era. In order to significantly contribute to the nation’s development we are mainly focusing on putting these agreements into action.

One of the priorities of Mongolia’s foreign policy is to develop friendly relations with our two neighbors. China too attaches great importance to its relations and cooperation with Mongolia and considers Mongolia as its good neighbor, good friend and good partner. In this regard, the parties agreed to bolster political trust, mutually respect the fundamental interests of each other, and develop an ideal example of bilateral cooperation in the region.

The key area of Mongolia-China relations is cooperation in the field of trade, economy and investment. The goal is to increase trade between the two countries to USD 20 billion by 2027. Our bilateral trade reached 13.6 billion USD 2022, and USD 3.48 billion in the first quarter of this year.

During the meetings with the Chinese side issues such as increasing port capacity, and intensifying the works of connecting them by road and rail, which would facilitate the increase of trade volume were raised. For instance, outstanding issues such as revising the 1955 Railway Agreement, 2004 Agreement on Border Ports and their Regime, 2014 Agreement on Transit Transport, and adding Khangi-Mandal railway port into the Agreement on Border Ports, and accelerating the construction work of the railway at the Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod border port were addressed.

-Since the beginning of this year, China began to ease the strict travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic and people have begun to travel again. The Government of Mongolia declared years 2023 through 2025 the "Years to Visit Mongolia.” Was there any discussion and talks made on receiving tourists from China to Mongolia?

-In order for people to obtain positive and accurate information and understanding of each other’s cultures, histories and livelihoods, we should encourage our people to travel and visit each other’s countries. The two sides have discussed and agreed to organize Mongolian-Chinese culture and tourism forum, to upgrade and improve the e-visa process for tourists, to increase the number of direct flights and to make promotional materials on Mongolia available in Chinese in order to further promote tourism between the two countries. The land and air travel between the two countries have resumed to normal. The international passenger trains will resume its operation starting this month. Moreover, the Embassy of Mongolia to the People’s Republic of China opened a new “Culture Center” this year, which aims to promote Mongolia in China, organizing many events and activities promoting Mongolia, especially to the children and youth.

-Spring season is the time of the year when the yellow sandstorms start in Beijing. Nowadays, environmental cooperation is increasingly becoming one of the most important topics to be discussed among countries within the bilateral cooperation framework. Have you discussed this issue with the Chinese counterparts? What is the current progress of other development cooperation projects?

-Under the “One Billion Trees” National Campaign initiated by the President of Mongolia, a joint project to establish a “Research Center to Combat Desertification” is being implemented. China has an extensive experience in combating desertification and re-forestation efforts and therefore, has agreed to implement the abovementioned joint-project. Mongolia will be organizing the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2026 and China has agreed to cooperate with us in this regard as well.

The grants and concessional loans provided by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, significantly contribute in resolving pressing socio-economic issues in Mongolia. For instance, projects such as “Central Wastewater Treatment Plant of Ulaanbaatar City,” “Erdeneburen Hydropower Plant,” and “Underground Passageway” (which aims to reduce the Ulaanbaatar city traffic congestion) are being successfully implemented. In addition, the implementation of the joint-projects such as the “Grand Theatre of National Arts” and the “Presidential Sports and Training Center for Children and Youth,” which have been agreed upon during the President of Mongolia Mr. U. Khurelsukh’s state visit to People’s Republic of China, will commence this month.

-The PRC has become an active player on the international stage, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced three major initiatives: Global Security Initiative, Global Development Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative. Does Mongolia support these initiatives?

-PRC President Xi Jinping proposed Global Development Initiative in 2019, the Global Security Initiative in 2022, and Global Civilization Initiative in 2023. These initiatives declare safeguarding humankind’s secure and peaceful life, sustainable development, diversity of civilizations, and promoting international cooperation in this regard as their primary objective. These are in line with our country’s foreign policy objectives and principles, and we are ready to exchange views and cooperate with the Chinese side in this direction.

Mongolia joined the Group of Friends to “Foster Global Development – Promote Stronger, Greener and Healthier Global Development for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” established by the PRC last year at the UN.

During the “Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting” organized on March 15, PRC President Xi Jinping proposed the “Global Civilization Initiative,” stating, “We advocate the respect for the diversity of civilizations. Countries need to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and tolerance. Countries need to keep an open mind in appreciating the perceptions of values by different civilizations and refrain from imposing their own values or models on others and from stoking ideological confrontation. Countries need to fully harness the relevance of their histories and cultures to the present times and push for creative transformation and innovative development of their fine traditional cultures.” These statements are consistent, in essence, with Mongolia’s foreign relations, policy, and objectives concerning cultural and humanitarian issues.

-The value of civilization includes religious issues. These issues are also relevant to Mongolia-China relations. What is our official position on this matter?

-Religion is definitely a core value of culture. Mongolia and China are both Asian Buddhist countries. There have been cases in world history where religious issues have affected relations between countries. Our two countries have a comprehensive strategic partnership, and we have been able to reach a mutual understanding and resolve any conflicts through dialogue.

Our citizens’ right to freedom of religion and expression is ensured and protected by law. Moreover, the state and religion shall conduct their activities separately and not interfere in each other’s affairs as stipulated in the Constitution of Mongolia.

I would also like to emphasize that religious issues are subject to the internal affairs of both countries. Mongolia conducts its policies and activities on any religious issues independently and without external interference, as it should. We will independently resolve any religious matters, including identifying the head of traditional Buddhist in Mongolia, without any involvement from outside.

Nowadays, we have ample opportunity to train its lamas internally and enhance their capacities. This undoubtedly will help us pursue independent religious policy and develop Buddhism in Mongolia on our own.

-During the visit were issues related to international relations discussed?

-Apart from issues of bilateral relations and cooperation, regional and international topics of mutual interests were also discussed. Within the framework of intensifying Mongolia-Russia-China trilateral cooperation, both sides agreed to renew the central railway corridor, accelerate the construction of the natural gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia’s territory, and the construction of the Altanbulag-Zamiin-Uud highway project.

Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China Chai Wenrui and exchanged views on bilateral relations and cooperation on May 8.

During the meeting, the parties discussed preparatory work for Prime Minister’s visit to China, improving the infrastructure of border ports of the two countries, intensifying the railway connection process, and cooperation in the tourism sector.

On the same day, the Prime Minister received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Mongolia Yevsikov Alexei Nikolaevich, congratulated him on his new assignment, and wished him success in his future endeavors.

Cooperating in border ports and the energy sector and implementing large and joint projects, specifically, investing in “Ulaanbaatar Railway” Mongolia-Russia Joint Venture Company to improve its performance were the main issues of the meeting.