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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Governments from Mongolia to Mali seek to reopen mining deals www.reuters.com

TORONTO/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Some resource-rich developing countries are seeking to rewrite mining contracts and accelerate dividend payouts, which can take years to materialize under deals that experts said are tilted in companies’ favor.
Any move to renegotiate agreements will trigger pushback by miners wary of threats to their profit margins, experts said, and previous attempts have caused protracted disputes.
Mongolia became the latest country to demand better terms, asking for more tax revenue from Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine while it waits for dividends. In West Africa, Mali has said it would try to reopen mining contracts that leave the state waiting years for dividend payments.
“What we’re asking for today is for African countries to be able to benefit more from their mineral production,” said Abdoulaye Pona, president of Mali’s Chamber of Mines.
The historical power imbalance between mineral-rich but cash-poor countries and multinational mining companies has left a legacy of bad deals that have been overly generous to investors, said Alexandra Readhead, tax and extractives lead at the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
The financial strain governments are under from the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to stricter implementation of existing tax laws and closer scrutiny of deals, Readhead said.
Governments are pushing for speedier payouts as prices for metals from gold to copper scale multiyear highs, signaling what investment bankers said is the start of another commodity supercycle.
Glencore remains at odds with the Democratic Republic of Congo nearly three years after the country signed a new mining code into law, CEO Ivan Glasenberg said on Tuesday. The 2018 code hiked royalties on cobalt, copper and gold.
“We are still in discussions with the government... we have not accepted the change from the old code to the new code,” Glasenberg told investors on a call.
‘NOT LIKELY TO CHANGE’
Mongolia, which owns 34% of the Oyu Tolgoi mine, is unlikely to get dividends until 2051 based on Rio’s latest cost estimate for an underground expansion, a source familiar with negotiations said.
Delays and rising costs have eroded the expected benefits of the project, the state argued.
Rio, whose majority-owned Turquoise Hill Resources owns the rest of the mine, declined to comment.
Some are skeptical Mongolia’s government will win better terms under a new pact, given that previous agreements limit its taxation powers.
“It’s not likely to change to their benefit,” said Vincent Kiezebrink at the Netherlands-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.
In Mali, the transitional government is reviewing mining deals after the auditor general last year identified problems including “non-distribution of dividends” in the contracts.
In September, Barrick Gold unit SOMILO paid its first dividend to Mali, 15 years after production at the Loulo mine started and a year after the auditor general criticised the firm for not paying dividends.
Barrick did not respond to questions. The Loulo mine is part of the Loulo-Gounkoto gold-mining complex, West Africa’s biggest, and Barrick said the project generated $240 million in dividends for 2020.
CEO Mark Bristow has said he does not expect major changes to mining deals in Mali.
Last year Mali’s auditor general demanded Resolute Mining pay dividends to the state, a 20% shareholder in the Syama mine which started producing in late 2008.
Resolute’s Mali subsidiary SOMISY will begin paying dividends to the government once it reaches profitability, the company told Reuters.
While pushing for reforms, countries in need of investment must still tread carefully, Pona at Mali’s Chamber of Mines said.
“You can’t create a (mining) code which will make mining companies avoid your country,” he said.
Reporting by Helen Reid and Jeff Lewis; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
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Total equilibrated revenue and grants decreased by 43.1 percent www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. In January 2021, according to the preliminary results, the total revenue of the general government budget was MNT 711.3 billion, of which the equilibrated revenue of the general government budget was MNT 666.1 billion or 93.6%.
On the other hand, the total expenditure and net lending amounted to MNT 784.5 billion in January 2021, resulting in a deficit of MNT 118.5 billion in the equilibrated balance. The total equilibrated revenue and grants of the general government budget decreased by MNT 42.4 billion or 6.0%, the total expenditure and net lending increased by MNT 143.2 trillion or 22.3% compared to the same period the previous year.
In January 2021, the total equilibrated revenue and grants of the general government budget was MNT 666.1 billion, decreased by MNT 504.8 billion or 43.1%, the total expenditure and net lending was MNT 784.5 billion, decreased by MNT 1.2 trillion or 60.8% compared to the previous month.
