Within the framework of the “100 PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE LEADING SECTORS”, a series of consultation meetings with representatives of international organizations, private sector and professional associations were organized.

Within the first 100 days of the Government, the National Development Agency (NDA) along with the Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of Finance have been tasked with compiling a comprehensive list of “100 PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE LEADING SECTORS” and ensuring coordination between the government and the private sector.

Projects that have an impact on national and long-term development are included in the list according to an international evidence-based approach, taking into account not only economic benefits, but also social, environmental impact, and accessibility to the population which have become requirements for international funding.

The list of 100 projects, which was jointly developed by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development Agency in three stages and three scenarios, aims to see the development picture of our country in the long run and to accelerate its implementation. Within the framework of this list, 2 consultative meetings were held online with representatives of international financing organizations, private sector and professional associations on April 13 and 15, 2021, respectively. On Monday, the consultative meeting with the city and local authorities will be held online. As a result, the integrated proposals of 3 consultative meetings will be finalized.

The National Development Agency will continue to explore the possibility of introducing innovative internationally accepted financial mechanisms without increasing the budget burden and raising the debt ceiling.

The meeting, held on April 13, 2021, was attended by more than 40 representatives from more than 10 international organizations, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank. The meeting was opened by S.Oyun, Director of External Relations of the Green Climate Fund, which is the largest fund for climate change in the world, about the high cost and scarcity of financing raw coal-based projects, which are the backbone of our economy. Also, she touched upon the importance of implementing environmentally friendly and green criteria to ensure project readiness, while other international organizations have raised the issue with her in unison.

Representatives of the international organizations expressed their support for the 100 projects list, and stated that they will support the NDA’s work on selecting few relevant projects and include them in the Pitch book to be published by the NDA, and conducting risk assessment and preparation for international funding for each selected project.

The next meeting, held on April 15 with representatives of the private sector and professional associations, was attended by more than 80 guests, including representatives of Mongolia's largest business group companies, emerging start-ups, business associations and professional associations.

The consultative meeting lasted more than two hours, and participants emphasized that it was an innovation for public organizations to openly share their development policies and discuss policy support opportunities and cooperation with the private sector.

D.Enkhtuvshin, Vice President of MCS Group, and U.Ganzorig, President of Mandal Financial Group, emphasized the need to focus on innovative financial opportunities for project implementation, explore opportunities for public-private partnerships, and prioritize policy succession and sustainability. Director of Gerege company, N. Enkhjargal said that the private sector should not compete with the public. G.Javkhlantugs, Policy Director of AmCham Trade Department, stated about the possibility of continuing projects without politicization. E.Orchlon, Investment Director of NewCom Group, introduced their major projects, the possibility of collaboration and other participants and business representatives emphasized their opinions about the 100 projects.

The series of meetings was moderated by B.Bulganchimeg, Deputy Chairperson in charge of Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Cooperation, who presented the comprehensive reforms initiated by the NDA on the legal environment for investment, investor protection, promotion and e-services, which are essential for project implementation. Kh.Batjargal, Chairman of the National Development Agency, explained the importance of 100 projects, future plans and implementation coordination. He also stated the importance of Mongolia preparing more environmentally friendly green projects and putting them into economic circulation. B.Dulguun, Deputy Chairperson in charge of Research, Development Policy and Planning, answered questions about the listing methodology of 100 projects and their impact on the macro economy. The 100 projects will be announced to the public within 100 days of the government.

For more information, please contact batchimeg.e@nda.gov.mn.

The working group in charge of implementing the parliamentary resolution No.92 dated November 21, 2019, titled ‘Ensuring the interests of Mongolia in the exploitation of the Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper mine’ began the negotiations with Rio Tinto company delegates on April 12.

The government's working group, set up by the decree of the Prime Minister of Mongolia, has expressed its position to the investor side to terminate the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan, also known as the ‘Dubai Agreement‘, and ensure the interest of Mongolia. This is because when the plan was first established, the initial cost estimates of the Oyu Tolgoi underground development plan were approved at USD 5.3 billion. Unfortunately, this cost estimate was increased by USD 1.4 billion or about 30 percent, reaching USD 6.75 billion, and the date when the first underground production to be achieved was extended by 22 months from the first estimation of January 2021. Moreover, it was calculated that Mongolia will not receive dividend payments until 2051 and will incur debts of USD 22 billion, which is prompting to reconsider the plan.

