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

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Mongolia Grapples With Its First Real COVID Wave www.thediplomat.com

On December 1, Mongolia completed 19 days of quarantine meant to stop the first cases of local transmission of COVID-19. The total number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Mongolia has reached 812. There have been no fatalities so far. The case count has been steadily increasing since March. The number of imported cases via repatriated citizens stands at 383 – that means the number of locally transmitted cases, following the first such case on November 11, quickly exceeded the imported cases.
When the Mongolian State Emergency Committee announced a full curfew for five days on November 12, it faced several clusters of patients with COVID-19. One cluster included a truck driver who had recently returned from Russia and underwent a 21-day quarantine at a hotel. It has since been revealed that the people who were undergoing quarantine at that hotel repeatedly violated the isolation procedures. More than 40 people have been included in this cluster.
Another cluster of COVID-19 infections was quickly pinpointed to Selenge province. Selenge is Mongolia’s northernmost province and is home to a big border crossing checkpoint with Russia. Even though the border has been closed for human traffic since March, cross-border traffic in goods has continued to operate. The border has since been closed for an indefinite period. More than 183 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Selenge province.
The third and most troubling cluster occurred among railroad employees. Mongolia operates a north-to-south bound railroad that connects Russia, Mongolia, and China. The majority of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Mongolia have been the railroad employees and their family members. The railroad passes through the provinces of Selenge, Darkhan, Orkhon, and Gobisumber.
During the 19 days of full curfew, more than 188,044 PCR and rapid tests were conducted. Mongolia has a population of 3.3 million, so the number of tests equates to 5.7 percent of the population. In Selenge, 18,000 people were tested – virtually every person in the province. Darkhan city, Mongolia’s second largest city with a population of 100,000, went a different route. They have asked people to volunteer one person for testing per family. More than 28,000 people were tested within a span of three days. Also, 16,000 personnel from the Mongolian railroad were tested.
Because the capital of Ulaanbaatar has introduced a curfew, more than 40,000 people who live outside of the city were stuck. Within a span of four days, all the people who wanted to go back were given PCR tests. Since none of them were infected, they were allowed to return and instructed to self-isolate when they reached their destination.
Mongolian government officials have been hopeful that they were able to trace and isolate all the COVID-19 patients, but to be on the safe side, they have extended the curfew for another 10 days. People have been instructed to continue to wear masks and go outside only for food and medical emergencies.
Even though the story is still not over, we can point to some lessons learned from the recent emergence of local transmission in Mongolia.
Mongolia introduced strict quarantine measures, such as closing the border and asking all citizens to wear masks, on January 25. The early recommendation to wear masks has been essential in preventing transmission of the infection. After 10 months of no local transmission of COVID-19, people and government officials alike started to relax. The strict measures that kept Mongolia safe have been abandoned. Maintaining a strict regimen is difficult to practice for many months.
Because Mongolia was able to be COVID-19 free for more than 10 months, it could prepare for the eventual cases by stockpiling masks, PPE suits, essential medicine, and respirators. Several hospitals have been designated as COVID-19 centers and the staff members were prepared to deal with patients. Mongolia has also purchased several new PCR laboratories in strategic locations close to border towns, and acquired mobile ones. The mobile laboratories were essential in the provincial towns and allowed the medical personnel to rapidly deploy and conduct tests on a short notice.
Though the medical personnel have been good thus far in tracing all the people who have been in contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases, in a big epidemic, tracing large number of people by hand would be difficult if not impossible. Utilizing tracing applications on mobile phones, similar to South Korea, will be essential. Also, because large amounts of people were being asked to use websites to check the results of their tests, the websites repeatedly crashed. Mobilizing new hi-tech methods to monitor and trace COVID-19 infections would be essential in keeping the numbers down.
Mongolia was COVID-19 free for more than 10 months. That was no accident. The strict procedures that were imposed to keep the virus at bay have worked for almost a year. But the country’s recent experience shows that maintaining high level of preparedness for a prolonged time is difficult, if not impossible.
Anandsaikhan Nyamdavaa is an independent consultant based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
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Commercial banks issuing loans to non-mining export and SMEs www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Bank of Mongolia (BoM) has provided funding of MNT 175 billion to Khaan, Khas, Capitron, Transport Development, Bogd and State Banks in accordance with their submitted requests.