In January 2021, the equilibrated balance of the general government budget was in deficit of 118.5 billion, decreased by MNT 709.6 billion or 85.7% compared to the previous month. The General government budget revenue was comprised of 85.0% from tax revenue, 8.7% from non-tax revenue, 3.3% from the future heritage fund and 3.1% from the stabilization fund.
In January 2021, tax revenue reached MNT 604.3 billion, decreased by MNT 52.1 billion or 7.9% compared to the same period of the previous year. This decrease was mainly due to MNT 29.4 billion or 14.8% decrease in value-added tax revenue, MNT 21.8 billion or 15.1% decrease in social security revenue, MNT 9.9 billion or 13.6% decrease in excise tax revenue and MNT 1.9 billion or 1.7% decrease in income tax revenue, while MNT 9.5 billion or 15.8% increase in other taxes revenue and MNT 3.0 billion or 5.1% increase in foreign activity revenue.
In January 2021, total tax revenue was accumulated from 28.0% from value-added tax, 20.3% from social security contributions, 18.7% of the income tax, 12.5% from other taxes, 10.5% from excise taxes and 10.0% from foreign activities.
In January 2021, other taxes revenue increased by 2.2 percentage points, foreign activity revenues increased by 1.2 percentage points and income taxes revenue increased by 1.2 percentage points, while value-added tax revenue decreased by 2.3 percentage points, social security contributions revenue decreased by 1.7 percentage points and excise taxes revenue decreased by 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year.
In January 2021, the general government budget expenditure and net lending was MNT 784.5 billion, increased by MNT 143.2 billion or 22.3% compared to the same period of the previous year. This increase was primarily affected by MNT 128.5 billion or 22.8% increase in current expenditure and MNT 13.4 billion or 16.7% increase in capital expenditure compared to the same period of the previous year.
Source: National Statistics Office
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First doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be brought from India next week www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Mongolia is planning to bring first doses of Oxford - AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on February 22 and start vaccination immediately from the next day, February 23, in phases.
For the first phase, MIAT Mongolian Airlines will bring 150,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Republic of India next Monday.
The cabinet convened on February 17 for a regular meeting and decided to fund necessary expenses for the MIAT direct flight to India from the government’s contingency fund. Corresponding government ministries were charged to take required steps to bring vaccines on scheduled time, deliver the vaccines to destined storage facilities using dedicated vaccine delivery vehicles after they arrive in the country and launch the vaccination in stages.
At the meeting, the cabinet also made decisions to settle funding to cover expenses required for mobilizing frontline COVID-19 employees working at public streets, isolation facilities and surveillance sites and provide personal protective equipment and disinfection and sterilization products.
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Mongolian democracy is officially “flawed” reckons EIU www.news.mn

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2020 democracy index ranks Mongolia 61st out of 167 countries rated and classifies it as a “flawed democracy”.
The EIU democracy index, on a 0-10 scale, is based on the ratings for 60 indicators grouped in five categories. Mongolia gained 8.75 scores in electoral process and pluralism, 5.71 scores in functioning of government, 5.56 scores in political participation, 5.63 scores in political culture and 6.76 scores in civil liberties.
The index values are used to place countries within one of four types of regime:
full democracies—scores of 8 to 10;
flawed democracies—scores of 6 to 7.9;
hybrid regimes—scores of 4 to 5.9;
authoritarian regimes—scores below 4.
Norway led the index with the highest score or 9.81, followed by Iceland (9.37), Sweden (9.26) and New Zealand (9.25).
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Coal export increases by 21.6 percent www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry, Mongolia exported 3,145.1 thousand tons of coal between January 1 to February 7, increased by 559.5 thousand tons or 21.6 percent compared with the same period of the previous year. Moreover, the country exported 138.4 thousand tons of copper concentrate. The figure shows the increase of 14.6 thousand tons or 11.8 percent.
In addition, the export of oil in the reference period reached 570.6 thousand barrels, increased by 282.9 thousand barrels or 98.3 percent from the previous year. Whereas, the export of iron ore and concentrate decreased by 213.0 thousand tons or 21.7 percent compared with the same period of the previous year.