B.Solongoo, Deputy Chief of Cabinet Secretariat and a member of the working group, said during her interview with Mongolian National Broadcaster, “We will take all necessary measures to make the Oyu Tolgoi project as profitable as possible for the Mongolian side. I do not assume that the negotiations on this issue will end soon as the parliamentary resolution No. 92 commands very broad areas. In this regard, we have to work for the improvement of the entire framework agreement, such as the Investment Agreement of 2009, the Shareholders‘ Agreement of 2011, and to make the Oyu Tolgoi project more profitable for Mongolia as a whole."

She also said that independent experts are expected to make a conclusion on the issue of cost overrun in the underground development of Oyu Tolgoi by late June. Tax acts of MNT 377 billion and MNT 649.4 billion were imposed on Oyu Tolgoi LLC in 2018 and 2020 respectively. However, the company declined to accept the tax penalty of MNT 377 billion and initiated an arbitration proceeding at the London Court of International Arbitration.

"The government will defend its stance that the company must pay an appropriate amount of tax if it earns its income from Mongolia," stressed B. Solongoo.

80 percent of the total resources of the Oyu Tolgoi project will be mined underground. Currently, Oyu Tolgoi has an annual revenue of USD 1 billion from open-pit mining. With the opening of the underground mine, this revenue is expected to quadruple.

On 6 November 2020, the EU, Switzerland and US froze the assets and accounts of 59 people around the world, including Belarus’s autocratic president, Alexander Lukashenko, his son and associates. Subsequently, it was revealed that Lukashenko's money-laundering network was sending large sums of money through Mongolia to offshore companies in Estonia and Dominican Republic.

Lukashenko had a few hard-currency cash cows. One was Belaz, a manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks and equipment used in mining. The Belarus state-owned Belaz sells trucks and other products through United Belaz Machinery, its official dealer in Mongolia.

The shareholders of United Belaz Machinery used to be Otgonjargal Moyle, a Mongolian citizen, and Vladimir Gennadievich Yaprintsev, from Belarus. Yaprintsev, is a three-time world champion in sambo. He’s made public his friendship with Khaltmaa Battulga, the Mongolia president. They met through their mutual love of sambo in the mid-1980s and established a joint venture in Mongolia.

Otgonjargal Moyle is a former personal assistant to Battulga. She was a shareholder in two of his companies, Tumen Khishigten and Bayalgyn Khuvi. Otgonjargal is now a high-ranking law enforcement official in the Mongolia Prosecutor General's Office.

United Belaz Machinery has a Mongolia sister company, United Belaz Machinery Investment Company. It’s suspected of laundering sums of money for Lukashenko under the guise of selling mining equipment in Mongolia.

Ownership of United Belaz Machinery was transferred by the pair to Meress, a company registered in Estonia and Blustait, in Dominican Republic.

The beneficial owners of these offshore companies are thought to be connected to Lukashenko.

United Belaz’s affairs are tightly-guarded. It is alleged that its lucrative dealerships are only awarded to those associated with the very highest levels of the Lukashenko regime and the country in which it sells the equipment, in this case, Mongolia.

The roles of the Estonia and Dominican Republic companies and what funds reach them requires further investigation, not only in Mongolia, but by international law enforcement agencies.

ProPublica has published a scathing report, “The country that exiled McKinsey”, detailing alleged corruption surrounding a Mongolia railway-building scheme and the creation of a bogus feasibility study. Battulga, then minister of road, transportation and urban development, and his advisor, Chuluunkhuu Ganbat, were heavily implicated. Otgonjargal Moyle, the original shareholder in the Belaz dealership, was also drawn in as an associate of Battulga.

After Battulga’s election as president, and the subsequent departure of the prosecutor general and head of the anti-corruption agency who were investigating the case, the probe and prospect of any prosecutions ended.

It was alleged during the railway inquiry that millions of US dollars in cash were being deposited by Otgonjargal Moyle in accounts of companies and foundations linked to Battulga. What was not clear is how a person with rather modest means and not a large publicly declared income had access to large sums of cash. Was it connected to Belaz? Again, we won’t know until this is properly looked into by Mongolian and international law agencies.

Otgonjargal Moyle is the wife of Ben Moyle, founder and former director of C1 TV, which is controlled by Battulga, and frequently unleashes attacks on his local political opponents. Ben Moyle is a UK citizen.

It’s to be hoped that Otgonjargal did not acquire UK citizenship, as under Mongolian law, dual citizenship is prohibited. In Mongolia, working as a government employee, especially in law enforcement, is considered to be a “special service branch of the civil service” and has a higher bar of compliance, as a foreign citizen is a grave offence.

United Belaz Machinery supplied the the state-owned Baganuur mine with four coal trucks, four dump trucks and a bulldozer. It received MNT 18.6 billion from the Development Bank of Mongolia to implement a project to expand the coal-crushing and loading facility, which was never paid back.

