May 5 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government has decided to postpone the re-opening of its air border until early June due to the COVID-19 surge, Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan said Wednesday.

Initially, the government decided to reopen its air border from May 1 to resume international passenger flights, after closing it in February 2020 to prevent the spread of the virus.

"Considering that the spread of the COVID-19 virus has not decreased as much as expected, we have decided to postpone the re-opening of the air border until early June," Amarsaikhan told reporters.

As of Wednesday, Mongolia has registered a total of 41,524 COVID-19 cases, among which over 32,600 were detected since April 1 this year.

The Asian country reported its first imported COVID-19 case in March 2020 and confirmed its first locally transmitted cases in November. Enditem

Today, UNICEF in partnership with the Government of Mongolia and the Ministry of Health has started the construction work of the new vaccines central storage building at the NCCD funded by the World Bank. The new facility will strengthen the capacity of Mongolia's health sector to prepare and respond to disease outbreaks and pandemics.

The new central vaccines storage will be a two-story, 1,686-square-meter facility designed to store Covid-19 and routine vaccines. The current vaccine storage was built in 2008 with the technical and financial support from UNICEF.

As of 4 May, Mongolia’s total tally of Covid-19 cases reached 40396. This was after 1015 new cases of infection were reported in the last 24 hours. Most of new cases reported in Mongolia were locally transmitted, however, 16 Indians who arrived in Ulaanbaatar by a Government chartered flight on 26 April were confirmed as having coronavirus. The Indian engineers are expected to work on Mongolia’s first oil refinery which is under construction in Dornogobi Province. Therefore, 16 Indians are now under quarantines in the province.

Separately, seven people died of coronavirus in Mongolia; this brings the total death toll to 126.

May 5 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's COVID-19 tally on Wednesday reached 41,524 after registering 1,128 new locally transmitted cases in the last 24 hours, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said.

Meanwhile, four more fatalities and 1,308 more recoveries were reported, bringing the death toll to 141 and the total number of recoveries to 25,641, respectively, the NCCD said in a statement.

Mongolia launched a national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its total population of 3.3 million.

Finance Minister Bold Javkhlan said Wednesday that the government will offer cash incentives of 50,000 Mongolian Tugriks (17.5 U.S. dollars) to citizens who have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, as the population of daily vaccination has been "relatively low" in recent days.

According to the country's health ministry, more than 1,128,600 people have received their first vaccine dose while over 532,500 have got both. Enditem

‘Tavantolgoi’ JSC will be distributing MNT 28.1 billion in dividends to its shareholders.

According to a resolution made by the Company’s Board of Directors dated April 20, 2021, the dividends were to be MNT 357.0 per share. However, the amount per share has been increased to MNT 535.0 or MNT 28.1 billion in total.

The dividends will be paid to eligible shareholders through their accounts held at the Mongolian Central Securities Depository starting from April 21, 2021.

Oyu Tolgoi LLC, Mongolia's largest copper and gold mining company - a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia, Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto, published its Year in Review 2020 report today, May 5.

Some key facts of the Year in Review 2020 report include:

At the end of 2020, the All Injury Frequency Rate was 0.15 per 200,000 people hours worked, which makes Oyu Tolgoi one of the safest performers across Rio Tinto Group.

Between 2010 and 2020, Oyu Tolgoi paid MNT 5.9 trillion* (US$2.9 billion) in taxes, fees and other payments, including the VAT paid to Mongolian suppliers. In 2020, Oyu Tolgoi paid MNT 826 billion* (US$294 million) in the form of taxes, fees and other payments to the Government of Mongolia.

Between 2010 and 2020, Oyu Tolgoi spent MNT 24.1 trillion* (US$11.6 billion) in-country in the form of salaries, payments to Mongolian suppliers, taxes and other payments to the Government of Mongolia.

84 local suppliers provided goods and services to Oyu Tolgoi in 2020. Between 2010 and 2020, Oyu Tolgoi spent MNT 1.67* trillion (US$672 million) on procurement from Umnugovi province.

Between 2010 and 2020, Oyu Tolgoi spent MNT 7.57 trillion* (US$3.54 billion) on national procurement.

Ambassador Batsukh Galsan, PhD, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, said, “Oyu Tolgoi received the internationally-recognized Copper Mark as a responsible and sustainable producer of copper – a testament to the hard work and tenacity of our people and the executive team. I take great pride in the young generation of national engineers and technical experts diligently learning from skilled and experienced expatriate professionals. Our MNT 24.1 trillion* (US$11.6 billion) total in-country spend to date also demonstrates the project’s contribution to the economic and social development of the country.”

