At the plenary session of the Parliament on April 7, a draft resolution on ‘Establishment of Khushig Valley Free Economic Zone’ was approved.

The resolution states the establishment of a ‘Khushig Valley Free Economic Zone’ based on the new Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Sergelen soum, Tuv aimag, and sets the zone’s area to be 1,000 hectares, reflecting its geographical location and the boundary coordinates.

Between April 7 and 8, young Mongolians with no political affiliation gathered at Sukhbaatar Square in the capital of Ulaanbaatar for a peaceful protest, demanding the current government change a number of policies. Their messages varied from concerns about the economy to general social dissatisfaction with taxation, job opportunities, allocation of resources, inflation, and an independent judiciary that can provide checks-and-balance for parliamentarian’s financial report.

According to some of the protesters, after the peaceful protest disbursed on April 7, about 20 individuals were caught by the police and beaten. This happened around 4 a.m. Pictures of multiple police officers stomping on an individual went viral, sparking social media outrage. Participants in Mongolia’s youth movement do not believe that the police should use violence to maintain order, especially in a democratic society.

On April 8, more protesters turned out to oppose police brutality, marking one of the biggest peaceful protests among Mongolia’s youth since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the crowd, including thousands of students, represents a variety of messages, it’s likely that the older generation will begin to join this developing movement, since many of the economic concerns touch all generations. One protest message stated, “Want to become a producer country not an importer.”

While the youth movement was taking place, the government was organizing an economic forum, which has been canceled two years in a row due to COVID-19. The timing of the two events is serendipitous; however, the government is not taking the youth dissatisfaction lightly. As the protest crowd on April 8 surpassed the previous day, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai spoke to the youth and agreed to convene an extraordinary session to meet their demands.

Thirty years into democratization, Mongolia has experienced a number of pop-up protests, decrying issues ranging from air pollution, election, mining, economy, and inhumane treatment of civilians. In one of the most notable recent incidents, protests against mistreatment of COVID-19 patients resulted in the shock resignation of the prime minister.

This current protest marks a potent force, because the youth taking to the street are nonpartisan, without any specific political agenda. Many of the protesters simply feel the government is not fulfilling its duties, such as providing economic prosperity, equal job opportunities, health, and wellness for its youth. An overriding demand is to alter government policies in order to promote and support the youth as opposed to the conglomerates that have benefitted from the government for decades.

The voice of the youth and their peaceful protests have historical resonance for Mongolia’s democracy. On April 8, as the sun set on Sukhbaatar Square – where once upon a time, thousands gathered to overthrow socialism in Mongolia – the younger generation of Mongolians sang the national anthem, waving their arms in a peaceful protest.

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Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.

On April 7, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg at the latter's request.

Wang Yi said, not long ago, Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene made a special trip to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. During the meeting with Oyun-Erdene respectively, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang reached important consensus with him, injecting new impetus into the development of bilateral relations. The more turbulent the international situation is, the more China and Mongolia, as close neighbors, should strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust and deepen cooperation.

Battsetseg completely agreed and said the Mongolian side is ready to work with China to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, keep close exchanges at all levels and strengthen communication and cooperation in various fields. The Mongolian side looks forward to giving full play to the Mongolia-China "green lanes" to further improve port operation capacity and shipment, and effectively cope with the negative impact caused by the spillover of the Ukraine crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang Yi said that as good neighbors and friends, China and Mongolia have always stuck together through thick and thin and overcome difficulties together, and that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Mongolia on recovery and boost Mongolia's economic and social development. Recently, the "green lanes" between China and Mongolia have been reopened, and positive progress has been made in railway transportation, road freight, customs clearance and energy and mineral trade. China is willing to work with Mongolia to speed up the construction of the China-Russia-Mongolia Economic Corridor and promote the connectivity of railway lines between China and Mongolia. China will continue to provide Mongolia with anti-pandemic materials and equipment, support Mongolia's efforts in pandemic prevention and control and ensure the smooth operation of the border ports.

The two sides agreed to continue to firmly support each other in safeguarding sovereignty, security and development interests, avoid external interference and promote the sound and stable development of bilateral relations. Battsetseg said, Mongolia respects China's core concerns, and will as always handle its religious affairs independently.

The two sides also exchanged views on multilateral affairs. Battsetseg appreciated China's sense of responsibility as a major country in the joint fight against COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis, and spoke highly of China's commitment to promoting peace talks, resolving differences and providing humanitarian assistance. Wang stressed that the spillover effects of the Ukraine crisis have an impact on the normal economic and social operation of all countries, and Asian countries should strengthen communication and coordination to jointly safeguard regional peace, stability and development.

April 9 (Xinhua) -- Strong winds and yellow dust storms are hitting large parts of Mongolia, the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said Saturday.

The storms have swept through the southern provinces of Umnugovi and Dundgovi, the western provinces of Govi-Altai and Bayankhongor, and central areas, such as the capital city Ulan Bator and provinces of Uvurkhangai and Tuv, as well as the eastern provinces of Khentii and Sukhbaatar, the agency said in a statement.