A total of 35 pieces of Belaz equipment, worth MNT 27 billion, was supplied to Erdenet, another state-owned copper mine. Documents were allegedly falsified and Belaz is suspected of having been in collusion with the plant's management.

Was Battulga's pressure and influence behind these deals, which also involved higher-than-market prices? If so, he has awkward questions to answer. Misusing power and favouring a specific supplier are criminal offences under Mongolian law.

The evidence heavily suggests the existence of a global network of assets and businesses tied to money laundering via Mongolia for Lukashenko.

The inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force has previously targeted Mongolia for money laundering and included the country on its “Grey List” of nations with deficiencies in their systems that must be more closely monitored. What is required now is a thorough investigation, not only into possible money laundering by Mongolia’s president and a high-level law enforcement official but also on behalf of a vilified European ruler.

Mongolia is expected to prepare around 9,700 tons of cashmere this year, the country's food and agriculture ministry said Thursday.

Mongolia, one of the last nomadic countries in the world, exports 60 percent to 70 percent of its total cashmere prepared per year after primary processing and washing, the ministry said in a statement.

The country's livestock number totaled 67.1 million by the end of 2020, and over 41 percent of them were goats, according to the National Statistics Office.

The Asian country, with a population of 3.3 million, has more than 230,000 herder households. Cashmere is one of the main sources of income for Mongolian herders. Enditem

In the first quarter of 2021, 4.4 thousand foreign citizens from 89 foreign countries were working in Mongolia with labor contract with purpose of earning wage and income or voluntarily without purpose of earning wage and income.

The number of foreign workers increased by 118 (2.7%) from the same period of the previous year and 394 (9.8%) from the previous quarter.

In terms of gender of all foreign workers with labor contract in Mongolia, 3.8 thousand (86.5%) were male and 0.6 thousand (13.5%) were female. In terms of country of all foreign workers in Mongolia, 53.6% is from China, 5.6% is from Russian Federation, 4.8% is from South Korea, 4.5% is from Australia, 3.9% is from Vietnam, 3.4% is from United States, 3.0% is from South Africa, 3.0% is from India, 2.7% is from Philippines, 2.2% is from Great Britain, 1.7% is from Canada, 1.2% is from Japan and remaining 10.4% is from other countries.

By age groups of foreign workers, the highest percentage or 17.8% was persons aged 45-49, 16.1% was persons aged 50-54, 14.5% was persons aged 35-39 and the lowest percentage or 1.7% was persons up to 24 years.

In the first quarter of 2021, 1.6 thousand workers (36.0%) are working in mining and quarrying sector, 829 workers (18.7%) were working in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, 610 workers (13.8%) are working in education sector, 540 workers (12.2%) are working in construction sector, 398 workers (9.0%) are working in manufacturing sector, 163 workers (3.7%) are working in transportation and storage, 121 workers (2.7%) are working in administrative and support service activities, and 173 workers (3.9%) are working in other sectors. Compared with the previous quarter, the number of foreign workers in manufacturing sector increased by 76 (23.6%) and by 141 (20.5%) in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

National Statistics Office

In the first quarter of 2021, Mongolia traded with 121 countries from all over the world, and the total trade turnover reached USD 3.5 billion, of which USD 2.0 billion were exports and USD 1.5 billion were imports.

The total foreign trade turnover increased by USD 1.3 billion (60.4%), of which exports increased by USD 964.6 million (93.1%) and imports increased by USD 362.1 million (31.2%) compared to the same period of the previous year.

In March 2021, exports and imports reached USD 665.8 million and USD 601,4 million respectively. Compared to the previous month, exports decreased by USD 28.8 million (4.1%) and imports increased by USD 138 million (29.8%).

Bituminous coal and copper concentrates accounted for 34.3% and 33.6% of total exports to China. Bituminous coal accounted for 96.6% of goods exported to Singapore, while fluorspar accounted for 41.1% of total export to Russia.

In the first quarter of 2021, USD 964.6 million increase in exports from the previous year was resulted from MNT 269.9 million increase in copper concentrates exports and USD 439.4 million increase in coal exports. Export decreased by USD 28.8 million from the previous month, mainly due to a decrease of USD 25.9 million decrease in copper concentrate exports.

National Statistics Office

Today’s daily COVID-19 press briefing by the Ministry of Health reported that 742 new coronavirus cases were detected in the past 24 hours nationwide after PCR tests were carried out on a total of 10,666 people.

In specific, 654 newly cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city and 88 cases were detected in rural regions, including Darkhan-Uul, Orkhon, Erdenet, Uvs, Khovd, Khuvsgul, Arkhangai, Selenge, Zavkhan, Tuv, Choir, Dundgobi, Sukhbaatar and Khentii aimags.

