Russia & United States can compete & work together in energy market - Putin www.rt.com

Russia and US are competitors in oil and gas exports, but there is room for cooperation in regulating the energy market, said Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Helsinki press conference with US President Donald Trump.
"I believe that we, as the largest oil and gas powers, could work constructively to regulate international markets, because we are not interested in acute prices drops, because producers will suffer from this, including shale oil and gas projects in the United States,” said President Putin in response to a reporter's question regarding the future of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Tesla Is Getting a China Factory. This $4 Billion Startup Will Be Waiting www.bloombergtv.mn

Henry Xia jumps into the burnt toast-colored electric car he helped build as co-founder of Xpeng Motors Technology Ltd. and commands it to play Green Day’s “21 Guns.” He asks the car about traffic conditions and starts driving. The 35-year-old is the most senior car executive at a Chinese automaker that hasn’t delivered a single vehicle, doesn’t own a factory and hasn’t obtained a production license from the government. At least, not yet.

What the four-year-old startup has is backing from tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Foxconn Technology Group and Xiaomi Corp. founder Lei Jun. Xpeng expects to raise more than $600 million this month from investors that include Alibaba, valuing it close to $4 billion, according to a person familiar with the fundraising.

In a test drive of Xpeng’s first crossover around a drab cement office park in Guangzhou, the roomy SUV drives smoothly, with a Tesla-like panoramic windshield and sleek exterior. But it’s the voice controls, streaming music, live video, driver-tracking maps and other software that reveal the auto ambitions of the company’s Chinese tech backers. Xpeng is making the equivalent of a smartphone with a steering wheel.

Xia explains why the company nicknamed this car David: “We’re going up against Goliath,” he says, referring to the hundreds of automakers churning out electric vehicles in China, where half of the world’s EVs are sold. “It’s not about the physical car anymore, which anyone can now manufacture,” Xia says, “but about building a robot on wheels.”

Xpeng is primed to capitalize on a trade tussle that is already jacking up car prices. As China hits back against the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs, import duties on American-made cars have increased to 40 percent. But perhaps the bigger opportunity comes from Tesla Inc.’s still-diminutive presence in China, creating an opening for local startups to hawk cheaper, technology-centric electric vehicles.

Tesla reached a preliminary agreement last week with the Shanghai government to build China’s first car-production facility wholly owned by a foreign automaker. Tesla expects car production to start within two years of starting construction and to churn out 500,000 cars per year in China two to three years after that.

It won’t be easy: Tesla’s made lofty promises before, only to delay plans. It will also have to clear hard-to-navigate government approvals and obtain permits. With just $2.7 billion in cash, Tesla must absorb what Bloomberg Intelligence estimates to be a $10 billion cost to build the plant and hasn’t specified where it will get the money.

“Tesla is running out of time,” says John Zeng, managing director of LMC Automotive Shanghai. He estimates that the American automaker sold fewer than 15,000 cars in China last year, claiming just 3 percent of the battery-powered market. In total, 25 million cars were sold in China last year.

Finding capital is less of a concern for the local startups trying to outrun Elon Musk. China’s government is offering financial and political support for electric-vehicle companies as it attempts to lead the world in the field, fueling the rise of Xpeng and hundreds of other rivals. President Xi Jinping pledges to open markets and curtail protectionism, even as he lavishes assistance on domestic makers of electric cars, artificial intelligence and semiconductors. China’s electric-car buyers get price subsidies of as much as $10,000 per vehicle, for example, and can also dodge license plate restrictions that impede sales of gasoline-powered cars.

That support, combined with ample cash from China’s tech leaders and the comparative ease of building EVs instead of traditional cars, has seeded a crop of startups competing with such established automakers as BYD Co., Beijing Automotive Group Co. and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.

How mining tycoons are trying to foil a big UK bribery probe www.mining.com

(Bloomberg) — It’s a faint echo of the defense being floated by targets of the Mueller probe in the U.S.—an unaccountable circle of bureaucrats manipulating the system to their own ends.

But in London, it’s the last ditch effort by a trio of Kazakh oligarchs to derail the U.K.’s biggest bribery investigation.

The mining tycoons behind Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., the former FTSE 100 company suspected of paying bribes to buy mines in Kazakhstan and Africa, say their own lawyer conspired with Britain’s top cop to incriminate them so he could fleece them for millions of pounds.

Even if they can’t convince a court of this hypothesis, the case will undoubtedly frustrate attempts to bring criminal charges against them and drag out proceedings for months, if not years.

