The American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia (AmCham Mongolia) successfully hosted Doorknock 2022 on June 21-23, 2022, with foreign and domestic investors, organized in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar. The delegation met with representatives of the Government of Mongolia and top government agencies to exchange opinions and notes.

AmCham’s Doorknock is an annual event for Mongolian delegations to meet with policymakers to discuss investment, exchange opinions, and engage in dialogue. This year, the Doorknock was held in Mongolia instead of the United States for the first time. Over the course of three days, the delegation visited several key government bodies and officials, including the Office of the President, the Prime Minister's Cabinet, the Office of the Speaker of Parliament, Members of Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Road and Transportation Development, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry, as well as representatives of the Judicial General Council.

The meetings addressed vital issues facing the private sector, such as restoring and increasing investor confidence, improving the business environment, boosting the economy, eradicating bureaucracy, and legislative changes that need urgent attention to facilitate reforms. Every appointment was positively received and attended by representatives of AmCham member companies, including Badrakh Energy, Cummins, Melville & Erdenedalai LLP, MSM, Monpolymet, Rio Tinto, and the U.S. Embassy in Mongolia.

A summarized list of reformative actions, titled ‘3 Pillars for Positive Change’, was introduced and delivered, outlining the following key issues:

I. Re-aligning toward a free-market economy driven by private-sector entrepreneurs and enterprises

II. Reforming the business and investment environment

III. Prioritizing greater commerce and trade integration with the U.S. and third neighbors

The government agencies that met with the Doorknock delegation welcomed the document and its attention to priority issues.

AmCham is committed to continuing its dialogue with all stakeholders to improve the investment climate in Mongolia.

Source: amcham.mn

Mongolia's National Traumatology and Orthopedics Research Center on Tuesday warned the public to beware of venomous snakes.

The warning came after many cases of snake bites had been reported in the capital Ulan Bator and other areas of the country.

Currently, four children bitten by venomous snakes are hospitalized, according to the center.

In addition, reports of shield-nose snake sightings in residential areas across the country are on the rise, especially in the capital city, the center said.

Last year, at least two deaths were registered in the country because of snake bites.

Hanoi (VNA) – Agriculture holds a great potential to help developing cooperation between Vietnam and Mongolia, Mongolian Ambassador to Vietnam Jigjee Sereejav has said.

The diplomat made the comment at a recent meeting with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam in Hanoi to discuss the promotion of the bilateral trade of farm produce.

Agreeing with his guest, Nam expressed his belief in the nations achieving their 100-million-USD trade goal soon, particularly via strengthening farming collaboration in the time to come.

Transport between the sides presents a difficulty which should be tackled to facilitate regular interactions between their enterprises, Nam said.

The official noted that he wants to know more about strong agricultural hubs of Mongolia.

The ambassador said the countries can team up to implement a project on rice cultivation, suggesting that Vietnam’s northern varieties are likely to suit Mongolia’s weather and soil conditions.

He also proposed a joint project on goat farming in Vietnam and a potential cooperation for the sides in leather processing for garment-textile.

The Vietnam-Mongolia trade hit 80.2 million USD in 2021 and 25.9 million USD in the first four months of this year.

The United States is pleased to announce that the U.S. donation of 302,400 pediatric doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Mongolia. These doses were delivered through COVAX and came directly from the Pfizer manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

This donation brings the total number of COVID vaccine doses donated by the United States to Mongolia to more than 1.4 million. The United States remains committed to supporting the people of Mongolia as they move forward from this devastating pandemic. These donations through COVAX are part of that effort.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided over $8.1 million in support to Mongolia. This assistance is providing life-saving medicine, testing kits, urgent medical equipment and supplies, oxygen therapy, and personal protective equipment. USAID also provided 50 high-quality ventilators in December 2020 and training for health workers throughout the country on how to manage critically ill patients. USAID supports risk communication campaigns, infection prevention and control efforts in health facility and school settings, and vaccine distribution assistance.

