Ts.Davaasuren: OT sat idle for 5 years after power plant permit www.zgm.mn

Earlier this week, the Minister of Energy Davaasuren Tserenpil gave an interview to a local media outlet “iToim.mn” on recent scandalous deals in the energy sector, including the Power Sector Cooperation Agreement (PSCA) with Oyu Tolgoi, and expressed Mongolia’s position on them.

-Will the Government renegotiate Eastern Energy System agreement? Why was the contracted get terminated?

-The agreement violated the article 7.3 of the Investment Agreement, which states to draw electricity from the territory of Mongolia within four years of operation. In other words, the Parliament-consented agreement was hard to amend for the Cabinet without having to negotiated with the Parliament. Thus, the agreement was terminated. Arnaud Soirat, Chief executive of Copper and Diamonds of Rio Tinto Group, said some uncanny remark that the company will establish the plant if the Cabinet issues a demand to draw electricity domestically within four years. That mister still do not understand the Investment Agreement. They accepted that responsibility under the investment Agreement. They were obliged to draw electricity within four years after commencing operations due in 2017. I do not understand what this mister meant by “issuing a demand”.

Generators with over 240MW cannot be installed in Mongolia
-It seems that the location of the power station is currently under discussion?

-I am curious about that. They received a 5-years permission to build the station at the mine from our ministry in July 2012. The permit was expired in 2017. Nothing has been done within that period. They should stop playing with the Government of Mongolia. They did not lift a finger before the Southern Region Power Sector Cooperation Agreement. The 2014 Tavan Tolgoi negotiation was also the same. Therefore, the Cabinet decided to terminate the contract.

-Will the Tavan Tolgoi coal-fired power station project continue?

-The Parliament and Cabinet expressed their position that Mongolia will build the power plant based on Tavan Tolgoi residual coal deposits. It is up to them to select the three options proposed through the Investment Agreement.

-Although Oyu Tolgoi promised to draw power from Mongolia within four years after commencing operations, they violated the agreement. Will they be held accountable for that?

-The Government established a working group on some issues concerning high loan interest, tax act and violation of investment agreement. The group may report their review on that.

-What about Baganuur power station? Are there are talks on terminating the agreement? There are rumors that the Government will go under MNT 512 billion debt if the contract is terminated.

-As for the compensation, there are talks about potential risks with that amount. It does not mean we are obliged to pay them. The thing is, some compensation may come up after the contract termination. It does not mean the power station’s high technology is not incompatible to Mongolia. They are planning to install high-capacity generator that are not suitable for Mongolia’s system. Generators with over 240MW cannot be install in Mongolia. Because we manage our system by drawing 240MW power from the Russian Federation. We will not be able to manage higher generators. The contract was negotiated regardless of the incompatibility. We demanded the investors to install a system compatible with Mongolia. We did not discuss any termination of contract.

-Democratic Party’s group in the Parliament made a statement demanding the Cabinet’s dismissal. What is your position on this?

-Cabinet penalized the related officials regarding the issues around the Ministry of Road and Transport Development. The officials themselves resigned from their position, acknowledging their responsibility.

Mining Minister visiting Inner Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ Mongolian delegation led by D. Sumiyabazar, Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry, is paying a working visit to Hohhot, Bayannur, Baotou and Ordos cities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China on August 15-18.

Qatar pledges $15bn of direct investments in Turkey – Ankara www.rt.com

Qatar has pledged $15 billion of direct investment in Turkey’s financial markets and banks. The news comes in a statement released on Turkey’s President’s website following his meeting with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
"The Turkish President and Emir of Qatar met today [Wednesday[ in the presidential complex in Ankara. They have exchanged views on bilateral relations and regional issues, Al-Thani said that Qatar intends to directly invest $15 billion in Turkey,” said a press release after the meeting.

General Agency for Development of Persons with Disabilities established www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Cabinet issued a resolution to establish the Implementing Agency of the Government – General Agency for Development of Persons with Disabilities (PWD). Human resource of the agency will be formed in a way of transferring 35 employees from Restoration, Training and Production Center to state administrative service, changing job functions and transferring budget as well.

China Evergrande invests in project to build world's fastest supercomputer www.reuters.com

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Property developer China Evergrande Group on Thursday said it will invest 1.65 billion yuan ($239.53 million) into six high-tech projects by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including one aimed at building the world’s fastest supercomputer.