“It’ll complicate the decision about what evidence is usable,” said Michael Levi, a criminal law professor at Cardiff University. “That might be the benefit of muddying the water. Anyone can do this if they have enough money. You need to have enough money, is the key.”"Anyone can do this if they have enough money. You need to have enough money, is the key.”

Since the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office started investigating ENRC in 2013, Alexander Machkevitch, Alijan Ibragimov, and Patokh Chodiev—often dubbed the Trio—have gone to great lengths to unwind ties to the City of London. Within months, the oligarchs from the former Soviet Union had delisted ENRC’s stock after suggestions of widespread corruption sent it crashing out of the FTSE 100.

“Ultimately, it should lead to the closure of the case. It’s really scandalous”

The Trio blame Neil Gerrard, a white collar London crime lawyer for Dechert LLP, for arousing the SFO’s suspicions. They’d hired him to conduct a private investigation into allegations made by a whistleblower and, according to court documents last month, say he blew it out of proportion, even plotting with the SFO to leak details to The Times newspaper so the watchdog would have an excuse to start its probe. Gerrard denies this ever happened.

“If you have senior figures at the SFO colluding with our own lawyers, this is a fundamental issue which goes to the heart of the legitimacy of the investigation,” ENRC’s general counsel Dmitry Egorov said in an interview in London. “Ultimately, it should lead to the closure of the case. It’s really scandalous.”

The charges are reminiscent of attempts by Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, to undermine U.S. Special Council Robert Mueller’s case against him by pointing to media leaks his lawyers say have prejudiced his chances at a fair trial.

In its lawsuit, ENRC says Gerrard frequently flaunted his relationship with the SFO, which was considering him for its top job in 2011. The fraud investigator declined to comment on the lawsuit or status of its probe.

The miner’s lawyers are demanding the SFO disclose notebooks, emails, calendar entries and phone records. If they prove there was collusion, it could hypothetically pave the way for a judicial review to stop the watchdog’s probe on technical grounds.

While it seems like a stretch, it’s not entirely unprecedented. British-Iranian property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz won compensation and an apology from the SFO in 2012, after the body admitted it didn’t have a valid warrant when it raided the fraud suspects’ Mayfair residence. ENRC’s lawyers refer to the Tchenguiz case in their argument.

In another probe, oil-services company Unaoil Monaco SAM had proceedings delayed by challenging the legal basis for an SFO raid on its premises. A judge dismissed the claim last year.

“ENRC’s real complaint is that the defendants were too successful uncovering wrongdoing”“ENRC’s real complaint is that the defendants were too successful uncovering wrongdoing”

In a defense claim revealed last month, Gerrard and Dechert insist they didn’t betray their client. They say the SFO had plenty of ammunition without them, including 13 suspicious activity reports detailing possible corruption and sanctions breaches involving ENRC. The U.S. Justice Department was investigating an ENRC deal, too.

According to its claim, the law firm’s own digging uncovered “serious criminality” related to copper mines purchased in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The court papers say ENRC paid Dan Gertler, a friend of Congo’s president, $40 million in cash, which a U.S. case later connected to corruption. Dechert also says it has proof the Trio pocketed $300 million from the sale of a Zambian copper mine to ENRC for more than it was worth. ENRC refute these allegations.

When Gerrard tried to convince ENRC managers, including former CEO Felix Vulis, to cooperate with the SFO, court papers say they lied, destroyed and hid evidence, and intimidated cooperators. “ENRC’s real complaint is that the defendants were too successful uncovering wrongdoing,” they said.

Proof of fraud isn’t necessarily relevant to the ENRC claim. It says Gerrard was hired in good faith in 2010 to independently investigate an anonymous tip that one of its businesses based in Kazakhstan had misused corporate property and given a local police chief’s son a $38,000 scholarship. But it wasn’t long before Gerrard was alleged to have put undue pressure on ENRC executives to expand his probe to Africa, “ballooning of the investigations beyond all proportion.”

According to his accusers, Gerrard became aggressive, pushing ENRC to take his findings to the SFO even though it wasn’t in their best interest. He then plotted with the SFO covertly to leak information that the watchdog could use to initiate its probe. ENRC claims it has a witness statement from the man who delivered a package to The Times on Gerrard’s behalf.

At about the time of the newspaper leak, Gerrard, they allege, told two security consultants over coffee at a brasserie on London’s Sloane Square he wanted to “screw” his Kazakh mining clients for millions of pounds. He denies uttering those words.

