1 GOLD AND COPPER PRICES SURGE WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      2 REGISTRATION FOR THE ULAANBAATAR MARATHON 2025 IS NOW OPEN WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      3 WHY DONALD TRUMP SHOULD MEET KIM JONG- UN AGAIN – IN MONGOLIA WWW.LOWYINSTITUTE.ORG  PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      4 BANK OF MONGOLIA PURCHASES 281.8 KILOGRAMS OF PRECIOUS METALS IN MARCH WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      5 P. NARANBAYAR: 88,000 MORE CHILDREN WILL NEED SCHOOLS AND KINDERGARTENS BY 2030 WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      6 B. JAVKHLAN: MONGOLIA'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES REACH USD 5 BILLION WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      7 185 CASES OF MEASLES REGISTERED IN MONGOLIA WWW.AKIPRESS.COM PUBLISHED:2025/04/02      8 MONGOLIAN JUDGE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE APPEALS CHAMBER OF THE ICC WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/01      9 HIGH-PERFORMANCE SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER TO BE ESTABLISHED IN PHASES WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/01      10 LEGAL INCONSISTENCIES DISRUPT COAL TRADING ON EXCHANGE WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2025/04/01      УСТСАНД ТООЦОГДОЖ БАЙСАН УЛААНБУРХАН ӨВЧИН ЯАГААД ЭРГЭН ТАРХАХ БОЛОВ? WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     САНГИЙН ЯАМ: ДОТООД ҮНЭТ ЦААСНЫ АРИЛЖАА IV/16-НААС МХБ-ЭЭР НЭЭЛТТЭЙ ЯВАГДАНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     МОНГОЛБАНКНЫ ҮНЭТ МЕТАЛЛ ХУДАЛДАН АВАЛТ ӨМНӨХ САРААС 56 ХУВИАР, ӨМНӨХ ОНЫ МӨН ҮЕЭС 35.1 ХУВИАР БУУРАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     Б.ЖАВХЛАН: ГАДААД ВАЛЮТЫН НӨӨЦ ТАВАН ТЭРБУМ ДОЛЛАРТ ХҮРСЭН WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     1072 ХУВЬЦААНЫ НОГДОЛ АШИГ 93 500 ТӨГРӨГИЙГ ЭНЭ САРД ОЛГОНО WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     Н.УЧРАЛ: Х.БАТТУЛГА ТАНД АСУУДЛАА ШИЙДЭХ 7 ХОНОГИЙН ХУГАЦАА ӨГЧ БАЙНА WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     “XANADU MINES” КОМПАНИ "ХАРМАГТАЙ" ТӨСЛИЙН ҮЙЛ АЖИЛЛАГААНЫ УДИРДЛАГЫГ “ZIJIN MINING”-Д ШИЛЖҮҮЛЭЭД БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     ТӨМӨР ЗАМЫН БАРИЛГЫН АЖЛЫГ ЭНЭ САРЫН СҮҮЛЭЭР ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     “STEPPE GOLD”-ИЙН ХУВЬЦААНЫ ХАНШ 4 ХУВИАР ӨСЛӨӨ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/02     ҮЙЛДВЭРЛЭЛИЙН ОСОЛ ӨНГӨРСӨН ОНД ХОЁР ДАХИН НЭМЭГДЖЭЭ WWW.GOGO.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/04/01    

Category

Events

Events

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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Goal Set to Attain USD 100 Million Worth Trade Turnover www.montsame.mn