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Feasibility study for gas pipeline project to be complete in the first quarter www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan today virtually met with authority of Gazprom company and agreed to intensify the feasibility study for gas pipeline project.
Gazprom plans to complete the feasibility study for gas pipeline construction through Mongolia in the first quarter of 2021. A special-purpose company named Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok was established with the purpose of performing design and survey works and conducting a feasibility study regarding the construction project for a gas trunkline to supply Russian gas across Mongolia to China and the company was registered in Mongolia.
The Government of Mongolia and Gazprom signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Gas Pipeline Construction through the territory of Mongolia in December 2019 and a Memorandum on pre-investment project assessment in August 2020.
The Power of Siberia-2 pipeline to be built through Mongolia is estimated to transport 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to China. Export capacity of the new pipeline might become more than 1.3 times higher than that of Power of Siberia.
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Mineral industry makes up 27 percent of budget revenue www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. According to the preliminary performance results of the general government budget of Mongolia, budget revenue reached MNT 10.4 trillion, showing a decrease of MNT 1 trillion or 13.6 percent since the previous year.
The ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry reports that the mineral industry's contribution to the government budget was MNT 2.6 trillion, which means MNT 246 billion or 8.4 percent decrease compared to 2019.
The minerals industry's contribution to the government budget are divided as follows:
Mining industry – MNT 2.5 trillion or 24.3 percent of budget revenue.
Petroleum industry – MNT 102.8 billion or 1 percent of budget revenue,
Payments for special licenses – MNT 32.7 billion or 0.3 percent,
Other types of payments and contributions MNT 14.9 billion or 0.1 percent.
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Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines to be supplied to Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On February 15, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the State Emergency Commission S.Amarsaikhan held a virtual meeting with COVAX Program’s Senior Manager for Mongolia Ms. Kerry Geen, exchanging information on the supply process of COVID-19 vaccines to Mongolia.
The Government of Mongolia and the Ministry of Health ensured preparations to receive 25,740 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 163,200-276,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine within the framework of COVAX Program and plans to get the vaccines loaded to Mongolia at the end of this month.
Ms. Kerry Geen said we are aiming to make the first transportation of AstraZeneca vaccine to Mongolia from mid-March once the World Health Organization (WHO) lists the vaccine for emergency use and expressed to render all round support to supply the vaccines.
Incidentally, the same day, February 15, the WHO listed two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX. As a result, it became possible for Mongolia to receive the vaccine from the middle of the coming month.
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‘Leaving No One Behind’ project to provide vouchers to 2,948 households www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia has joined the ‘Leaving No One Behind’ Emergency Relief Project. The project was originally launched with support from the Embassy of Germany to Mongolia, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, and People in Need Mongolia.
With SDC's contribution will support another 1,384 households across Mongolia. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the Ministry of Education and Science, and People in Need will provide the assistance in the form of vouchers to people and their families, and other vulnerable groups who are severely impacted. In total, this joint project supports 2,948 households across the country.
“The economic and social impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in Mongolia have been overwhelming. The Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia stands ready to support the Government of Mongolia and work together towards providing people and their families from vulnerable communities the urgent assistance they need during this difficult time. We must find solutions that uphold the dignity of these communities and one that does not leave anyone behind" said Stefanie Burri (PhD), Head of Cooperation in Mongolia.
Source: Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia
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COVID-19: 33 new cases recorded www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ 33 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus after testing 37,530 people nationwide in the past 24 hours.
Of the newly detected cases, 24 were close contacts of the previously confirmed cases and 9 were among the people who involved in ‘One door-one test’ surveillance testing. As of today, 26 cases have been detected as a result of the surveillance testing campaign, which has involved over 200 thousand people so far since February 11.
Mongolia now has 2,416 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 1,760 recoveries. 48 people have recovered in the last 24 hours and discharged from hospital. 643 people are being treated at the NCCD, Military Central Hospital, 300-bed hospital of Khan-Uul district and the State Central First Hospital.
 
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