By the time the Trio fired Dechert in the spring of 2013, ENRC had paid 16 million pounds ($21 million) in legal fees—a sum ENRC is now suing to recover. It says Gerrard demonstrated “reckless disregard for his duties in order to grossly inflate the bills which Dechert charged ENRC.”

The Trio may well buy time with this case, but that doesn’t mean the SFO will walk away from more than five years of work, according to Polly Sprenger, a London-based lawyer with Katten Muchin Rosenman. Just last week U.K. prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of Benedikt Sobotka, the CEO of related company Eurasian Resources Group, after he failed to appear for questioning, although he isn’t a suspect.

“I would be troubled by the suggestion that the SFO would be intimidated by any attempt to shame it into backing off an investigation,” said Sprenger, a former SFO investigator. The watchdog “is aware of these things and is sufficiently protected against this.”

(By Franz Wild)

Mongolia's tourism revenue increases by 20 percent www.news.mn

The Government of Mongolia aims to attract one million tourists by 2020 and increasing revenue from the sector to USD 1 billion. For this propose, Mongolia needs to increase the number of tourists by 30 percent per year for three years.

Water levels of major Mongolian rivers exceed alarm line www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's weather monitoring agency announced Monday a significant rise in the water levels of all major rivers, urging citizens living nearby to take extra precautions.

China sets record daily steel output for third month in a row www.reuters.com

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s steel mills churned out record amounts of the construction material in June as producers rushed to cash in on hefty margins, even as a trade spat between Beijing and Washington intensified.

China, which accounts for half the world’s capacity, produced 80.2 million tonnes of crude steel last month, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Friday. That’s just shy of the 81.6 million tonnes the United States produced in the whole of 2017, according to World Steel Association data.

June output was below May’s record 81.13 million tonnes, but June has one less day, setting a new daily average production record for a third month in a row at 2.67 million tonnes, according to Reuters’ calculations.

“Steel mills were dashing to reap as much of the bumper profits as they could despite environmental checks,” said Richard Lu, analyst at CRU in Beijing.

The data may further inflame a bitter Sino-U.S. trade row. The United States and Europe have accused China of exporting its surplus metal cheap, hurting international rivals.

China’s steel exports rose last month to 6.94 million tonnes, their highest since July 2017, even after Washington imposed import duties to protect U.S. industries.

The production increase also comes as China has shuttered some mills to help curb choking pollution and ramped up environmental inspections, suggesting that newer mills have ramped up operations to cash in on fat margins.

China’s steel output in the first half rose 6 percent to 451.2 million tonnes.

BUMPER MARGINS
Steel prices SRBcv1 have soared over the past year due to firm demand and on concerns about tightening supplies of metal, used in construction and automotives, as Beijing seeks to close inefficient mills and clamps down on smoke-stack industries to clean the nation’s skies.

Lu estimated that mills were earning a profit margin of about 800 yuan ($119.50) per tonne of steel, while analysts at Huatai Futures put profit margins for mills in northern China at over 1,000 yuan a tonne, one of the highest on record.

Monthly utilization rates at mills reached 71.6 percent in June, the highest since October before winter production curbs had taken effect, according to Reuters calculation based on data from Mysteel consultancy.

Analysts say it’s not clear if China will continue its record-setting run.

Some particularly smoggy cities and provinces are also implementing ad hoc measures to beat bouts of pollution. Last week, top steelmaking city Tangshan ordered mills to cut production for 6 weeks over summer.

“Steel output may not necessarily go down even though stricter restrictions are on the way,” said Lu. “Steel mills in Xuzhou city could reopen soon, which will to some extent offset the production curbs in Tangshan.”

Producers are also racing to make as much metal as possible before a new round of production curbs are imposed in November ahead of China’s winter, when pollution is at its worst.

Last winter, government forced mills and heavy industry in 28 of the most polluted northern cities to shut up to half of their capacity between November and March. More are expected to adopt similar curbs this winter.

Reporting by Muyu Xu and Josephine Mason; editing by Richard Pullin

Russian Retailers, Hotels Emerge as World Cup Winners www.themoscowtimes.com

The World Cup has captivated host Russia for a month, proving a boon for the brewing and hotel industries while dampening spending on some expensive items and curbing trading on financial markets.

As well as the usual staples of the football fan — beer and snacks — the tournament also spurred domestic demand for loans for electronic appliances, primarily TV sets and smartphones.

Meanwhile, Russian car dealers will probably welcome the end of the party on Sunday after sales slowed last month.