The Second Meeting of the Consultative Body on Bilateral Cooperation between Thailand and Mongolia was held in Bangkok on June 2.
Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia B. Bat-Erdene and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand Vijavat Isarabhakdi co-chaired the Meeting. During the meeting, the parties discussed ways to strengthen Mongolian-Thai cooperation in the five areas under the Mongolia-Thailand Five-Year Work Plan for Cooperation (2022-2027), namely trade, investment, tourism and culture, agriculture, and technical cooperation. Moreover, the discussion covered some issues related to the preparations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Thailand in 2024 through high-level visits and cultural events.
Under the Mongolia-Thailand Five-Year Work Plan for Cooperation (2022-2027), both sides reiterated their will to cooperate in attaining USD 100 million worth of trade turnover and USD 1.5 billion worth of investment.
With the Government of Mongolia declaring 2023 through 2025 the "Years to Visit Mongolia," both sides agreed on organizing tourism events in Thailand to promote Mongolia and attract tourists, launching direct flights between Mongolia and Thailand starting in June, arranging visits by Thailand’s tour operators to Mongolia, and concluding relevant cooperation documents.
In regards to commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Thailand in 2024, a series of high-level visits and cultural events are expected, including a Visit by Princess Chulabhorn of the Kingdom of Thailand to Mongolia, cultural days and online round tables between researchers and scientists of the two countries.
The Mongolian side expressed delight at receiving H. E Princess Chulabhorn in Mongolia and agreed to conclude relevant cooperation documents between the two countries during the high-level visits that will take place in the near future.
For the Thai side, they affirmed their support for the “One Billion Trees” and “Food Supply and Security” National campaigns, initiated by the President of Mongolia, and their intention to continue the “Lunch Program”, which is being implemented under the auspices of H. E. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of the Kingdom of Thailand for the secondary school students of Mongolia.
The sides agreed to organize the next or 3rd Meeting of the Consultative Body on Bilateral Cooperation in Ulaanbaatar in 2024.
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New U.S. Assistance to Strengthen Mongolia’s Capacity to Prepare for Natural Hazards www.usaid.gov

The U.S. government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), commenced a new two-year, $600,000 project to strengthen Mongolia’s capacity to prepare for natural hazards.
The “Sustainably Strengthening Local Disaster Capacity and Preparedness” project, implemented in partnership with the Mongolian Red Cross Society (MRCS), will help at-risk communities improve their resilience to natural hazards such as droughts, forest fires, and dzuds—harsh winter conditions that can lead to large-scale livestock deaths.
The project will train volunteers from ten Red Cross branches in disaster risk reduction, helping them establish disaster response teams, bolstering pre-positioned relief stocks, and training and equipping community fire-fighting teams. Through the partnership, MRCS will also train herder groups on disaster risk reduction and animal shelter repair to reduce the impact of dzuds. Finally, the project will share best business management practices, as well as facilitate a small grants program to assist herders in developing new ideas to diversify incomes.
Exacerbating the impact of disasters, climate change is impacting Mongolia at an alarming rate. In some areas, snow and permafrost have been melting with unprecedented speed, while in others, more severe winters have reduced rangeland vegetation, leaving less land for livestock to graze. A decline in forest cover has also increased the magnitude and severity of dust storms. This project will help Mongolia’s most at-risk communities be more resilient to these deteriorating conditions.
This project complements USAID’s ongoing “Disaster Resilient Communities” project led by World Vision, which is improving emergency response, first aid and disaster planning, as well as strengthening field veterinary services and animal disease prevention measures. Since 2010, USAID has provided approximately $6.7 million to support disaster risk reduction programs in Mongolia.
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Solar beats coal in Europe for first time – but there’s a glitch www.bloomberg.com

