ADB Approves $100 mn Loan for Development of Advanced BESS in Mongolia www.saurenergy.com

ADB has approved a USD 100 million loan to help supply RE to Mongolia by installing its first large-scale advanced battery energy storage system (BESS)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 100 million loan to help supply renewable energy to Mongolia by installing its first large-scale advanced battery energy storage system (BESS).

World Bank approves $53 million to improve heating services and support sustainable livelihoods in Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On April 24, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved US$53 million in financing for Ulaanbaatar Heating Sector Improvement Project and Additional Financing of the Third Sustainable Livelihoods Project.

The US$41 million Ulaanbaatar Heating Sector Improvement Project will finance essential investments to expand transmission capacity and improve efficiency of the district heating network to meet increasing demand for heating services and improved air quality. The project will help upgrade and expand the district heating network, replace poorly insulated and leaking pipes and expansion loops, and modernize the pumping stations. It will also support policy and institutional reforms in the medium to long term and strengthen capacity of the Ulaanbaatar District Heating Company—a state-owned enterprise responsible for heat transmission.

In Ulaanbaatar, the world’s coldest capital city, access to reliable and clean heating services is essential for survival, yet remains a challenge. With increasing urbanization and economic development, the demand for district heating—currently connected to approximately half of the city’s population—is projected to grow by more than 5 percent a year over the next decade.

At the same time, lack of investment over the past decades resulted in high technical losses of the network. Half of the district heating pipelines will require replacement in the short to medium term. Furthermore, the transmission network is reaching its capacity limit, which has become a bottleneck in connecting more customers despite idle production capacity.

“The World Bank has been actively supporting the modernization of heating capabilities in urban areas to help develop a reliable and sustainable provision of central heating services and to reduce emissions in ger areas,” – said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. “We are pleased to continue our support through this project which will help address key challenges in the district network and meet growing heat demand in a sustainable manner.”

The US$12 additional financing earmarked for the Mongolia Third Sustainable Livelihoods Project will scale up activities to improve the planning and delivery of priority local infrastructure investments in all 330 rural soums in Mongolia.

Building on the two previous phases of the Sustainable Development Program, the third phase has helped support participatory approaches in rural development through the Local Development Fund (LDF)—a key source from the budget for investment funding for aimags and soums. The new financing will continue to support the LDF at the soum level through performance-based grants based on the results of annual performance assessments. Soums that perform well in these independent performance assessments receive additional grants on top of the regular LDF allocation from the budget. Funds will be used following the normal LDF processes that require community participation in the planning and use of funds.

“The Local Development Fund serves as an important means of fiscal decentralization, allowing people and local authorities to prioritize investments at aimag and soum levels to improve citizen’s wellbeing,” said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. “This additional financing will scale up investments in needed infrastructure with increased emphasis on public participation, transparency, and accountability at the soum level.”

In addition to providing two more rounds of grants to eligible soums, the additional financing will allow the government to further improve implementation of the LDF by enhancing the capacity of soum officials. It will also help improve community participation and citizen awareness of the operations of the LDF. The project will support activities to strengthen community facilitation mechanisms and promote use of modern technology to overcome the challenges of distance and population dispersion in rural areas. Measures to foster the participation of women, ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable groups in LDF planning activities will also be scaled up.

The World Bank

China boosts oil imports from Russia, while slashing purchases from Saudi Arabia www.rt.com

Shipments of Russian crude oil to China increased more than 30 percent in March compared to a year earlier while Saudi imports of the commodity sank, Reuters reported, citing Chinese customs data.
As crumbling demand for crude and lack of storage space have been wreaking havoc on the oil market, China has been boosting oil exports in a move seen as taking advantage of record low oil prices. Covid-19 has severely cut the demand of one of the top global importers, but in March China purchased 9.68 million barrels per day (bpd), that is 4.5 percent more than it did during the same period in 2019.

Mongolia’s cashmere exports rise by 30 percent www.news.mn

Mongolian cashmere sector exports have increased by 30 percent since a new national programme was approved by parliament in 2018. According to Ch.Ulaan, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Inductries, more than 1600 jobs have been created in the cashmere sector since 2017 as production capacity has increased. Mongolia exported cashmere products worth USD 434, 7 million in 2019, which was an increase of 30 percent on 2017. As part of the initiative, Mongolia has also hosted an international cashmere forum which was attended by over 350 representatives from 17 countries.

China-Mongolia border port sees over 500 China-Europe freight trains www.chinadaily.com.cn

HOHHOT -- A total of 537 China-Europe freight trains passed through the port of Erenhot in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region as of Thursday this year, according to local customs.