Economists have played down the direct economic impact from the World Cup, predicting it would be marginal and unevenly spread.

That tends to fit the pattern of other countries that have hosted major sports events — a brief bounce but not enough to make a lasting impact on an economy.

The tournament, which kicked off on June 14 and ends when France play Croatia in Sunday's final, attracted more than 700,000 foreign fans to Russia, who packed the streets of the 11 host cities together with locals.

Moscow saw a 60-percent increase in foreign tourists, bringing the overall number of visitors to the Russian capital during the World Cup to 3 million people, said Nikolai Gulyaev, head of Moscow's sport and tourism department, said.

Booking.com warned 74 percent of properties in St. Petersburg and Moscow have been booked for the World Cup final weekend. Booking.com's website gave no such warning on availability for next weekend.

In the stadiums, Russian fans were the main spenders, having laid out $12 million over the first four weeks of the tournament, Visa said on Friday.

"Sales of beer, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks have visibly increased in the first two weeks of the World Cup," said the Perekrestok supermarket chain, part of Russia's largest retailer X5 Retail Group.

In host cities, some of which have never seen so many tourists, fans swarmed to cafes and bars, draining beer supplies to alarmingly low levels.

Planes and Screens
Kviku, an online retail lending company, said the number of its customers rose more than a quarter over the past month as people took out loans to buy flights to World Cup host cities.

It also saw increased demand for loans for devices on which to watch matches, Kviku added.

Sales of TV sets and smartphones had already posted a 20 percent increase in May-June compared with a year ago, Russia's leading electrical goods retailer M.Video-Eldorado said.

"Football is such a desire for most active fans that it prompts them to go for extra borrowing," said Nikita Lomakin, the CEO of Kviku.

Purchases of World Cup-related merchandise also picked up after Russia's surprising progress to the last eight of the tournament, according to Russia's leading classified ads platform Avito.

Some Russians appear to have opted to stay at home to watch the matches on television rather than take a holiday.

The number of Russians who had no summer travel plans this year rose to 23 percent from 7 percent seen in 2016, a survey by Russia's research centre Romir showed.

Competing for Attention
Other businesses in Russia were less excited about the tournament. New car sales growth slowed in June to 11 percent from 18 percent a month earlier, with analysts blaming the World Cup as the factor that distracted buyers.

Indeed, some measures announced while Russians were caught up in the World Cup excitement, such as increases in sales tax and the retirement age could have a more enduring effect on the economy.

While retailers and hoteliers tot up the takings from the month, it will take time to study the overall World Cup effect after it filters into official data.

"This is the question of no less than one year or maybe more," said Shlomo Weber, rector of the prominent New Economic School.

On the financial markets, activity fell on all sections of the Moscow Exchange apart from the bond platform as traders turned their focus to live action.

And even though its economic benefits are debateable, the World Cup certainly lifted spirits.

"The World Cup is a good thing but not always for trade, more for the mood," the exchange's CEO Alexander Afanasyev said.

Biography of Tavan Tolgoi residual coal deposits www.zgm.mn

OPINION: by Baabar

I published an article ”Tavan Tolgoi” in the “Daily News” newspaper dated July 21, 2007. This is not to retell the story, nor boasting about how “I told you so”. It has been exactly six years since then. Regretful six years. If we estimate only the coking coal, which is the highest-value part of Tavan Tolgoi deposits (TT), to be transported 20 million tonnes annually by rail, there is a 100 years of reserve. Geologists say extended explorations may double this figure. Furthermore, there is a high calorie coal reserves, currently estimated at 6 billion tonnes or enough to mine for 300 years. Overall, the TT contains 7.6 billion tons of coal reserve, according to Joint Ore Reserves Committee, an international evaluation system. In addition, South Gobi and Nariin Sukhait deposits each contain 400 million tons of reserve or enough to last 40 years to transport. Also, such high grade, large coal deposits have been discovered in Khovsgol and Khovd aimags. We do not know what else is there. Coal price was fairly good in 2007. Since the 1970’s, offers were made to Germany, Japan, North Korea and since the 1990’s, China, South Korean Samsung and Australian BHP were offered to use these reserves; however, they all refused. But when coal price started picking up since 2005, some companies from the U.S, China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Chile, India and Brazil started showing interest and sent their proposals. Couple of years ago, a coal shortage occurred when coal mines of Hunter Valley of Australia, one of the largest coal mines of the world, were hit by a flood and coal price skyrocketed. Largest users of the coking coal are Japan, South Korea and China. Majority of coal expenses are in its transportation costs. Landlocked Mongolia have inadequacies in this aspect; however, Bugat, the area with the world’s largest iron production is not far from Mongolian border. Therefore, Mongolia has the advantage to cover its weaknesses. Naturally, Indonesia, the U.S and Brazil would not attempt to transport Mongolian coal to their lands. They just want to do business with Mongolia given the condition where the user is near. Japan and South Korea show interest in TT because they are highly dependent from Australian coal; thus, face risks of flood and other disasters, and wanted to reduce this import risk by creating a small dependence from Mongolia. Otherwise, coal is one of the most common minerals in the world. China, who is interested in Mongolian coal, is itself one of the largest coal producers in the world.

