Mongolia, Russia set up working group for Trans-Mongolian Gas Pipeline www.akipress.com

A working group has been established between Mongolia and Russia for the Trans-Mongolian Gas Pipeline, news.mn reported as Minister of Energy of Mongolia Ts.Davaasuren saying.
The working group co-chaired by Deputy Ministers of Energy of the two countries, has already started works, developing some documents and collecting information. The body has also put forth a request to the Chinese side to discuss specific matters regarding the pipeline. However, the meeting with the Beijing officials will have to be postponed due to the Coronovirus crisis.

Mongolia cancels flights to Tokyo and Bangkok www.akipress.com

Coal exports to resume from March 2 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On February 20, State Emergency Commission made a decision to resume the export shipments of coal and oil from March 2. Corresponding officials were charged to continue to ensure effective sterilization practices for drivers of delivery vehicles across the borders and customs officers.

Mollae Saed to fight for Mongolia at Dusseldorf Grand Slam www.news.mn

Speaker G.Zandanshatar: Pension-secured loan debts paid off www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Following the announcement by President Kh.Battulga in his New Year’s address, the Parliament, on January 10, approved the law on one-time forgiveness of pension-backed loan debts.

The law states that the Mongolian government’s benefits to receive from the revenues of the Salkhit gold and silver deposit production will be used as the collateral to back the government bonds to be issued by the Erdenes Mongol LLC to raise funds for covering the expenses of the pension loan debts’ repayment.

Last month, the Bank of Mongolia informed that an outstanding pension loan balance amounted to MNT 776 billion, as of November 2019.

On February 18, Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar met representatives from commercial banks and ‘Erdenes Mongol’ LLC and government officials, regarding the matters of pension-backed loan repayment and Salkhit silver deposit.

CEO T.Munkhbayar of the ‘Erdenes Silver Resource’ LLC, under the government-owned Erdenes Mongol LLC, who is a holder of special mineral license over the Salkhit deposits in Dundgobi aimag, informed at the meeting that an additional feasibility study made on only one-third of the deposit estimated the net profit at MNT 569 billion, including taxes. “Explorations will be intensified in the future and the current identified reserves are expected to increase.”

Governor of the Bank of Mongolia B.Lkhagvasuren said that relevant studies are being conducted on the pension loan cancellation. Since the beginning of this year, the Bank of Mongolia has suspended giving out pension loans. Mr. B.Lkhagvasuren said that the central bank is also studying the options to launch other alternative products in lieu of the pension-backed loans, such as interest-free pension advances with terms of up to three months.

As most of the senior borrowers have taken out pension-backed loans through their pension accounts in the Khan Bank or State Bank of Mongolia, the meeting was attended by representatives from these banks.

The Khan Bank representative R.Munkhtuya said the loan payments deducted from the retirement allowance in January has been already transferred back to the accounts of holders of pension loan debts. Around 62 percent of all pension-backed loan borrowers receive their monthly pension allowance through the Khan Bank.

Director of the State Bank G.Dulguun said the bank has written off debt balances of pension loan of more than MNT 6 million, totaling MNT 180 billion.

Erdenes Mongol CEO P.Gankhuu said at the press briefing that government bonds titled ‘Erdenes’ are guaranteed by the Development Bank of Mongolia and agreements of MNT 695 billion in total will be made in the near future with commercial banks to finalize the repayment of pension-backed loan of more than MNT 6 million.

The government bonds, which will have an interest rate of 6 percent and 5-year term, are ready to be sold to commercial banks, reports the Parliament Secretariat.

CEO P.Gankhuu also reported that Erdenes bonds will be distributed to around 195 thousand pensioners, who did not get loans against their pension, by May 1.

“The pension loan forgiveness requires a lot of time and works as it concerns 418 thousand pensioners in the country. We are working to complete all works on the loan repayment before the Tsagaan Sar Holiday next week. In February, no deduction was taken from pension allowances of the borrowers, meaning that the pension-backed loan debts were paid off.” said Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar.

He also thanked for the commercial banks for cooperating with the government on this mater as part of their social responsibilities in spite of possible losses due to difference between 10-percent interest rate of pension loans and 6-percent interest of the government bonds.

Latest on the novel coronavirus outbreak www.chinadaily.com.cn

Feb 20 - Hubei province reported 349 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 108 new fatalities. 1,209 were released from hospitals, bringing the total to 10,337.

New research shows: Mongolia forced to give up control over its natural resources www.somo.nl

New research by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and Oyu Tolgoi (OT) Watch shows how one of the world’s largest copper mines, Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, was negotiated at the expense of the Mongolian people.

Mongolia to Shut Schools Until March 30 to Curb Virus Outbreak www.reuters.com

ULAANBAATAR — Mongolia will keep all its schools shut until March 30 in order to prevent the coronavirus from spreading in the country, the government said on Wednesday.

Ambassador to Russia meets Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On February 18, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Russia Federation D.Davaa met with a delegation led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at Gazprom public joint-stock company of Russia.

APO Releases Report on Strengthening the Mongolian Productivity Organization and Increasing Productivity within Mongolia www.apo-tokyo.org .

In a newly released report, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) recommends how the Mongolian Productivity Organization (MPO) could expand its ability to undertake productivity promotion and improve its visibility as the country’s leading productivity organization. The report outlines a major transformation program requiring substantial resources and national initiatives. The key recommendation concerns the small staff size of the MPO and its available resources. The MPO needs to win major long-term client contracts from the public or private sector or significantly increase its membership to generate sufficient funds for improved programs and services.

The ideal option in the immediate future is for the MPO to obtain a substantial contract from the government for the development of a national strategy on productivity enhancement. The MPO should encourage and support the Mongolian government in relaunching the National Productivity Award, including assistance in introducing a Business Excellence (BE) initiative. Public-sector organizations that start the BE journey often become world-class institutions. If it succeeds, this endeavor could be a game-changer for Mongolia, involving the entire public sector and private enterprises in a transformation program managed by the MPO.

APO support for national productivity organizations under its Specific National Program (SNP) addresses institutional needs to enable effective productivity-related strategies and programs to be developed, implemented, and sustained. The objective of the SNP consultancy for the MPO was to review strategies, organizational structure, funding models, staffing, approaches to governance, leadership, human resources, services and programs, business activities, operations and systems, etc., as emphasized in the report recommendations.

APO Secretary-General Dr. AKP Mochtan presented the Report on Strengthening the Mongolian Productivity Organization and Increasing Productivity within Mongolia to the MPO, represented by the APO Director for Mongolia and Chairman and Executive Director Yamaaranz Erkhermbayar, in Ulaanbaatar on 21 January 2020. It will serve as a reference for transforming the productivity movement within Mongolia, and the Secretary-General wished the MPO every success in the process.

In order to involve local stakeholders, especially those from the public sector, in implementing the recommendations outlined in the report, Secretary-General Dr. Mochtan had opportunities for discussions with public officials from the Cabinet Secretary’s Office; Office of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports; Mongolian National Audit Office; Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry; and University of Livestock. All are committed to enhancing productivity from the national to the sectoral and organizational levels. “The Mongolian National Audit Office welcomed the report from the APO and would like to focus on addressing public-sector productivity by learning from the experiences of other APO members,” according to Deputy General Auditor Tengis O. Secretary-General Dr. Mochtan affirmed that aspiration, explaining that, “In the end, the government should better serve and meet the expectations of the citizenry and the private sector in the country, which was one of the highlights of the report.”