Trial of former Mongolian PM: political saboteur or scapegoat? www.news.mn

The high-profile trial of a former Mongolian prime minister has been attracting much attention. Earlier today (23 April), a Mongolian court decided that former Prime Minister M.Enkhsaikhan must be kept in custody until the next hearing, which has now been postponed until 5 May. M.Enkhsaikhan is being accused of political sabotage and the abuse of power over an ‘unsigned’ agreement regarding the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine project.

Mongolia to send meat to Russia to help combat COVID-19 www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia will send meat and meat products worth 1 million U.S. dollars to Russia to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Mongolian parliament speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar said Thursday.

Website of the Millennium Challenge Account - Mongolia launched www.montsame.mn

Mongolia and Coronavirus - a view from the United Kingdom www.mongolianbritishcc.org.uk

by John Grogan - On the evening of Saturday January 25th I organised the annual Burns supper in Ulaanbaatar where the nighttime temperature can drop to -40c. A bagpiper from Glasgow dressed in a kilt and fortified by the finest Scottish whisky played outside the venue. With his rendition of ‘Scotland the Brave’ he welcomed a variety of ambassadors, business representatives and a Scottish judo team far from home. The event had been planned from my kitchen table in Yorkshire with the help of my business partner who is an adventure travel entrepreneur from Glasgow and the Honorary Consul for Mongolia in Scotland no less.

Yorkshire firms have imported cashmere from Mongolia for many decades. Stanley Burton, son of the founder of Leeds clothing retailer Burtons, visited the country twice in the 1970’s. He fell in love with the place and supported Leeds University with funding for Mongolian studies. I myself first visited as part of the inaugural parliamentary delegation from Westminster in 1998 just a few years after Russian troops pulled out and a democratic government was elected.

The relevance of my tale to the struggle against coronavirus is simple. The day after the Burns Supper on January 26th ( a Sunday) the Mongolian Cabinet met and stopped all large public gatherings because of fear of the virus . Our dinner was to be the last of its kind for many months. All schools and colleges were closed. Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh said simply

‘This is a time to govern ….I will prioritise the health and well being of the Mongolian people first, then the economy’.

Over the next few weeks international flights were cut back to a skeleton service allowing Mongolians to return from abroad and ex patriates to leave. The borders with mighty neighbours Russia and China were sealed to all but essential goods traffic. On February 12th the Government banned celebrations of Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar) when large groups of family members and neighbours would normally have gathered together to celebrate. To put this date in some context more than a month later in England crowds would be gathering for the racing at Cheltenham. I myself left Mongolia in the final days of January and was frowned on at the airport for not wearing a mask. As of April 19th there have been just 32 cases in Mongolia of coronavirus with no fatalities. All of these were people arriving from abroad. Through careful contact tracing and testing community spread of the virus has until now been stopped in its tracks. For weeks the Mongolian Parliament has been meeting online and recently approved an economic stimulus package.

Mongolia has an annual income per capita of less than 5000 US dollars per head but they have successfully marshalled their resources. Perhaps in Europe we need to be a little more respectful and willing to learn from others around the world. The country is a genuine democracy – you do not have to be an authoritarian superpower like China to successfully keep the virus at bay. Like most of its neighbours in Asia both government and citizens were attune to the threat of a pandemic because of the recent experience of Sars. In the West, although pretty well every expensive exercise of risk analysis conducted by governments or businesses in the last two decades identified pandemics as a major threat, the response has been more uncertain and faltering. At its most basic countries like Mongolia, Taiwan and New Zealand from the outset aimed to prevent community spread of the virus and then eliminate it. In much of Europe the plan has rather been to delay the pace of infections which has resulted in a much greater cost in terms of loss of life and business activity. Surely in the future a much more robust international response to the threat of pandemic with early warning systems needs to be introduced. It is of course possible that the next such virus will be more virulent still and that is the assumption on which our planning must be based as it most certainly will be in Mongolia. For the moment it is becoming obvious that without a vaccination or drugs to treat the virus no exit plan from lockdown in the United Kingdom is going to be credible without the widespread availability of testing; a system of contact tracing; a ready supply of masks and more checking of arrivals at airports. Meanwhile the challenge for Mongolia will be to gradually lift the current restrictions without risking a more widespread outbreak of the virus.

800 years ago Genghis Khan conquered half of the known world. Perhaps his descendants have something to teach us about the battle against coronavirus today.

John Grogan

Chair of the Mongolian British Chamber of Commerce

Two charter flights to be arranged to Seoul to bring home citizens from abroad www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ According to the State Emergency Commission’s decision issued today, April 23, some changes were made in MIAT Mongolian Airlines operated-charter flights to bring Mongolian citizens abroad to their home country.