Chinese mine coking coal from the south of the country and ship it by sea to Tianjin and transport it via rail to Bugat. By mid-2012, coal price fell by 50 percent within just a couple of months. The deterioration of EU crisis led to a slowdown for Chinese economy. On the other hand, a new technology that can use alternative energy sources except oil and coal has been developed and began to be utilized. Chinese actively began adopting this technology of collecting combustible gases called methane gas which was developed in the U.S. Shale became the next trend. A couple of years ago when the former U.S President Bush stated “we invented a new alternative energy technology. The world will no longer depend on the Middle East soon,” he meant this shale technology. In the next few years, the U.S and Mexico will reportedly become the key energy producers in the world with shale. North China also have huge shale reserves and began utilizing it. Revolutionary changes have occurred in the renewable energy technology. A single windmill can generate 10 Megawatt power, they say. Such as this, coal is turning into ash. I said “coal will be ash” 6-7 years ago, not because I am a fortune-teller. Coal was never a valuable or expensive mineral. Because it is abundant. The dream of moving TT began in the 1970’s. Every economists knew that skyrocketed price of coal in 2007 was a temporary phenomenon. Therefore, I said something like “Tavan Tolgoi (Five Hills) coal will turn into ash if five hundred heads argue for five years,” in a bit of a rhyme. During this five year period, three government was formed and they all did nothing. They passed a law on strategic deposits and nationalized TT. According to a mapping of Tavan Tolgoi deposits made in 1970, a deposit named “Ukhaa Khudag” was given for use of a Mongolian company.

This almost led to civil war. Construction of a railroad south of the South Gobi province became a taboo. It seemed like all Mongolians owned the TT. It looked like the shares of TT was going to be distributed equally to the public. It looked as if the shares of TT was going to be sold for national companies at a discounted price. Then, a daunting investment law of 2012 banned foreigners from investing. Maybe, only achievement of this past five year was the birth of so many so-called fair citizens defending the wealth of their motherland and beating their chest! Russia, which had forgotten Mongolia, suddenly remembered us because of TT. They initially proposed to own shares worth USD 1.5 billion and repay by building a railroad. The plan was then altered to transport coal to Pacific ocean from 5 thousand km distance stretching through East Siberia and Far East. Then, it seemed as if they will be the only ones to build and own all railways in Mongolia in the future and that railway will have Soviet standard gauge. Then, they demanded majority stake of the TT shares. Actually, they were stirring up things with an ulterior motive to prevent any large minerals production in Mongolia and if that were to happen, no other countries except China and Russia were able to participate in it. Apart from that, they do not have any need for coal.