With its resolution No.5 dated September 14 and resolution No.6 dated November 23, the BoM Monetary Policy Committee decided to announce 2-year repo trading with an aim to provide long-term financing for non-mining exports and SMEs.
Moreover, it was decided to provide a financing of MNT 230 billion in total in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the BoM announced its first long-term repo trading on November 30.
The banks will spend the funding for re-financing normal loans issued in MNT to entities operating in non-mining export and small and medium sized production sectors that meet requirements approved by the BoM and issuing new loans.
As a result, the entities are now available to submit requests to the afore-mentioned banks for reducing loan interest to less than 10.5 percent and exempting from principle payment of loan for less than six months of period.
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428.9 thousand tons of grain harvested www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry has reported the results of the harvesting of 2020.
This year, 428.9 thousand tons of grain, of which 408.1 thousand tons of wheat, 240.5 thousand tons of potatoes, 113.5 thousand tons of vegetables, 21.2 thousand tons of oil plants and 169.4 thousand tons of fodder plants were harvested from 522 thousand hectares of land.
It requires 306 thousand tons of wheat to secure the domestic need of flour. Currently, it is short by 68 thousand tons. In connection with the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is needed to stock up additional 82 thousand tons of wheat for the domestic need. The shortage was due to the increased frequency of precipitation in summer and autumn. Moreover, farmers made the wheat as a substitution to fodder plant in response to the drought and poor pasture, which negatively affected the crop balance.
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The Hu sings ‘Metallica’ in the Mongolian language www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. ‘The Hu’ Band has recorded a version of ‘Sad But True’ by Metallica in Mongolian language in the style of The Hu.
Within three days once the new version uploaded on Youtube, the views have reached about a million.
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XCMG delivers its largest dozer to Mongolia www.miningmagazine.com

Chinese heavy equipment maker XCMG has delivered a DL560 wheel bulldozer to a mining customer in Mongolia.
The DL560 is the company's largest wheel loader, and the delivery marks full access for Mongolia's mining industry to XCMG's entire product line of high-tonnage loaders and wheel dozers.
The DL560 model is designed to be the first choice for operators of ports and large mines, XCMG said.
Chairman Wang Min said in a statement: "Our products ... have been widely used in the country. XCMG has the highest market share in Mongolia among all Chinese brands, and is now becoming the first choice for the local Mongolian construction machinery industry."
The DL560 wheel bulldozer comes with a Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) and Falling Object Protective Structure (FOPS) certified pressurized cabin and sound and light warning devices incorporated by an advanced electronic monitoring system.
XCMG is also introducing a load-sensing variable hydraulic system to the DL560 model, which can reduce fuel consumption by 7%.
The company has established a local spare parts center in the country, offering comprehensive after-sales support.
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CLSA backs Xanadu’s tier one copper aspirations in Mongolia www.stockhead.com.au

Special Report: CLSA analyst Trent Allen has endorsed Xanadu Mines’ renewed focus on exploration at its flagship Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, agreeing with the company’s assessment that it can develop into a tier one asset with further drilling.
Kharmagtai already contains a globally significant resource of 1.9 million tonnes of copper and 4.3 million ounces of gold and Xanadu (ASX, TSX: XAM) had been heading down a path towards development.
One option being explored was starting with a small oxide gold open pit operation before moving on to mining the larger gold-rich copper porphyry.
But the appointment of Colin Moorhead, an ex-Newcrest Mining executive and geologist with intimate knowledge of some of the world’s biggest copper-gold porphyry systems, as chairman late last year led to a rethink in strategy.
In August Xanadu raised $12 million through an institutional share placement to fund an aggressive exploration program aimed at shoring up the project’s economics and proving its tier one status.
Initiating coverage on the company with a “buy” recommendation recently, Allen said: “The end game is to prove up a tier one mine, which to us means a reserve of +15 years with average annual production of +70kt of Cu (or +300kozpa Au).
“Kharmagtai could potentially produce that with ease, but to be comfortably profitable through the commodity cycle, it needs an All-In Sustaining Cost of less than US$2/lb Cu.
“The key to this will be grade. Kharmagtai is a vast intrusive complex that is still relatively untested, in particular at depth.
“Management has the experience to vector in on additional higher-grade areas (+0.8% copper equivalent) areas of the system, but drilling takes time – a sweet spot might emerge in the current program or in 2021.”
Kharmagtai Mining Lease showing deposit and prospect locations and location of drilling conducted in the September quarter 2020.