The volatile weather is expected to continue in large parts of the country in the coming days, with the wind speed expected to reach 18-24 meters per second, the agency said, warning citizens, especially nomadic herders, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.

Strong winds, yellow dust and snow storms are common weather events during spring in Mongolia.

Ten people as well as hundreds of thousands of livestock died in Mongolia due to strong winds and heavy dust storms in March 2021.

In purely geographical terms, in relation to Ukraine, Mongolia lies on the far side of Eurasia. But Mongolians have enduring ties with Ukraine and Russia that are evident in their responses to and engagements with the Russian invasion.

Recently, the Mongolian government has strengthened ties with Russia through top-level diplomatic meetings and infrastructure agreements – and it has maintained official neutrality in the conflict, abstaining in the two UN General Assembly votes naming and condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There have also been, despite initial suppression by police, growing demonstrations of support for Ukraine, which feature not only Ukrainian national symbols but Mongolian ones as well.

Strong historical and systematic links

Mongolia is still in Russian-language contexts referred to as the ‘sixteenth Republic’ (of the former USSR) causing many in the country to identify with the Ukrainian commitment to independence from Russia. As evidenced by the ‘sixteenth Republic’ label this independence is still all too often not recognised by Russian counterparts, with whom Mongolian and Ukrainians’ history, social networks, and critical physical infrastructures are deeply entangled.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy himself spent part of his childhood in the Mongolian city of Erdenet, where his father was involved in the establishment and early years of the Erdenet mining and metallurgical complex. At the time, this complex was the largest open pit mine of any kind in Asia, shipping copper concentrates directly to smelters in Kazakhstan and producing molybdenum necessary for high-grade steel alloys.

While maintaining ‘strategic partnerships’ with its two neighbours, Russia and China, Mongolia has also pursued a ‘third neighbour’ policy.

Since the first democratic elections following a student-led Democratic Revolution in 1989-1990, Mongolia has built a system of wide-ranging international relationships. While maintaining ‘strategic partnerships’ with its two neighbours, Russia and China, Mongolia has also pursued a ‘third neighbour’ policy, maintaining strong relations with the United States and NATO countries, including fellow former members of the Warsaw Pact.

Mongolians in support of Ukraine

Up until 2020, since the hunger strike of 1989-1990 that pushed the Mongolian Politburo to call for elections, there had been a vigorous tradition of frequent demonstrations on Ulaanbaatar’s capacious Sukhbaatar Square. Situated in front of the main government building, where the parliament now assembles and which until 2005 hosted the mausoleum of ‘Mongolia’s Lenin’ Damdin Sukhbaatar and ‘Mongolia’s Stalin’ Khorloogiin Choibalsan (nearly identical in appearance to Lenin’s Mausoleum on the Red Square).

However, since the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2020 and 2021, which solidified the political dominance of the Mongolian People’s Party (the rival of the Democratic Party founded by the 1989-1990 student demonstrators), the ensuing restrictions have affected the number of protests. The party enforced lengthy Covid-19 lockdown measures and the arrest of several prominent demonstrators-. While this resulted in demonstrations becoming smaller and less frequent, this has completely changed since the invasion of Ukraine.

The Mongolian government had lifted all Covid-related measures restricting assembly on 14 February. And on 28 February, a group of about twenty demonstrators assembled on Sukhbaatar Square with a long yellow and blue banner representing the flag of Ukraine. They were confronted by police and members of ultranationalist groups.

In the following days, a Ukrainian flag appeared on the storage silos of Altan Taria, a major Mongolian flour producer. According to a few Twitter users, the Mongolian police then visited Altan Taria. But all in vain, since the beginning of March, demonstrations have continued without reports of direct interference by police. Demonstrations were carried out on the square in front of the State Drama Theatre, diagonally adjacent to the Sukhbaatar Square.

Tough balancing act

On 25 March, demonstrators assembled at the Russian Embassy in Mongolia, also in the centre of Ulaanbaatar, a few blocks west of Sukhbaatar Square, calling for the Russian ambassador to Mongolia to leave the country. Apart from the Ukrainian flag, these demonstrators were also carrying the Mongolian, Buryat, Kalmyk, and Tuvan flag.

The demonstrations beginning on 25 March were precipitated by posts by the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Russian Embassy to Mongolia days prior, which directly challenged ‘the Mongolian Democratic Party and other supporters of American liberal hegemony’ and cited former Trump adviser Roger Stone’s comments that there were American-funded ‘bio-labs’ in Ukraine.

There have been reports that Russian forces have been disproportionately made up of soldiers from these and other of the Russian Federation’s poorest, ‘ethnic’ republics.

The latest phase is characterised by demonstrations asserting not only the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, but also of Mongolia, and solidarity with the republics of the Russian Federation that have often been included in pan-Mongolian formations, Buryatia, Kalmykia, and Tuva. There are reports that Russian soldiers are disproportionately recruited from these and other of the Russian Federation’s poorest, ‘ethnic’ republics.