As a result, the nationwide infection tally is now 18,565, with the cases registered in the capital city reached 15,739.

In the last 24 hours, 385 coronavirus patients were recovered and discharged from hospital, making the number of COVID-19 recoveries 10,638. As of April 6, a total of 2,978 coronavirus patients are being treated at hospitals in Ulaanbaatar city and in the rural aimags.

The National Center for Communicable Diseases also reported two new COVID-19 related deaths, raising the country's death toll to 31. A 69-year old woman and a 72-year old man were the two COVID-19 casualties.

In 2021, Mongolia is estimated to prepare about 9,700 tons of cashmere. As 60-70 percent of total cashmere goes through primary processing before being exported, a special focus is being given on reducing the export of low-level processed goods and increasing the production and export of value-added products.

Despite supplying 45 percent of the unprocessed cashmere in the global market, products with the label ‘Made in Mongolia’ currently take about 10 percent of cashmere products in the market. The label is aimed to promote the features of Mongolian cashmere to the global market, increase its value and competitiveness, and increase the income of not only manufacturers but also local herders through the production of value-added final products.

As of December 2020, the amount of cashmere for export reached USD 243.5 million. Of the total cashmere, 76 percent were washed and 7 percent were processed, while 17 percent were final products.

About the ‘Mongolian Noble Fibre’ certification mark:

To guarantee the product quality for consumers, to increase the value of Mongolian wool and cashmere products and certify them, the Mongolian Noble Fibre certification mark was created which:

• defines the advantages of fibre sourced from Mongolia,

• guarantees that the fibre meets required standards,

• guarantees quality assessment in all stages starting from preparation of commodities to manufacturing of final products,

• as well as the introduction of environment and livestock-friendly practices in production.

At the regular meeting, the Cabinet members heard a report on the implementation process of the MNT10 trillion comprehensive plan for health protection and economic recovery.

Within a purpose to support employment, up to MNT 2 trillion loan with annual 3 percent interest and 3-year term is being issued to small and medium enterprises and individuals. As of April 12, the loan issuance is running at 26.3 percent and MNT 525.6 billion of loans were issued to 7,356 borrowers out of receiving 34.2 thousand loan requests of MNT 4,292.9 billion in total.

Of the 7,356 borrowers, 1,146 are entities and 6,210 are individuals. 12,049 loan requests for the remaining MNT 1,856.9 billion are under study while 7,882 loan requests have been denied. The average amount of loans - for individuals was MNT 37.4 million and entities - MNT 256.1 million.

Within the frame of long-term repo financing by the Bank of Mongolia, 1,557 borrowers have received financing of MNT 246 billion in total while 2,982 borrowers have received MNT 222.1 billion in the mortgage.

Copper is so crucial in electrifying the global economy that finding enough of it has become a national security issue, according to mining magnate Robert Friedland.

Mining companies will have to be “real heroes” and governments will have to accept the industry if the world is to successfully transition to clean energy and transport, said Friedland, founder and co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which explores and develops mines in Africa.

SIGN UP FOR THE COPPER DIGEST

The world is yet to grasp the scale of disruption in replacing fossil fuels, with most people in urban areas unaware of where materials in everyday life come from, he said.

“It’s all copper, copper, copper, copper, copper, copper,” Friedland told the CRU World Copper Conference on Tuesday.

While the 70-year-old billionaire is taking a long-term view, his words of warning contrast with those of some of his colleagues at the conference who are reluctant to accelerate growth plans in a cyclical market.

His comments seem more in line with bullish analysts such as Nicholas Snowdon of Goldman Sachs, who predicts record-high prices as the metal heads toward the tightest conditions since the mid-2000s.

Mining is suffering from years of underinvestment, with America very under-explored because for 20 or 30 years “it wasn’t cool to mine,” Friedland said. Where future supplies come from “is going to be a matter of fervent debate” as will how to tax and regulate them.

Massive investments are needed to electrify economies. The US power grid, which “is a joke” compared with China’s, needs $10 trillion and “astronomic amounts” of the right metals to get up to scratch, he said.

“In the short term, we’ve had a big rise in the price of copper,” Friedland said. “But for the medium term, copper has really become a national security issue. It’s central for what we want to do with our economy.”

While the industry should now be seen as part of the solution in global decarbonization, it also faces challenges to decarbonize, he said. Ore quality around the world is deteriorating, meaning volume has to rise and carbon emissions increase. Mining will need both hydroelectric and nuclear power as well as renewable, he said.

People should expect a carbon tax on everything, he said.

(By James Attwood, with assistance from Daniela Sirtori-Cortina and Joe Deaux)