Armando Torres, Chief Executive Officer of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, highlighted "Despite many challenges, we have worked together to fulfill our commitments safely and effectively in 2020. We are particularly proud of the remarkable journey we have made in improving safety. Oyu Tolgoi is an industry leading performer in safety, ending the year with an All Injury Frequency Rate of 0.15. As part of our continuous efforts to improve our environmental performance, we were pleased to maintain excellent water-conservation practices in 2020, achieving an average water-recycling rate of 87.7 percent, compared to a target of 80 percent. We understand how valuable water is for the Gobi region and we will continue to drive improvement in our water recycling process and support the local community on water conservation plans.”

Jacques van Tonder, Chief Development Officer of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, noted “For the Underground Project, the new mine design was concluded, providing a clear pathway towards future development and ultimately, sustainable production. We also successfully transitioned the underground mining and functional teams from the Underground Project into existing Operations. This transition is an important validation in the confidence we have as a leadership group that Oyu Tolgoi is ready to become an underground producer.”

“We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to officials at all levels of the Government of Mongolia, including state, provincial and soum emergency commissions for providing us with the support and the opportunity to continue Oyu Tolgoi operations and underground development in these challenging times.”

Source: www.ot.mn

Before the presidential election campaign gets started in earnest, I want to offer my sense of the candidates, issues, and some thoughts about possible outcomes.

Candidates have now been nominated. In one of the great surprises of the political year (not!), the MPP nominated U Khurelsukh, frm PM and, I assume given the requirement for candidates not to be members of parties, frm party chair. In yet another odd twist of the self-destructive trajectory of the DP, it, or at least some relevant part of it, seems to have nominated N Altankhuyag, frm PM and frm party chair. Though, wait, maybe not?Finally, XYH nominated D Enkhbat, entrepreneur and frm MP for then-Civil Will Party.

Main Dynamic: Anti-MPP Vote and Run-Off

I think that this election will turn entirely on how strong the desire among voters is to elect a non-MPP candidate for balance, and how that dynamic will play out in a three-way race.

We only need to turn to the 2017 election as an example of the desire of Mongolian voters to see some balance in the highest offices. With Marissa Smith, I recently wrote about this trepidation about one-party domination in the context of Pres Battulga’s attempt to ban the MPP. Inadvertently, Battulga’s seemingly desperate attempt to cling to power or have a chance to be re-elected will have sharpened the case for a non-MPP president in some voters’ mind.

But, how will this play out in a three-way race? The 2017 election had brought a run-off for the first time even though there had been other elections with more than two candidates. For example, in the 2013 election N Udval’s MPRP candidacy did not force incumbent Ts Elbegdorj into a run-off though he only won with a slight margin.

[Sidenotes: Yes, a woman has been a candidate for president recently, either supporting or questioning the frequently-heard comment that “Mongolians will not vote for a woman”. That common view is contrasted to me (as a German) by the sense that Germans find it hard to imagine a male chancellor at the moment. Also, note the interesting coincidence that Udval had previously been a Minister of Health, a role that brings much more attention with it in pandemic times, has often been seen as a “feminine” ministry, though, surprise, in critical times, we are back to a male Min of Health. Finally, note that Mendee and I had a back and forth about the likelihood of a run-off in 2013: Me I, Mendee, Me II.]

First prediction: Khurelsukh will win a plurality, but not a majority of votes in the first round, thus forcing a run-off.

The MPP can count on its rural and committed voter base to give Khurelsukh a lot of votes, but if anything, it seems like trepidation about the dominance of one party has grown since 2017, so it seems like a majority is unlikely. This is odd, in some ways, of course, as the electorate certainly endorsed the MPP and then-PM Khurelsukh in the 2020 parliamentary election.

Will COVID Play a Significant Role?

It is odd to think that a global pandemic, recently high infections in Mongolia, even outside of Ulaanbaatar, and the government response to it will not be a dominant driver in the election. Yes, it will be present as a topic, but perhaps not as much as I would have expected even a month ago or so. Why? Khurelsukh’s resignation as PM in January seemed driven by electoral calculations, involving the fear of a less-than-stellar record on fighting COVID. More oddities in that since a) Khurelsukh’s 2020 election victory was interpreted as partly due to the effective COVID response of his government, and b) if the electoral calculus was a strong driver, why did PM L Oyun-Erdene not react more forcefully to rising infection rates, even recognizing the supposed lockdown fatigue that may or may not have been a widespread sentiment.