Right team in place
Allen worked under Moorhead at Newcrest’s Cadia Valley Operations in New South Wales and like his former boss, has observed similarities between Kharmagtai and Cadia Valley.
Knowing the critical role Moorhead played in the development of Cadia Valley – he drove the discovery of Cadia East, now Australia’s largest underground mine – and chief executive Andrew Stewart’s in-country background, Allen is comfortable that Xanadu has the team in place to be successful in Mongolia.
He is also of the view that the dramas surrounding the country’s largest mine, the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold operation majority-owned by Rio Tinto, may ultimately prove beneficial for the likes of Xanadu.
“OT has attracted some operational and political controversy around permitting, project ownership and capex – but this is unsurprising given the mammoth scale of the asset,” he said.
“We expect that XAM can benefit from the OT example of how to, and how not to, develop a copper mine in Mongolia.”
Cheap by peer comparison
The Xanadu share price has drifted below the 4.5c price of the August capital raising, not an uncommon turn of events for a junior exploration stock.
Allen expected that to turn around as the company started to deliver results from the 23km of diamond drilling it is currently completing at Kharmagtai (17km has been drilled to date), honed in on higher grade zones and moved towards a resource update for the project in the first half of next year.
He has a 12-month price target of 8c on the stock based on a sum of the parts valuation, assuming enterprise value to resource ratio improves to $46/t Cu or 0.5% of the in-ground value of the Kharmagtai resource, which is more in line with industry peers.
Nominal value has been applied to Xanadu’s other Mongolian assets, which include the Red Mountain copper-gold joint venture, where Japan’s JOGMEC is spending $7.2 million to earn a 51% interest, and the early stage Yellow Mountain copper project.
Like other investment banks and brokers, CLSA is bullish on copper and is forecasting an average 2021 price of US$3.20/lb, “driven by a clear, long-term theme of scarcity of high quality supply”.
“In this light, Xanadu could be attractive to other companies seeking copper exposure,” Allen said.
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China’s forex reserves hit 4-year high on booming trade & strong yuan www.rt.com

China boosted its foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, by over $50 billion in one month. The holdings rose to the highest in more than four years to reach $3.178 trillion in November.
The forex reserves returned to growth for the first time in three months and hit the highest level since August 2016, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Monday. The growth was stronger than analysts polled by Reuters predicted, as they expected the holdings to be nearly $30 billion lower.
The value of China's gold assets fell by around six percent as the price for the yellow metal decreased in November amid a stock market rally. Bullion holdings were down to $110.41 billion last month compared to $117.89 billion at the end of October, the official data showed.
The world’s largest forex reserves increased as Beijing has been rapidly recovering from the coronavirus crisis that paralyzed the country’s economy at the beginning of the year. Foreign trade has been booming in recent months, with exports surging to almost three-year highs in November.
The strong exports came even as the yuan continued to appreciate against the dollar, rising 1.7 percent last month. Meanwhile, the greenback continued to fall against major global currencies. The US Dollar Index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies, extended losses in November as it fell over two percent.
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China wants to weaponize its currency. A digital version could help www.cnn.com

Hong Kong (CNN Business)China wants to break the US dollar's stranglehold on the global financial system and gain greater control over how people spend their money. It's hoping a digital currency could deliver both.
After years of preparation, the country began rolling out an ambitious test of a digital version of the yuan earlier this year. Pilots exist now in four Chinese cities, where transactions totaling more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) have already taken place. If the program is expanded nationwide, China would become the most powerful economy yet to offer a national digital currency, beating a forthcoming digital version of the euro from the European Central Bank.
Beijing has touted the digital yuan as a futuristic currency that will make buying things more convenient and secure. Officials also say that it could help those who don't have access to bank accounts and other traditional financial services.
While China is already nearly cashless and a lot of transactions happen digitally, they do so beyond the purview of the state on privately-owned apps and platforms.
An official digital yuan would change that, as it would give Beijing an unprecedented amount of information about how and where people are, and what they're spending their money on — an approach that runs counter to the original intent of digital money in the first place. Bitcoin and other digital currencies rely on a decentralized blockchain system that prevents any one person or organization from having control.
"In essence, the digital yuan can help strengthen the state's surveillance and control over the economy and society," said Frank Xie, a professor in business at University of South Carolina Aiken. "It enhances the centralization of authority. That may be the fundamental reason why it has been strongly pushed and rushed by the state."