In addition, the United States has provided critical medical equipment for more than 570 medical facilities and helped train nearly 12,700 healthcare workers to conduct outbreak surveillance, use and manage U.S. government-donated medical equipment, and deliver quality care for COVID-19 patients.

The United States, as Mongolia’s third neighbor, will continue to support the health and wellbeing of the Mongolian people.

German chemicals major BASF may be forced to halt production at the world's biggest chemicals plant in Ludwigshafen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing shortages of cheap and abundant Russian gas.

According to the report, BASF has used Russian natural gas for years to generate power and as feedstock for products that make it into toothpaste, medicine, and cars. However, dwindling Russian gas supplies are proving a threat to the company's vast manufacturing hub, it says.

"Cutting down production at this site will be a huge task," said BASF senior economist Peter Westerheide, as quoted by the WSJ. "We've never seen situations like this before. It's hard to imagine."

Germany triggers ‘alarm' stage of gas emergency plan

Read more Germany triggers ‘alarm' stage of gas emergency plan

With an area of approximately ten square kilometers, the Ludwigshafen complex spanning some 200 plants, accounts for about 4% of the total gas demand in Germany. Approximately 60% of the fuel used at the plant is meant to generate electricity, while the remaining 40% is feedstock for the production of chemical products, including ammonia and acetylene.

BASF estimates that if the chemical complex continues to receive more than 50% of the maximum volume of gas, operations could be continued. Otherwise, the work of the complex will have to be stopped.

Earlier this month, Russian gas flows to Germany through the undersea Nord Stream pipeline were cut by as much as 60% due to technical issues arising from Western sanctions against Moscow. In response to the crisis, the German government has launched the second 'alarm' phase of its three-level gas emergency plan. Berlin has warned it's facing a severe shortage of the fuel amid diminishing flows from Russia.

Russia is believed to have defaulted on its debt for the first time since 1998 after missing a key deadline.

Russia has the money to make a $100m payment, which was due on Sunday, but sanctions made it impossible to get the sum to international creditors.

The country had been determined to avoid the default, which is a major blow to the nation's prestige.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, said "statements of a default were absolutely unjustified".

He added that an intermediary bank had withheld the money and that the reserves were blocked "unlawfully".

The White House said that Russia had defaulted on paying yields on its international bonds, crediting sanctions for effectively cutting Russia off from the global financial system.

Russia's finance minister called the situation "a farce" and said the situation is not expected to have short-term impact.

This is because Russia does not need to raise money internationally as it is reaping revenue from high-priced commodities such as oil, according to Chris Weafer, chief executive at Moscow-based consultancy Macro Advisory.

But he said it would create a "legacy" problem if the situation with Ukraine and international sanctions improves.

"This is the sort of action that will hang over the economy and make recovery much more difficult when we get to that stage," he said.

The $100m interest payment was due on 27 May. Russia says the money was sent to Euroclear, a bank which would then distribute the payment to investors.

But that payment has been stuck there, according to Bloomberg News, and creditors have not received it.

Meanwhile, some Taiwanese holders of Russian bonds denominated in euros have not received interest payments, according to the Reuters news agency, which cited two sources.

The money had not arrived within 30 days of the due date, that is, Sunday evening, and so is considered a default.

Euroclear would not say if the payment had been blocked, but said it adhered to all sanctions, introduced following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia disputed that it had defaulted on the debt. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it had made the payments due in May, and the fact that it was blocked by Euroclear because of sanctions was "not our problem."

Russia's economy in for a bumpy ride as sanctions bite

What sanctions are being imposed on Russia over Ukraine invasion?

Russia finance minister Anton Siluanov admitted foreign investors would "not be able to receive" the payments, according to the RIA Novosti news wire.

Because Russia wants to pay and has plenty of money to do it, he denied that this amounts to a genuine default, which usually occur when governments refuse to pay, or their economies are so weak that they cannot find the money.

"Everyone in the know understands that this is not a default at all. This whole situation looks like a farce."

