1 PRIME MINISTER OYUN-ERDENE VISITS EGIIN GOL HYDROPOWER PLANT PROJECT SITE WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/30      2 ‘I FELT CAUGHT BETWEEN CULTURES’: MONGOLIAN MUSICIAN ENJI ON HER BEGUILING, BORDER-CROSSING MUSIC WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM PUBLISHED:2025/04/30      3 POWER OF SIBERIA 2: ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY OR GEOPOLITICAL RISK FOR MONGOLIA? WWW.THEDIPLOMAT.COM PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      4 UNITED AIRLINES TO LAUNCH FLIGHTS TO MONGOLIA IN MAY WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      5 SIGNATURE OF OIL SALES AGREEMENT FOR BLOCK XX PRODUCTION WWW.RESEARCH-TREE.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      6 MONGOLIA ISSUES E-VISAS TO 11,575 FOREIGNERS IN Q1 WWW.XINHUANET.COM PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      7 KOREA AN IDEAL PARTNER TO HELP MONGOLIA GROW, SEOUL'S ENVOY SAYS WWW.KOREAJOONGANGDAILY.JOINS.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      8 MONGOLIA TO HOST THE 30TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF ASIA SECURITIES FORUM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      9 BAGAKHANGAI-KHUSHIG VALLEY RAILWAY PROJECT LAUNCHES WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/29      10 THE MONGOLIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND FDI: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITY WWW.MELVILLEDALAI.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/04/28      849 ТЭРБУМЫН ӨРТӨГТЭЙ "ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД" БООМТЫН ТЭЗҮ-Д ТУРШЛАГАГҮЙ, МОНГОЛ 2 КОМПАНИ ҮНИЙН САНАЛ ИРҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/30     ХУУЛЬ БУСААР АШИГЛАЖ БАЙСАН "БОГД УУЛ" СУВИЛЛЫГ НИЙСЛЭЛ ӨМЧЛӨЛДӨӨ БУЦААВ WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/30     МЕТРО БАРИХ ТӨСЛИЙГ ГҮЙЦЭТГЭХЭЭР САНАЛАА ӨГСӨН МОНГОЛЫН ГУРВАН КОМПАНИ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/30     "UPC RENEWABLES" КОМПАНИТАЙ ХАМТРАН 2400 МВТ-ЫН ХҮЧИН ЧАДАЛТАЙ САЛХИН ЦАХИЛГААН СТАНЦ БАРИХААР БОЛОВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/30     ОРОСЫН МОНГОЛ УЛС ДАХЬ ТОМООХОН ТӨСЛҮҮД ДЭЭР “ГАР БАРИХ” СОНИРХОЛ БА АМБИЦ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/30     МОНГОЛ, АНУ-ЫН ХООРОНД ТАВДУГААР САРЫН 1-НЭЭС НИСЛЭГ ҮЙЛДЭНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/29     ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙД Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ ЭГИЙН ГОЛЫН УЦС-ЫН ТӨСЛИЙН ТАЛБАЙД АЖИЛЛАЖ БАЙНА WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/29     Ц.ТОД-ЭРДЭНЭ: БИЧИГТ БООМТЫН ЕРӨНХИЙ ТӨЛӨВЛӨГӨӨ БАТЛАГДВАЛ БУСАД БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫН АЖЛУУД ЭХЛЭХ БОЛОМЖ БҮРДЭНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/29     MCS-ИЙН ХОЁР ДАХЬ “УХАА ХУДАГ”: БНХАУ, АВСТРАЛИТАЙ ХАМТРАН ЭЗЭМШДЭГ БАРУУН НАРАНГИЙН ХАЙГУУЛЫГ УЛСЫН ТӨСВӨӨР ХИЙЖЭЭ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/29     АМ.ДОЛЛАРЫН ХАНШ ТОГТВОРЖИЖ 3595 ТӨГРӨГ БАЙНА WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/29    

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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Beijing enveloped in hazardous sandstorm, second time in two weeks www.reuters.com

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese capital Beijing woke on Sunday morning shrouded in thick dust carrying extremely high levels of hazardous particles, as a second sandstorm in two weeks hit the city due to winds from drought-hit Mongolia and northwestern China.
Visibility in the city was reduced, with the tops of some skyscrapers obscured by the sandstorm, and pedestrians were forced to cover their eyes as gusts of dust swept through the streets.