But, infection rates and vaccine shipments can change massively in the five weeks of the campaign. So, this could really backfire on Khurelsukh if infection rates remain high and/or there are continued delays in vaccine shipments. Or, a decline in infections and/or rise in vaccinations could be a boost to his candidacy. Either way, I suspect that Khurelsukh will emphasize his COVID response much less than I would have thought months ago while other candidates may want to raise this more loudly.

And, hopefully, public health conditions will be such that an election (campaign) will be possible roughly as it was last year, i.e. physically distanced campaigning and lots of distancing measures for the election, perhaps even enabling mobile voting for quarantined individuals.

Second prediction, a bit lame: The impact of COVID will depend on … COVID, that is infection and/or vaccination rates. In all likelihood, COVID will not be eradicated nor is there a public health catastrophe coming (I hope), so the impact will perhaps be muted.

Candidates

Khurelsukh

Khurelsukh himself? Very attractive to the party faithful, I assume. And thus possibly also attractive to a good number of Enkhbayar/MPRP supporters many of whom “turned” on their “roots” in 2017 by voting for S Ganbaatar. If MPRP support is still somewhere around 10% nationwide and if I am correct in guessing that almost all of that support might vote for Khurelsukh, maybe that is the only path to a majority in the first round.

What else does Khurelsukh offer? Generational change in the MPP, competent management as PM. He certainly thinks of himself as a leader, though he does not express that in any policy ambitions that I am aware of. Perhaps a strong suit for a presidential candidate, i.e. he is probably good at looking presidential. My sense that he would continue to weaken Mongolia’s international relations (as Pres Battulga has) for being very much focused on Mongolia is more likely to be attractive to his supporters than important or unattractive to any swing voters.

Altankhuyag

I am assuming here that his nomination will stand despite the DP-internal, um, shenanigans.

Obviously, he is very familiar to voters. As far as I can tell, considering his long presence in politics he is relatively untainted by (corruption) scandals. But if I am right that the election will turn on anti-MPP-dominance sentiment, can he galvanize that sentiment and motivate swing voters to a) vote at all, and b) vote for him? I do not have a strong sense of how Altankhuyag is perceived in public.

Enkhbat

Disclosure: I invited Enkhbat to a November 2008 conference on contemporary Mongolia (which was the basis for the edited volume, Change in Democratic Mongolia – Social Relations, Health, Pastoralism, and Mining), so I have met him personally and have communicated with him in the past.

Again, some oddities particularly in XYH’s nomination of Enkhbat who, after all, has been a member of parliament for the Civil Will Party (now, Civil Will Green Party) and who has not really been involved in XYH, as far as I can tell. However, he is clearly sympatico to much of what XYH stands for, i.e. a different kind of politics, more educated, perhaps more liberal (in an economic sense, though not neo-liberal, I think, i.e. support for entrepreneurs, but not a religious belief in markets as a policy panacea).

I do think that he will be able to galvanize much of the urban anti-MPP vote. For example, many of the supporters of the “blank ballot” movement in 2017 are likely to vote for him as support of a different-from-MAHAH political force. But, perhaps I overestimate the numbers of those people as I, along with many others, had expected more XYH candidates to win seats in last year’s parliamentary election.

I do not have a strong sense of how he is perceived by the public, though his past political office and his various entrepreneurial activities make him prominent enough that he is well-known.

Third prediction: Candidates’ personal qualifications will be over-shadowed by the anyone-but-the-MPP dynamic.

Policy

The president’s political powers are quite limited. There are really only three policy domains where the president has significant direct influence, largely through participation in appointments: foreign policy, judiciary, and the military.

Given these limits, past presidential campaigns have not been strong on policy. And neither have presidencies. Can anyone name a successful policy ambition that Pres. Battulga has been able to carry out. Where there even any discernible initiatives other than populist ploys for public enthusiasm like the death penalty or various pay-outs?

Along these lines I suspect no concrete policy proposals or discussions from MPP or DP candidates. Potentially, Enkhbat could be different in this regard as he may credibly talk about different policies. Yet, the strength of his claims would come in areas like economic policy where the presidency brings symbolic power at best.