Chinese regulators have also suggested that the widespread adoption of a digital yuan could help them realize a much grander plan: breaking the US dollar monopoly and growing the influence of the yuan on the international stage. Just last month, for example, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam revealed that US sanctions have blocked her from having a bank account.
There are still plenty of hurdles for China's program to overcome before the new form of currency is entrenched in everyday life, though. And analysts are skeptical about whether the digital yuan can pick up the traction that Beijing hopes it can, much less pose a real threat to the US dollar. The ruling Chinese Communist Party's desire to control its financial system remains the ultimate obstacle to creating any currency that could truly become global.
Keeping the digital economy in line
The push to develop a digital currency began in 2014, according to the People's Bank of China. Authorities spent six years researching the project before launching pilot programs this year in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong'an.
Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger. It would replace some of the cash that is already in circulation, according to Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the central bank.
The development of a digital currency serves other purposes, too. A more easily traceable yuan would allow the government to better manage the country's monetary supply. It also satisfies Beijing's desire to curtail growing influence that private tech firms and their digital payment services have on the country's financial system.
The Chinese central bank didn't articulate its reason for developing a digital currency at the time. The existence of the program has only come to light in recent years as the central bank has acknowledged that it feels threatened by how rapidly digital technology is evolving.
Online payment services run by Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay have been growing rapidly over the last decade, raising concerns about whether private companies hold too much sway over digital transactions in China.
In 2013, for example, Alipay launched a money market fund called Yu'e Bao, or "Leftover Treasure," that became so popular that Chinese regulators stepped in and forced the program to reduce its size. They were concerned about systemic risk: If the massive fund failed for some reason, it could wreak havoc on China's economy.
Jack Ma's Ant Group is a digital payments titan in China, and has been growing rapidly over the last decade — raising questions about how much sway the firm has over monetary transactions in the country.
Jack Ma's Ant Group is a digital payments titan in China, and has been growing rapidly over the last decade — raising questions about how much sway the firm has over monetary transactions in the country.
"Beijing has long been concerned about the digital currency monopoly by tech giants, and their impact on the financial system beyond central bank supervision," wrote Anthony Chan, chief Asia investment strategist for Swiss bank UBP, in a research report published earlier this year.
Recent events have served to highlight those concerns. Last month, for example, the Chinese government slammed the brakes on Ant Group's highly anticipated initial public offering just days before its shares were scheduled to start trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
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Chimney Sweeps Attack Deadly Pollution Crisis www.globalpressjournal.com

ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA — Soot and ash bloom from the stove as Sukhbaatar Jizaabandi pounds it with a hammer. Dust crowds the air, caught in sunlight that spills through a window. Hands gloved, Sukhbaatar shovels the soot into a bucket.
On the surface, Sukhbaatar’s work as a government-hired chimney sweep seems like a prosaic necessity in a country where stoves are often the center of the home.
Yet to thousands, he and his colleagues are lifesavers.
That’s because, in clearing ash and soot, Sukhbaatar protects Ulaanbaatar residents from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
That was the tragic lesson of 2019, after the Mongolian government decided to reduce air pollution by banning the burning of raw coal. But the change unleashed a new problem, as the use of new refined charcoal led to carbon monoxide poisoning that killed eight people in a month.
Since then, the government has hired hundreds of chimney sweeps to prevent a recurrence as part of a broader campaign to combat pollution in a country whose air ranks among the dirtiest in the world. Ulaanbaatar’s air is the most polluted in the country.
Battumur Dagvadorj and Sukhbaatar Jizaabandi, climbing the ladder, come to their last home of the day as part of a government initiative to clean out chimneys and reduce carbon monoxide poisoning.
For decades, Mongolians used unprocessed coal in stoves during Mongolia’s long, legendary winters, when temperatures can bottom out at minus 45 degrees Celsius (minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit).
The cheap coal came at a high cost: The country’s air grew so foul that it contributed to heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and other illnesses.
Starting in May 2019, Mongolians had to buy a refined charcoal that was odorless and smokeless.
Within a month, the deaths occurred, and another 273 people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. The number of carbon monoxide deaths in October 2019 nearly matched the total for all of 2018.
Officials blamed the deaths in part on families who didn’t sweep their chimneys properly. So the government ultimately teamed up with a private company to hire more than 1,600 people to clean and inspect stoves.
As of mid-August, the chimney sweeps had worked in over 28,400 households.