Economy grows 6.3 percent on the back of consumer sector www.zgm.mn

National Statistics Office released the preliminary results of social and economic situations of 2017. Driven by the upswing in tax revenue, goods and services, the economy grew to MNT 8 trillion, a 6.3 percent growth. In details, service sector grew 5.8 percent to MNT 184.9 billion, wholesales and retail - 9 percent to MNT 73.7 billion, net taxes on products - 21.4 percent to MNT 192.1 billion. The monthly average income of household jumped 13.7 percent year-over-year, to MNT 1.1 million. Key drivers were the average salary growth of MNT 46.4 thousand and MNT 28.5 thousand or 41.7 percent raise in income from non-agricultural production and services. The household expenditures averaged at MNT 1.1 million, which is MNT 96.7 thousand or 9.7 percent higher than the same period of last year. This was driven by an increase of MNT 73.1 thousand or 9.7 percent in non-food expenses and services and other expenditure. In the first 7 months of 2018, total equilibrated revenue and grants of the Government Budget reached MNT 5 trillion, and total expenditure and net lending amounted to MNT 4.8 trillion. As such, the budget balance totalled MNT 291.3 billion in surplus. Another highlight was the 33 percent surge (year-over-year) in tax revenue, reaching MNT 4.5 trillion. Specifically, value added tax revenue hiked 34.1 percent, income tax - 31.5 percent, excise taxes - 68.5 percent, social welfare income - 20.5 percent, others - 33 percent and revenue from foreign activities jumped 39 percent. The State revenue accounted for 79.6 percent of tax revenue, 10.3 percent of non-tax revenue, 7.3 percent of the future heritage fund and 2.8 percent of stabilization fund. In the first 7 months of 2018, total expenditure and net lending of the General Government Budget amounted to MNT 4.8 trillion, increased by MNT 271.9 billion or 6.1 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The General Government expenditure and net lending accounted for 84.3 percent of current expenditure, 11.8 percent of capital expenditure and 3.9 percent of net lending. In addition, inflation increased by 5.5 percent in July.

Salary discussion may return as Labor Minister hints of a draft www.zgm.mn

Cabinet held its regular session yesterday and approved the appointment of Khaltar Luvsan, Vice President of Ulaanbaatar Railway Joint Stock Venture, as the Deputy Minister of Road and Transport Development. The session also touched upon the establishment of Development center for the Disabled, electoral budget of the repolling and national program on children’s dental care. After the session, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Chinzorig Sodnom informed that he is planning to organize a trilateral meeting with the Government and Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions. He then highlighted that he will be presenting a bill on salary raise to the Cabinet next week.

GOVT TO BOOST EMPLOYMENT BY TRAINING THE DISABLED

At the initiative of the Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, the Cabinet issued a resolution to establish a Development Center for the Disabled (DCD). In doing so, 35 employees of Rehabilitation and Training Center will be transferred to the the DCD without having to allocate extra financing from the State Budget. According to statistics, 103,630 people, which equals 3.3 percent of the entire population, is currently disabled and 42 percent of households that have a disabled member are poverty-struck. Only 28 percent of disabled people between the age of 15 and 59 are employed and 43 percent of 6-18 years old children are illiterate.

MNT 390 MILLION ALLOCATED FOR REPOLL

Cabinet approved to allocate MNT 390 million for the repolling in the 42nd electoral district at the session. The electoral budget will be financed from the Cabinet’s reserve fund, of which MNT 228.1 million will be spent on the Parliamentary repolling, while the remaining MNT 162.5 million has been allocated for the reelections of Citizens’ Representative Khural of Bulgan, Dornogobi, Dornod, Sukhbaatar, Orkhon, Khentii, Zavkha and Gobi-Altai aimags according to the Cabinet.

NATIONAL PROGRAM ON CHILDREN'S DENTAL HYGIENE

Healthy Teeth - Healthy Children program to be implemented nationwide in 2018-2022. The program financing of MNT 37 billion is expected to be allocated from the State Budget, foreign aid, investment, public, private sector partnerships and other sources. By maintaining sustainable financing and developing cooperation of multiple sectors, the program aims to improve the quality of children’s dental care service and reduce dental prevalence of children by 30 percent and cavity by four points. The decision is related to the increased dental problems among children. A study conducted in 2011 shows that around 87-96 percent of 5-6 years old children 65.3 percent of 12 year olds and 67.5 percent of adults had cavity and experts perceive the number has increased in recent years. Presently, a total of 1049 dental clinics operate throughout the country, of which 77 percent of them are state-owned. The Cabinet highlighted to supply necessary equipment, workforces to local clinics and support welfare and insurance for the public

Rio Tinto closer to selling $6bn stake in Iron Ore of Canada www.mining.com

Rio Tinto (LON, ASX, NYSE:RIO), the world’s second-biggest producer of iron ore, is closer than ever to selling its $6 billion-stake in Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC), as it hired investment bank Credit Suisse.

Number of HIV-infections in Mongolia rises to 264 www.chinadaily.com.cn

The number of HIV-positive people rose to 264 in Mongolia after two new cases were registered last month, the National Statistical Office said in a report Wednesday.

Cross border securities service launches www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On August 14, the Mongolian Central Securities Depository (MCSD) state owned company and Korea Securities Depository signed an agreement to start cooperation on cross border securities service.