“It’s quite serious today. There’s always a day or two like this (of pollution or dust) each month,” said Mr. Fan, 39, who did not wish to disclose his full name.
Beijing’s official air quality index reached a maximum level of 500 on Sunday morning, with floating particles known as PM10 surpassing 2,000 micrograms per cubic metre in some districts.
Readings of smaller PM2.5 particles were above 300 micrograms per cubic metre, far higher than China’s standard of 35 micrograms.
PM2.5 particles are especially harmful because they are very tiny and can enter the bloodstream, while PM10 is a larger particle that can enter the lungs.
The China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow alert on Friday, warning that a sandstorm was spreading from Mongolia into northern Chinese provinces including Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Liaoning and Hebei, which surrounds Beijing.
The meteorological office said the recent sandstorms to hit Beijing originated from Mongolia, where relatively warmer temperature this spring and reduced rain resulted in larger areas of bare earth, creating favorable conditions for sandstorms.
Beijing might face more sandstorms in April due to the unfavorable weather this year, the meteorological office said.
Reporting by Sophie Yu, Judy Hua and Martin Pollard; Editing by Michael Perry
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Mongolia logs 321 new COVID-19 cases, total tops 7,000 www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia reported 321 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, raising the nationwide count to 7,014, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Sunday.
Meanwhile, 104 more patients have recovered and were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total recoveries to 4,341, the center said.
The Asian country has registered 10 COVID-19-related deaths so far since its first case was confirmed in March 2020.
The country launched a national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its 3.3 million population. More than 276,000 people have been vaccinated so far, according to the health ministry.
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Mongolian judoka M.Urantsetseg grabs gold at Tbilisi Grand Slam www.montsame.mn

Mongolian judoka M.Uransetseg has won the gold medal from the women’s 48 kg weight class at the Tbilisi Grand Slam 2021, winning two Grand Slam tournaments back-to-back. A total of 464 judokas are participating in the IJF Grand Slam tournament, which is being organized in Tbilisi, Georgia from March 26 to March 28.
Following a first-round bye, she defeated Italian judoka Sofia Petitto with an ippon at 1:30 minutes in Round 2. While she won against Romanian judoka Monica Ungureanu with a joint locking technique at 2:58 minutes in her next match, she defeated Slovenian judoka Marusa Stangar with another ippon at 2:50 in the semi-finals.
In the final match, she faced off against Italian judoka Francesca Milani, coming out victorious by forcing a submission.
Moreover, IM G.Kherlen won the bronze medal from the men’s 66 kg weight class on the first day of the tournament. With a first-round bye in Pool C, he defeated British judoka Michael Fryer and Georgian judoka Beka Tsifiani through penalties.
While he won his next match against Russian judoka Mikhail Puliaev with a waza-ari in overtime, he was defeated by Uzbekistani judoka Sardor Nurillaev through penalties.
In his final match in the tournament, he faced off against Georgian judoka Bagrati Niniashvili, coming out on top with an ippon winning him the bronze medal. With this, IM G.Kherlen gains 500 points in the World Ranking List, climbing up to 4th place.
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Class action against Rio Tinto over Oyu Tolgoi escalates www.mining.com

A new claim filed in a US court on Thursday over Rio Tinto’s (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) handling of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine expansion in Mongolia alleges the mining giant concealed the real cause of the delays that have held back its most important growth project.
In a 163-page claim filed in New York, Pentwater Capital Management — the second-largest shareholder in Rio-controlled Turquoise Hill (TSX, NYSE: TRQ) — has included the testimony of 12 individuals who worked for Rio or its contractors and which could tip the balance against the miner.
The document cites defective Chinese steel, incompetent engineering and poor procurement as some of the “true” reasons behind the mine expansion’s massive cost increase and delays.
The new claim expands upon the initial class action lodged late last year, which accused Rio of being too slow in telling investors of the cost and schedule blowouts.
Both Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill have largely blamed the setbacks to the late realization that the project’s geology was weaker than first thought and needing a change of technical approach.
The complaint quotes a former employee described as a “top manager” who worked at Oyu Tolgoi from 2013 to 2019 for mining contractor Redpath, saying the notion that geological issues were the primary cause of the delays was “one hundred per cent pure horseshit”.
“The project was being delayed because of engineering and execution. There may have been some pockets of bad ground, but that’s expected in any mine,” the amended claim quotes.