Prior to becoming a chimney sweep, Sukhbaatar, 56, had no steady work. Pale, short and thin, he says he took the job in part because it provides a reliable government salary of 800,000 Mongolian tugriks ($281) per month.
“It’s easy because I have experience making stoves,” says Sukhbaatar, a married father of three. “I didn’t know the chimneys were so dirty.”
In Ulaanbaatar, tens of thousands of residents live in yurts, mostly in the city’s ger areas, the poorest in the capital. A traditional Mongolian home, yurts are domed structures with wooden frames covered in felt and cloth. Usually measuring 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) end to end, most yurts are warmed by a stove.
Working in teams, chimney sweeps and inspectors visit households to study the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Not everyone is welcoming: Byambaa Sundel, who lives in Ulaanbaatar’s Sukhbaatar district, says the government program shows that young people today are so privileged that they cannot clean their own chimneys.
“What a waste [of money]!” he says.
Inspector Battumur Dagvadorj, in blue, and chimney sweep Sukhbaatar Jizaabandi dig out soot with a ladle and put it in a bucket. Afterward, they will take it to a dump. They also use their cellphones to take photos of each stove.
The chimney sweeps and inspectors cover four to five houses per day. Most households are happy to see Sukhbaatar and his colleagues, and some homeowners even help them do their work.
The teams toil from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and by the end of the day, they are blanketed in soot.
Ulziibayar Barkhuu, inspection engineer at Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh LLC, the government’s partner company, says sometimes chimney sweeps and inspectors must make emergency house calls in the middle of the night.
The company receives calls at a special telephone number and supplies chimney sweep services upon request. More than 33,000 people have called.
Battsengel Tsedendamba, 50, used the service after two bouts of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In October 2019, she was at home asleep in the two-story house she had occupied for 17 years. She had never had trouble with chimney smoke or coal, she says.
Suddenly, she awoke choking. Just as she was calling a nurse, she noticed that her children, ages 8 to 22, were all unconscious.
Everyone received medical treatment and fully recovered. “I think it’s God’s destiny for me and my children that they didn’t die of asphyxiation,” she says.
Then, in February 2020, Battsengel again suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. Again, she recovered. So in October 2020, as winter descended and her family fired up the stove, she called in a chimney sweep.
“I don’t think there’s any problem now that the chimney has been [cleaned] out,” she says.
Damdinbazar Batbuyan, 46, called the service in September. Married with two children, he teaches chess out of his home. He had not cleaned his chimney since burning the new refined fuel.
Before the chimney sweep visited, smoke sometimes poured out of his stove, he says, but that no longer happens. And he says he now uses three times less fuel.
Critics of the chimney sweeping campaign say it falls far short of a comprehensive plan to curb Mongolia’s pollution crisis.
“Mongolia has not taken long-term measures to reduce [air pollution],” says activist Purevkhuu Tserendorj, head of the nongovernmental organization Parents Against Smog. “We can’t just keep refining coal.”
Tsolmon Tsogbadrakh, head of policy and coordination at Ulaanbaatar’s Air Pollution Control Department, says Mongolia does have a long-term plan to reduce air pollution, including improving infrastructure and construction in the ger areas.
“We are implementing a national program to reduce air pollution, and we are working on it step by step,” he says. He also says that in the next four to six years, Mongolia will reduce emissions with improved fuels.
Officials have so far declined to say if anyone has died of carbon monoxide poisoning since September, which is when Mongolians started using their stoves again.
All Battsengel knows is that the service saved her and her family. “Professional chimney sweepers have worked very well. [They] protect many people,” she says. “Like us.”
Nansalmaa Oyunchimeg is a Global Press Journal reporter based in Mongolia.
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Mongolian Immigration Agency working online www.news.mn

During the current lockdown situation, Mongolia Immigration Agency and its branches are working online. You can contact agency’s web site https://evisa.mn/ for extending your visas and residency cards. Since the strict lockdown, the agency has taken actions for 70 investors and workers visa requests from 16 entities. It granted extensions of residency card issuance and its registration/deregistration for 220 business entities request. Furthermore, around 1700 foreigners and their inviter companies have been provided by information and advice through phone or online chatbot.
Affection of current situation, if you have visa or residency card expiring problem you may send your request by web site www.evisa.mn, If you need any further help or advice please contact us at 1800-1882 or online chat bot located at our website /immigration.gov.mn/ during working hours.
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