Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The second refined coal briquettes factory was commissioned on December 8 and Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh attended the opening of the factory.

Expressing gratitude and wishing success to builders, engineering and technical staff and all staff of “Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh” LLC and Eastern Regional Plant who took part in construction of the factory, the PM said that reducing air pollution in Ulaanbaatar city was one of pressing issues for our Government. As a result of making the bold decision to provide Ulaanbaatar with refined coal briquettes, we could mitigate air pollution in the capital city where around 1.5 million population reside, by 50 percent. According to a study, 400-450 children aged 0-3 and 2-2.5 thousand people had lost their lives yearly due to direct and indirect impact of smog and air pollution. Unfortunately, we had not seen any achievements despite spending MNT700 billion for resolving the issue in the past 20 years. However, today we have achieved the goal we put thanks to our joint efforts. Also the Government has resolved to sell refined coal at 50 percent discount. It is certain that the decision would save many people's lives and protect their health.

The new eastern regional factory is located in the southeastern part of Nalaikh district and it consisted of the first and second plants and recycling plant. The two plants have up-to-date, advanced six production lines, manufactured in South Korean Jeil machinery Co.,Ltd. It is expected to cause less adverse impact to the environment as its manufacturing process including receiving raw material (coking coal), coal crushing and screening will run underground, according to officials.

On January 29 of this year, the Government of Mongolia issued a resolution on building and commissioning a refined coal briquette factory in the eastern region of Ulaanbaatar city. According to it, construction works of the factory with an annual output capacity of 600 thousand tons commenced last May.

The new factory is provided with electricity from a substation and power transmission line in route of Nalaikh-Khushig Valley. Also a condition has been created for the factory to receive its raw material from Tavantolgoi deposit by railroad and transport its product by railroad too. Furthermore, the factory is launching its operation with 256 workers. When the plant starts working with its full capacity, 1056 people will work there, creating additional 800 jobs.