Defaulting nations usually find it impossible to borrow any more money, but Russia is already in effect barred from borrowing in Western markets by sanctions.

Also, Russia is reportedly earning about $1bn a day from fossil fuel exports, and its finance minister Anton Siluanov said in April the country had no plans to borrow more.

Repayment trigger

The default will trigger repayments on a large chunk of Russia's debt, according to Mr Weafer.

About $40bn of Russia's debts are denominated in dollars or euros, with around half held outside the country.

"Some parts of that debt will now become automatically due because there will be early repayment clauses in all debt instruments so if you default on one it usually triggers the immediate demand for payment on the other debts, so Russia could certainly face immediate debt repayment of about $20bn at this stage," he told the BBC's Today programme.

Russia's last debt default of any kind was in 1998 as the country was rocked by the rouble crisis during the chaotic end of Boris Yeltsin's regime. At the time Moscow failed to keep up payments on its domestic bonds and defaulted on some overseas debt.

Russia has seemed on an inevitable path to default since sanctions were first imposed by the US and European Union following the invasion of Ukraine.

These restricted the country's access to the international banking networks which would process payments from Russia to investors around the world.

The Russian government has said it wants to make all of its payments on time, and up until now it had succeeded.

Default seemed inevitable when the US Treasury decided not to renew the special exemption in sanctions rules allowing investors to receive interest payments from Russia, which expired on 25 May.

The Kremlin now appears to have accepted this inevitability too, decreeing on 23 June stating that all future debt payments would be made in roubles through a Russian bank, the National Settlements Depository, even when contracts state they should be in dollars or other international currencies.

Meanwhile, Mr Weafer, who is based in Moscow, said that life was more or less operating as normal despite sanctions and Western companies withdrawing from Russia.

"If you're in Moscow right now frankly, if you weren't reading the newspapers, you'd see there's been a price increase but otherwise life is as it was before February 24.

"In March and April there was a lot of concern that products would disappear, that factories would not be able to get components or materials to continue operating and we could be looking therefore at a severe drop in employment or a rise in unemployment by the summer [or] early autumn. That situation has improved," he added.

"We've seen alternative import routes opening via Kazakhstan and Turkey, the government has promoted what they call a parallel import scheme so effectively a lot of products that were blocked in March and April are now starting to reappear, albeit at a higher price."

President of the Mars Society Dr. Robert Zubrin visited Mongolia at the invitation of the ‘Mars V’ project team, which aims at establishing tourism model city in the Mongolian Gobi with an international space science and technology institute and an academy to train and prepare astronauts.

During the visit, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia S.Amarsaikhan received Dr. Robert Zubrin.

“Currently, the Gobi Desert of Mongolia is considered the most similar to the Mars so that space travel can be open not only for astronauts but everyone. Also, this uniqueness will make a valuable contribution to the development of tourism in our country,” noted project team members.

Dr. Robert Zubrin said, “The reason why we intend to establish the training station to prepare those who will be sent to the planet, and ‘Space Studies Free Zone’ in the Mongolian Gobi Desert is that the coldest Gobi, reaching -42 degrees Celsius, is found only in Mongolia. Scientist around the world proved that this weather condition is the most similar to the Mars.” He also expressed his commitment to launch massive construction work to build Mars Research Station next year.

In turn, Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan said, “With the successful implementation of the project, it will become possible to develop a technology-based tourism and this will have a further positive impact on the Mongolian economy.”

Noting that the Government of Mongolia will provide all possible support, S.Amarsaikhan congratulated the ‘Mars V’ team and wished them success in their future endeavors.

As part of the national movement ‘Food Supply and Security’, initiated by the President of Mongolia U. Khurelsukh, Mongolia’s ‘Premium Group’ LLC and South Korea’s ‘Plant TFarm’ have started a project to jointly establish a new generation hydroponic greenhouse.

The opening ceremony of the project was attended by Chief of Staff of the Office of the President Ya.Sodbaatar, President’s Urban and Rural Policy Advisor O.Buyannemekh and other officials.