A second Red Path project manager said the steel required for the main shaft at the underground mine was “consistently subpar, had structural defects and issues with fabrication, including steel parts not being made to specifications, had poor joints, and was otherwise unusable and dangerous.”
In its filling, Pentwater claims the oversights effectively forced managers to rebuild much of Shaft 2 from scratch. The task, the complaint says, required workers to replace more than 40,000 bolts and about 95% of the steel in the shaft’s headframe, predictably causing costs and schedule delays “to skyrocket.”
The activist investor argues that despite being informed of ongoing issues with the project throughout 2017 and 2018, Rio and Turquoise kept telling investors the expansion was on track for a capital cost of $5.3 billion and would achieve first production in the first quarter of 2021.
It was not until July 2019 that Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill announced the project would require an additional $1.2bn to $1.9bn in capital and was 16 to 30 months behind schedule.
“Ultimately, Turquoise Hill investors incurred massive losses as Turquoise Hill shares lost well over 70% of their value when the true extent of the delays and cost overruns at Oyu Tolgoi came to light,” the document reads.
Never-ending troubles
Mounting investor activism is just one of the may headaches Rio Tinto has had while building what would rank as one of the world’s three largest copper mines when operating at full tilt. Full production is now expected to be by 2025 at the earliest, with first output planned for October 2022.
There was also an open dispute between Rio and Turquoise Hill over funding the expansion’s cost increase. The row began heating up in early November when Turquoise Hill launched arbitration proceedings against Rio Tinto to get clarity on the issue and ended up costing the Canadian miner’s CEO, Ulf Quellmann, his job.
Pentwater’s fresh claims come as Rio’s new copper boss Bold Baatar holds crucial talks with the Mongolian government over Oyu Tolgoi’s future.
The company has repeatedly said the underground expansion is its most important growth project. Once completed, Oyu Tolgoi will churn out 480,000 tonnes of copper a year from 2028 to 2036. This would make it the biggest new copper mine to come on stream in several years.
Rio Tinto owns the mine through its majority stake in Turquoise Hill, which has a 66% interest in Oyu Tolgoi. The Mongolian state has the remaining 34% of the operation, located in the South Gobi desert near the border with China.
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Talks with Rio Tinto on Oyu Tolgoi project to launch next week www.montsame.mn

Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Kh.Nyambaatar, who is heading the working group established by the Prime Minister of Mongolia to hold negotiations on Oyu Tolgoi issues, has delivered an update on the Oyu Tolgoi project matters. He reported that official talks between the working group and Rio Tinto company delegates will officially begin next week.
According to him, draft guideline to the official talks sets out three stages of the negotiations on issues surrounding the Oyu Tolgoi project.
Firstly, the sides will discuss about the termination of the Oyu Tolgoi’s underground development plan. Rio Tinto has been declining to accept the Tax Act of more than MNT 1 trillion and initiated an arbitration proceeding at the London Court of International Arbitration with the government of Mongolia as a defendant. Rio Tinto has paid over MNT 650 billion to Mongolia under the Tax Act by the General Taxation Authority of Mongolia. In connection with this, the second stage of the talks are planned to touch on issues about the tax act and tax disputes.
The Government of Mongolia and Rio Tinto have signed 15 agreements and contracts since 2009. Revision of those documents to make the project mutually beneficial would be the agenda of the third stage of the talks.
Minister Nyambaatar said “The working group will convene on Saturday this week (March 27, 2021) to agree on its position for the upcoming talks with Rio Tinto, and also the draft guideline to the talks will be presented early next week to an irregular cabinet meeting for government approval.”
Initial cost estimates of the Oyu Tolgoi underground development plan were approved at USD5.3 billion. Unfortunately, this cost was increased by USD 1.4 billion, 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, as notified by the investor to the Mongolian government.
As a result, the amount of taxes and dividend payment that Mongolia to receive is likely to decline. As explained by Rio Tinto, the cost overrun and schedule delay are caused by the geological conditions that had been worsened. However, the Mongolian government had been carefully studying to explore about the causes, which are probably flaws in the project management and procurement activities, and sent an official letter to Rio Tinto in November 2020.
A suggestion has been made to conduct an independent review of the causes of the cost overruns and delays to the underground development, and according to which, the Oyu Tolgoi’s board resolved to establish a special committee to protect the interests of minority shareholders in the project, which include the government of Mongolia and minority shareholders of Turquoise Hill Resources.