There’s a certain overlap between these protesters and Mongolians who have voiced their support for ‘neutrality’, or even more strongly for the Russian government or Putin. Their statements are also often accompanied by concern about Mongolia’s independence vis-à-vis China, or knock-on effects to the Mongolian economy that have already been felt as a result of sanctions against Russia: foreign currency has been nearly unavailable in Mongolia in recent days, and international flights, already heavily reduced because of Covid-19 restrictions, have been even further restricted as Europe-based lessors bar their planes from entering Russian airspace.

by Marissa J. Smith

April 6 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's economic growth is expected to stay muted in 2022, constrained by high inflation, persistent trade disruptions, tighter external financing conditions and complex geopolitical risks in 2022, said an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released on Wednesday.

The Asian country's economic growth is projected to expand 2.3 percent in 2022 before climbing to 5.6 percent in 2023, supported by domestic demand, investment, and recovery in industry, agriculture and services, the ADB said in its flagship annual economic report, Asian Development Outlook 2022.

"Previously, the ADB forecast that Mongolia's economy would grow by 5.7 percent in 2022. However, the continued border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing geopolitical conflict that began on Feb. 24 has been affecting not only the Mongolian economy but also the regional and global economic growth," said Sandagdorj Bold, a senior economics officer of the ADB.

Persistent high inflation and continued trade disruptions limit monetary and fiscal room, requiring a comprehensive macroeconomic policy adjustment plan to safeguard the economy, the ADB said.

Average inflation in Mongolia will accelerate further to 12.4 percent in 2022 as supply shocks and trade disruptions continue, and significantly higher fuel prices translate into higher business costs, according to the bank.

Under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent border closures, Mongolia's economy contracted by 4.6 percent in 2020 and expanded by an anemic 1.4 percent in 2021

The land port of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region saw its freight transport export volume increase 41.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, local authorities have said.

In the first three months, 642,000 tonnes of freight were exported via the port, according to the Erenhot station under the China Railway Hohhot Group Co., Ltd.

During the period, the port logged 734 China-Europe freight trains, up 25.7 percent year on year, said Yun Zhijun, director of the Erenhot station's dispatch desk.

Currently, 57 China-Europe freight train routes pass through Erenhot Port, the largest land port on the China-Mongolia border.

Steppe Gold (TSX: STGO) said today that the company completed its first gold pour in Mongolia and concluded its first sale in late March.

The gold pour was 1,532 ounces of gold with gross proceeds of US$2.93m.

The company added it continues crushing and stacking operations and has recommenced mining with operations in all active pits.

Steppe plans to produce over 100,000 ounces of gold from the oxide zones in 2022 and 2023.

President and CEO Bataa Tumur-Ochir commented, "We are very pleased to be back in production and to conclude our first gold pour and sale for the year. With an estimated 80,000 ounces of gold in inventory, ramp-up of production continues and we look forward to a very active year of production and strong cash flow, as well as expansion and exploration on both of our licenses."

by Vladimr Basov

Steppe Gold is Mongolia’s premier precious metals company and is projected to produce over 100k ounce of gold from the current operational oxide zone of ATO gold mine in 2022 and 2023.

The natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and China will go through the territory of Mongolia, passing through six aimags for a total distance of 962.9 km. As an agreement has been signed between the sides of Mongolia and Russia on conducting studies for the project, the Russian companies in charge of carrying out the works have begun to hold their first meetings with the side of Mongolia - local governing bodies.

The first meetings took place in Darkhan-Uul and Tuv aimags. As 38.3 km of the gas pipeline will be passing through Darkhan-Uul aimag, representatives of Russia’s ‘Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok’ and ‘Soyuz Vostok’ companies as well as ‘Erdenes Gas’ project held a meeting with the aimag's authorities last week. During the meeting, they discussed issuing a permission to conduct an engineering study for the project, sharing information on entities that run operations near the gas pipeline’s location, and appointing an official to be in charge of project cooperation.

Aside from Ulaanbaatar city, the natural gas pipeline will pass through a total of 20 soums in six aimags, which includes Selenge, Darkhan-Uul, and Dornogobi.

CEO of ‘Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok’ LLC Ye.N.Aseev said, “This is one of the first meetings we are holding with Mongolia’s aimag governors and authorities. It is fully possible for the local workforce to be involved in the initial works to be carried out for the gas pipeline. Furthermore, it is also possible for construction materials to be locally supplied.”

The Mongolian Economic Forum 2022 that aims to discuss ways to speed up the country’s development has kicked off today at State House.

The two-day forum, which brings together representatives from government, private sector, civil society and academia, is taking place as part of the New Revival Policy.

The New Revival Policy is a medium term program aimed at strengthening the country’s economic independence through partnerships between public and private sectors and with investors, mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic, eradicating impediments to development, and paving the way for the implementation of Vision 2050 long term development policy.

Prior to the forum, each of the six objectives in the New Revival Policy including energy revival, border ports revival, revival of the industrialization, rural and urban revival, green development revival, and revival of the state efficiency, were discussed at a series of meetings on March 21-29.