The one area of policy that has been of great concern to voters (and this observer) is the independence of the judiciary and – closely related – anti-corruption efforts. In this area, Enkhbat’s independence and lack of a strong party power base, as well as his own trajectory as an entrepreneur not firmly aligned with any conglomerates as far as I know, he may have a lot of credibility with all those voters who are concerned about this issue. Yes, Khurelsukh and Altankhuyag will talk a lot about anti-corruption policies, but they have no discernible track record in these efforts and neither does either of their parties for the past decade.

Fourth prediction: Even if it is unclear how determinant of a vote this may be, anti-corruption is the single topic where policy might matter, but only if Enkhbat can claim the anti-corruption mantel effectively.

By Julian Dierkes

May 5 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday issued a warning of forest and grassland fires.

The weather is very dry in most parts of Mongolia, which faces high risks of wildfires, the emergency agency said.

It also warned citizens that any fires should be prevented in the wild.

A total of 17 wildfires have been reported across the country since the beginning of this year, according to the agency. Enditem

China’s domestic natural gas demand is set to grow faster this year, gaining 10 percent, Argus reports, citing state-owned energy majors PetroChina and Sinopec.

A senior PetroChina gas executive said demand for natural gas will be driven by the utility sector as gas-fired power plants ramp up production to back up intermittent solar and wind capacity.

According to the executive, the country’s demand for natural gas will hit 350-356 billion cubic meters this year. Sinopec has almost identical numbers, expecting gas demand at 350-360 billion cubic meters. According to the major, the demand would come from power utilities and the industrial sector.

In 2020, China consumed 326.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, of which 192.5 billion cubic meters came from domestic production. This was almost 10% higher than the domestic production figure for 2019. Imports also rose in 2020, by 5.3% to 140.3 billion cubic meters.

LNG imports specifically jumped by 10.3% over the first eight months of the first pandemic year as the Chinese economy rebounded a lot more quickly than others. As with oil, China was the driver of the recovery in gas demand last year.

For this year, domestic production plans are for 202.5 billion cubic meters, which would be 5.2% higher than the 2020 figure. Of this total, PetroChina is seen producing 133.8 billion cubic meters. Sinopec, a much smaller gas producer, plans to extract 34 billion cubic meters of natural gas this year.

Even so, some in the gas industry in China are worried that demand is growing more slowly than it should. A recent poll carried out by Verdict and cited by Offshore Technology showed that for 35% of China’s gas and LNG industry, slow demand growth was the biggest concern. This was followed by LNG import project delays, which were the top concern for 21%.

At its meeting today, the Cabinet decided to downgrade the country’s coronavirus emergency regime level of current Red Level down to Orange Level starting from May 8 until June 5. Under the Orange Level regime, complete or partial heightened state of readiness is declared and operations of public and private organizations and individuals are restricted to a certain extent depending on the situation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the State Emergency Commission S.Amarsaikhan and Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan introduced about the Cabinet’s decision.

Currently, 55 percent of the nationwide vaccination target- 2,067,292 adult populations have gotten the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 26 percent have received the second dose. The Cabinet also resolved to allocate MNT 3.2 billion for the purchase of necessary equipment and maintenance of the National Center for Communicable Diseases. With a view to return to normalcy as quick as possible, the Government is aiming to accelerate the vaccine drive. Therefore, it plans to complete involving the total adult population of Ulaanbaatar city in the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within May 8 and rural citizens in the first and second dosage in June. Citizens’ engagement is so vital to complete vaccine drive, said the Deputy PM. “As the number of infection cases has not decreased, it was decided not to open the country’s border until June 1,” he added.

Moreover, Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan informed that social welfare services will not be provided next month unless welfare beneficiaries are vaccinated. There are 211 thousand citizens who receive various welfares in Ulaanbaatar city. As of May 4, 80 thousand of them have not had the first dose. Moreover, 29 thousand out of 47 thousand adult citizens who receive food vouchers have not been involved in vaccination.

Furthermore, the Cabinet decided to provide MNT 50,000 in cash to every citizen, who has been fully vaccinated, to support their health.

Citing that the citizens’ involvement in vaccination has drastically gone down in the capital city, Finance Minister B.Javkhlan said, " A whole society should not be at risk due to unvaccinated citizens, even though the vaccine is given on a voluntary basis. Mongolia’s economy has expanded and reached MNT 40 trillion by manufacturing MNT 100 billion worth gross domestic product in a single day. But, we are losing 50 percent of our opportunity in time of the lockdown and 10-20 percent in normal period. We hope we will complete vaccinating 60 percent of the entire population by the half of this year to recover the country’s economy.”