China actually had an interest to get coal from a neighboring country. Therefore, a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) Shenhua competed in TT. However, they also did not like any involvement of a third country, causing as much trouble as possible for the US, Japan and South Korea. They were plotting to own the most of the shares of the TT. Japan and South Korea both wanted about 10 percent of the TT as they wanted to reduce their dependence from import and get certain supply from Mongolia even if the price was high. Because the Australian flood was a big lesson for them. The parties representing these countries are also SOEs. However, they have no mining experience and were just interested in its stake and did not plan on involving in mining and transportations. The U.S Peabody is not state owned, it is a stock-exchange listed, public shareholding company. It is the largest coal producer of the U.S and have over 130 years of experience in the field. They worked several years in the Chinese market with ever growing demand and gained some success. They mainly work with Chinese coal companies in Yunnan and Hunan, South Chinese provinces. They also acquired a deposit in Xinjiang. They are interested in working in the market of North China and seek new market. Government negotiated with all interested companies through the Chief of Cabinet Secretariat for three years. There were several cases where foreign company representatives were invited from abroad and then refused to see them, saying “no time, let us meet next time”. There is a say “those who ask bows and those who give sits”. The Parliament issued several resolutions and outlined that the interest of third countries should equal the two neighbors. However, Russia and China did not agree to this. Only Mongolians can think of a stupid idea to distribute TT equally among the public. TT is valuable because of its gigantic size. There are many deposits in Mongolia that equal one tenth of TT. Once you divide this huge residual deposits into ten parts, everything is reduced and will lose its meaning. Nobody will be interested in this divided strips. When nobody is interested, it is beneficial for the two neighbors. It is not like the world is missing out on Mongolian coal. During this period, a reason for Mongolian side, who was negotiating with international companies, to delay the TT negotiations emerged. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd was planning to use a deposit named South Gobi, which is south of TT. This company raised USD 500 million from the stock market. Not exactly raising. They loaned USD 500 million from China Investment Corporation under a share transferring condition and SouthGobi collected it at the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. This way, their following works were accomplished very successfully. They obtained the mining license and permit to operate a mine. Other foreign investors were surprised at how Ivanhoe was succeeding in this country with much bureaucracy and tried to find the reason. Suddenly, they gained additional seven licenses without much of a hassle. Mongolian red tape fell apart before them. Soon, their stock value reached USD 4 billion. Such a valuable business. Ivanhoe Mines is a junior company that owns major stakes of the Oyu Tolgoi. They were not in a level to run this big scale operations. Rio Tinto was interested in buying their shares. Therefore, they sold SouthGobi along with Oyu Tolgoi shares. The deposit was valued at USD 4 billion at stock exchanges. They acquired it when it was expensive and tried to sell the rest to Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco). Actually, Rio Tinto lost so much from this deal. The value of SouthGobi which was raised in an instant, immediately fell by 10 percent after Rio Tinto’s acquisition. Illegally obtained licenses were confiscated and officials involved were arrested and put in jail. Ivanhoe intentionally inflated its share price and deceived Rio Tinto into buying it. The obstacle for SouthGobi to boost its share price in the stock market was TT.

Because if TT was taken by someone after enlisting, it will obstruct the growth of SouthGobi. Consequently, it may not even able to issue an IPO after TT. Therefore, they had to delay the development of TT as much as possible. Our people who participated in this operation, either knowingly or unknowingly, received their appropriate awards. I heard detail about this; however, no evidence has been found so far. So, let me not disclose it. It was an operation worth USD 50 million!. Actually, Mongolian side had no interest in moving the TT project. Because of personal gains. There were cases that Japanese and Korean sides were pressured to buy nine licenses owned by individuals for high prices if they want to be included in TT! Revenues earned from Mongolian coal sector began to exceed all other sectors. Even Erdenet Mining Corporation did not compare! Nouveau riche tends to show off their wealth lavishly. “To hell with foreigners! Down with the Imperialists! Let us kill the economic hitmen! It is enough to just shovel the coal and toss it beyond the Great Wall,” they said. Then they began to shovel and toss them across for real. “You see? There is no need for any infrastructure! Mongolians can run the TT,” they said. An SOE “Erdenes” was established. Everybody knows the outcome of that one. The Government, in order to “love” the people and distribute cash, always pressured and demanded Erdenes. They borrowed USD 350 million from Chalco and agreed to export coal until 2018. Took the money, distributed it, everybody got drunk and we ended up in debt. They needed to distribute again to win the next election and begged for another USD 200 million loan. Small-time swindlers began to sell trash to TT. Well, the businesses of SOEs are like that. It was only natural. Coal became ash! The situation before 2007 is back. Private coal companies were shut down. The old woman from the Golden fish folktale remains with her cracked pot, according to the tale. The debt amount borrowed from Chalco to distribute among the public is almost USD 300 million. Compared to this, the 70-year debt from former Soviet Union was repaid back in USD 250 million dollars. After getting rich by selling coal, there were boasts about developing other sectors and producing Mongolian brands. There are many things in the world that are more important than money. However, those are made possible by money. In order to develop other sectors, the “other sectors” must be founded first and that requires money. Mongolian brand coal has turned into ash. Felt slippers can never be a global brand. Our bad reputation became our brand in the end. 2013.5.11

Nagoya Basho loses last of three yokozunas www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament will continue without a yokozuna (grand champion). On July 13, Yokozuna Kakuryu submitted a request to drop out of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament due to elbow injury, joining the other two grand champions.

China's GDP hits 6.7% in Q2 of 2018 www.chinadaily.com.cn

China's GDP expanded 6.7 percent in the second quarter of 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.