"The government of Mongolia and minority shareholders of Turquoise Hill Resources have appointed working teams to have experts investigated if there are any wrongdoings in the Oyu Tolgoi project’s management and procurement and to give assignments to the experts.
Minister Nyambaatar further informed that some minority shareholders of Turquoise Hill Resources have filed a claim to a New York court that Rio Tinto has disclosed the actual causes of the cost overruns and included testimonies of 12 former employees of the Oyu Tolgoi project. Some of the witness statements claim that Rio Tinto was actually aware of the geology and geological conditions of the Oyu Tolgoi project back in 2012 and argue that associating geological difficulties as the cause of the overruns is false.
According to Nyambaatar, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom have launched an investigation on the claim that the investor may have failed to timely provide and has concealed the information that could affect the stock prices, violating related regulations.
“The government is working with these organizations and exchanging information. If the claim that the investor is responsible for the underground project’s cost overrun and delay is proven to be true, an issue of holding them accountable will arise.” said Nyambaatar. “The investigation by the corresponding authorities in the U.S. and the UK, who are seeking to protect the interest of minority shareholders, will result in a decision that is favorable to the government of Mongolia” he emphasized.
Ch.Ariunbold
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Rio Tinto to use solar technology to power California mine www.mining.com

The world’s second-largest miner, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO), announced Wednesday an agreement to explore the deployment of renewable energy technology company Heliogen’s solar technology at Rio’s borates mine in Boron, California.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Heliogen will deploy its proprietary, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology at the Boron operation, where it will use heat from the sun to generate and store carbon-free energy to power the mine’s industrial processes.
In a press release, the companies said they will begin detailed planning and securing government permits for the project, with the aim of starting operations from 2022.
They will also use the Boron installation to begin exploring the potential for deployments of Heliogen’s technology at Rio Tinto’s other operations around the world to supply process heat, which accounted for 14% of Scope 1 & 2 emissions from the Group’s managed operations in 2020.
Heliogen’s high-temperature solar technology is designed to replace fossil fuels with sunlight cost-effectively for a range of industrial processes.
“This partnership with Heliogen has the potential to significantly reduce our emissions at Boron by using this groundbreaking solar technology, and we look forward to exploring opportunities across our global portfolio,” Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said in the statement.
At Rio Tinto’s Boron mine, the company’s proprietary technology will use AI to control a network of mirrors that concentrate sunlight to capture energy used to make steam. Heliogen’s system will also store the captured energy in the form of heat, allowing it to power nighttime operations and providing the same uninterrupted energy stream offered by legacy fuels.
The Boron operation mines and refines borates into products ranging from fertilizers to construction materials and is producing lithium carbonate from a demonstration plant. The site currently generates steam using a natural gas cogeneration plant and natural gas fired boilers.
Heliogen’s installation will supplement these energy sources by generating up to 35,000 pounds per hour of steam to power operations, with the potential to reduce carbon emissions at the Boron site by around 7% – equivalent to taking more than 5,000 cars off the road.
Rio will also assess the potential for larger-scale use of the Heliogen technology at Boron to reduce the site’s carbon footprint by up to 24%.
“Addressing climate change effectively will require businesses, governments and society to work together through partnerships like this one, to explore innovative new solutions throughout the entire value chain,” Stausholm said.
“Our work with Heliogen is part of Rio Tinto’s commitment to spend approximately $1 billion on emissions reduction initiatives through to 2025 and our commitment to work with world-leading technology providers to achieve this goal.”
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US sinks below Mongolia and Argentina in global ranking for freedom www.independent.co.uk

The United States has dropped 11 points in 10 years in the global ranking for freedom.
A new report from democracy watchdog Freedom House charting the political and civil rights of different nations has the US down significantly because of racial inequality, the negative impact of money in politics, and the rise in polarisation between Americans.
Coming in at 83 out of 100 possible points, the US is now tied with countries such as Panama, Romania, and Croatia, and behind Argentina and Mongolia. America is outstripped by the United Kingdom and Chile which both got 93 points, Costa Rica at 91 and Slovakia at 90.
The nordic trio of Finland, Sweden, and Norway were the only countries getting full marks at 100 points. America's neighbour to the north, Canada, came in at 98 points.