At the event, Y. Sodbaatar expressed gratitude to the companies for investment and cooperation at a time when President U. Khurelsukh set a goal to meet domestic demand for 19 types of main products over the next five years. He also stressed that he would support the introduction of new methods and technologies, workforce training, strengthening public-private partnerships, as well as any proposals and initiatives of companies in this regard.

Premium Group and South Korean Plant TFarm will invest a total of MNT 50 billion over the next three years to build a 4,700 sq.m greenhouse and 800 sq.m ancillary facilities.

“A hydroponic greenhouse has its advantages, in particular, it will be possible to harvest 60 times more crop per unit area compared to traditional cultivation, replace import products, deliver 2100 kg of leafy vegetables to the capital every day, reuse water, create jobs and improve public education on healthy food,” explained A. Ganhuyag, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Premium Group.

TMK Energy’s (ASX:TMK) third well at the Mongolian Gurvantes XXXV CSG project has intersected yet another thick downhole gas-bearing coal body.

Logged as a 47 metre intersection, the discovery marks a 100% success rate for TMK’s early exploration activities at Gurvantes.

TMK shares are up 10% in early trade.

So far, every single well the company has spud along a 6km strike has been a positive hit.

Further test results for Snow Leopard-3 are pending. TMK notes initial results are consistent with those of SL-1 and SL-2.

The success of all three wells points to the extension of coal formations in the Narrin Sukhait region of the Gobi.

A look at Snow Leopard-3 in the flesh

A look at Snow Leopard-3 in the flesh (TMK Energy)

Eyes on Mongolia: a future natural gas heavyweight?

A number of factors position Mongolia as a must-have location for a CSG project.

Firstly, the actual geology of coal deposits on site reflect gas-bearing rock bodies at shallow depths and with high permeability.

Meanwhile, proximity to China strategically allows operators to target sales into one of the world's top energy consumers, with demand expected to reliably grow for decades to come.

To this end, Mongolia's regulatory atmosphere has become accommodating to CSG operators in recent years.

Changes to energy exploration laws allowed for the first CSG permits to be awarded in 2018.

And then, there is an academic benefit: existing coal mining in the South Gobi region means while vast expanses remain unexplored for CSG, there is still a healthy body of geological data.

Geological technicalities provide support

If Snow Leopard-3 reflects similar geological traits to that encountered in its predecessor, SL-2, the company’s optimism will be palpable.

Testing downhole in SL-2 confirmed a millidarcy metre value of 1,090, ultimately meaning the gas molecules underground want to flow and get out.

A millidarcy metre is a mathematical unit used to measure the porousness of rock types.

Loose gravel can have millidarcy metres in the upper thousands, whereas solid granite has a millidarcy metre value <1.0.

TMK Energy partners with Talon Energy (ASX:TPD) at Gurvantes.

A worsening global fuel shortage catapulted Asia’s coal benchmark to a record, threatening to boost power bills and add to inflation woes.

Spot physical coal at Australia’s Newcastle port jumped 3.4% to a record $402.50 a ton on Friday, according to a biweekly index compiled by IHS Markit seen by Bloomberg. That’s the first time the highly watched spot index rallied above $400.

Power generators across Asia and Europe are rushing to secure additional coal shipments as a replacement to dwindling natural gas supplies, while miners are struggling to increase output. Germany and Austria are reviving idled coal power plants in response to Russian gas supply curbs, while Japan and South Korea are stockpiling the fuel ahead of hotter summer weather.

Intense competition for a dwindling pool of available coal supply threatens higher power bills for households, as well as shortages for poorer emerging nations such as Pakistan. The surging demand spells a remarkable comeback for a commodity that many thoughts was on its way to being phased out.

Hotter-than-normal weather in northern China is pushing power demand to an all-time high, increasing the consumption of coal.

A coal shipment for July delivery to Europe was sold at $421 a ton on Friday, an all-time high for the region, according to traders. Asian shipments were also trading above $400 last week, traders added.

(By Stephen Stapczynski)