The United States went from 94 points in 2010 to 83 points in 2020. The drop, analysed by Freedom House's vice president of research and analysis, Sarah Repucci, comes after events taking place during the last several months that "amounted to an acute crisis for democracy in the United States", she writes.
She told The Guardian: “Dropping 11 points is unusual, especially for an established democracy, because they tend to be more stable in our scores."
Freedom House usually does not write a report focusing on the ins and outs of American democracy, but did so this year because of the stark developments that came at the detriment of freedom.
These developments include the racial inequality in voting and criminal justice, with Black and Native Americans being most acutely affected. That public trust in the government has been eroded thanks to the ways wealthier Americans used their finances to buy influence is another factor in the point-drop.
Partisan gerrymandering, meaning the process of drawing districts in a way that benefit one party over another, has lead to levels of polarisation so high that it's a threat to democracy, the report argues.
"The practice of partisan gerrymandering ... has the most corrosive and radicalising effect on US politics, generating a multitude of districts in which one party can be virtually certain of victory," the report states.
Ms Repucci told The Guardian: “We’re really concerned about these longer-term challenges that aren’t going to be addressed with quick fixes, that were kind of highlighted during the Trump administration and, in some cases, taken advantage of, by that administration.
The report makes three broad recommendations based on these issues to bring American democracy up to scratch.
The report suggests that the US "lower barriers to voting as part of a comprehensive effort to address racial injustice," and it argues that campaign finance laws be tightened to "curb the influence of money in politics". Finally, "independent redistricting commissions" should be established to "reduce political polarisation and extremism," the report concludes.
While state Republicans hope to halt the trends of states moving towards Democratic rule in its tracks by making it harder to vote, as reported by Vox, Democrats on the national level are pushing a voting rights package that addresses the issues stated in the report.
The House passed a massive voting bill earlier this month, but it faces an "uphill battle" in the Senate, The New York Times reports.
“American democracy is still strong and we still have a lot going for us especially in the strength of our institutions and in the mobilisation that is possible among the population. I do think that these problems can be solved and people should take heart in that," Ms Repucci told The Guardian.
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Asymptomatic, mild COVID-19 patients in Mongolia receive at-home treatment www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia has begun to treat asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 patients at their homes, a senior official of the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Thursday.
"Our country has recently begun to isolate and treat asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 patients at their own homes," Enebish Temuulen, deputy director of the NCCD, told a press conference.
Currently, 373 asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 patients are being treated at their homes in the country's capital Ulan Bator, which is the hardest hit region by COVID-19, Temuulen said.
These patients are being monitored by health workers of family practice under the supervision of the NCCD and the Ministry of Health, he added.
In recent days, more than 200 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases have been reported daily in Mongolia, mostly in Ulan Bator.
"If the situation continues to worsen, we will have no choice but to impose a strict lockdown in Ulan Bator next month," Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan said in a recent statement.
Mongolia has so far registered 5,895 COVID-19 cases, with nine deaths.
The country launched a national vaccination campaign late last month, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its 3.3 million population. A total of 244,550 people have been vaccinated so far, according to the health ministry.
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Mongolia reports record 285 daily COVID-19 cases www.akipress.com

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia reached 5,895 with 285 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, the highest daily increase since the pandemic hit the country.
Mongolia has conducted PCR testing of 13,456 people nationwide yesterday, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) Deputy Director E.Temuulen said.
267 of the cases were registered in Ulaanbaatar while 18 cases were confirmed in regions: in Zavkhan - 1, Bayankhongor - 1, Orkhon - 3, Darkhan-Uul - 7, Arkhangai - 2 and Tov - 2 cases.
A total of 4,044 patients recovered, with 97 in the past day.
1,391 patients are undergoing treatment: 21 patients in severe and 6 patients are in extremely serious condition.
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Mongolia issues warning of strong winds, dust, snow storms www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring on Thursday issued a warning of strong winds and dust storms.
In the coming three days, strong winds and heavy dust storms are expected to sweep the western, central and Gobi parts of Mongolia.
In addition, heavy dust and snow storms are expected to hit eastern provinces of the country, with wind speed expected to reach 18-28 meters per second in large parts of the country in the coming few days, the agency said, urging citizens, especially nomadic herders, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.
The warning came after 10 people, mostly herders, lost their lives due to heavy dust and snow storms that swept through large parts of Mongolia in mid-March
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