The European Union’s transition to clean energy marked a milestone in May, when solar panels generated more electricity than all of the bloc’s coal plants for the first time — and that’s before summer sun boosts production even further.
While the furious expansion of solar generation bodes well for efforts to replace fossil fuels, the breakthrough also exposed flaws in the energy system. Power prices turned negative during some of May’s sunniest days as grid operators struggled to handle the surge.
“This summer will be something we’ll have to look at like it’s a postcard from the future,” said Kesavarthiniy Savarimuthu, analyst at BloombergNEF. “The biggest message will be: we’re not ready.”
Solar beats coal in Europe for first time - but there’s a glitch
Although solar was a fast and easy solution to respond to last year’s energy crisis triggered by Russia’s moves to squeeze natural gas supplies, the downside is the technology is best in sunny months when demand is typically lower. Systems to store that energy in batteries or by creating green hydrogen aren’t advanced enough to allow summer sun to keep lights on at night or help heat homes in the winter.
Nowhere is the solar boom — and the adjustment risks — clearer than in the Netherlands. There are over 100 megawatts of solar panels for every 100,000 Dutch residents, double the deployment of sunny Spain and more than triple the rate in China — by far the global leader in total solar capacity.
The Netherlands’ claim to the densest solar network on Earth is thanks largely to long-running government support. The program rewards households for installing solar panels, with every watt of electricity offsetting energy bills, regardless of whether usage matches up with the sunniest parts of the day.
“The Dutch government did this to stimulate solar panels, but it’s a little too successful,” said Jorrit de Jong, spokesman at Dutch electric grid operator TenneT, who has seven roof-top solar panels that produce at least 80% of his annual household electricity consumption. “If I do my laundry or charge my car at moments when there isn’t sun, it doesn’t matter for me because I get paid by my energy company.”
The government in the Netherlands plans to change the system starting in 2025. Under new rules, households that send power back to the grid would be able to deduct a declining amount from their annual bill. By 2031, producers would only benefit from power they actually consume and not get compensated for any excess.
Across Europe, people are following the Dutch example. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, installations of solar panels in the EU have accelerated. In May, production rose 10% compared to the previous year to reach a record 27 terawatt hours.
In contrast to wind, hydro or geothermal power, solar has a key advantage of being quick to install. All it takes is an incentive for homeowners or property companies to turn roofs into mini energy parks. But electricity grids were set up around massive generators that could work in tandem with grid operators to keep networks balanced. A more distributed system is harder to manage and will be tested in earnest this summer.
While record solar and wind production have helped drive out coal and gas plants at an impressive rate this year, the EU still has a long way to go to reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Germany is under even more pressure, with Europe’s biggest power market aiming for a decarbonized grid by 2035. Getting there will require not only a massive expansion of clean energy, but also changes that better align consumption with generation.
Solar Beats Coal in Europe for First Time - But There’s a Glitch
There are already signs of a mismatch between supply and demand. Last weekend, electricity prices turned negative at times as solar output hit a record in Germany, Europe’s biggest producer. Negative prices aren’t unheard of and are typically linked to strong wind generation at night or on weekends when demand is thin.
When there’s a surge in power, suppliers have to pay consumers to use electricity. It doesn’t mean 100% of the power is coming from renewables. Some conventional plants can’t flexibly switch on and off or are required to run to maintain grid stability.
Increasing price swings and persistent low or negative rates during peak production periods for renewable power could put further investment at risk, according to Axel Thiemann, chief executive officer of Sonnedix, one of Europe’s biggest solar developers.
Since the end of 2021, Sonnedix has roughly doubled its pipeline of European projects, but Thiemann warned development will get more difficult without changes to how power is managed.
“As more investment gets realized, the grid will get more and more saturated during certain parts of the day in the summer,” he said in an interview. “Even if you have unlimited amounts of solar projects that are permitted, they will not be built unless there’s a clear route to market.”
Better coping with the ebb and flow of renewable generation will require a new kind of flexibility in the power system, which wasn’t necessary when all electricity came from a few giant fossil fuel and nuclear plants that could be turned up or down depending on demand.
“Our current power system wasn’t planned for these kinds of flexibility needs,” said Thorsten Lenck, project manager at Berlin-based think tank Agora Energiewende.
There are various ways to adapt. Batteries connected to the grid could use power during the sunniest or windiest parts of the day to sell when renewables aren’t producing as much. Consumers could also be incentivized to use power during times of peak production. That could be particularly important as more electric vehicles hit the roads and households switch from traditional boilers to heat pumps.
“We’re going to have an unprecedented amount of solar production this summer and it tends to increase the volatility in power prices,” said Joke Steinwart, analyst at Aurora Energy Research. “This presents big opportunities for flexible technologies like batteries.”
(By William Mathis)
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Rochester woman in Mongolia for Gobi Gallop, world's longest charity horse ride www.fosters.com

As a lifelong horsewoman, Christina Keim has ridden long distances on horseback before.
She’s ridden a mule down the Grand Canyon’s Bright Angel Trail, horse packed to visit mustangs in the Eastern Sierras of California and twice completed the three-day 100-mile distance ride at the Green Mountain Horse Association.
But nothing compares to her current equine challenge, the Gobi Gallop, the world’s longest charity horseback ride across Mongolia. Alternating between two Mongolian horses, she will cover 500 miles in 10 days in support of the Veloo Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children in the country’s capital.
Keim, 46, left for Mongolia on May 30 and will begin the ride June 2. This year’s route will cross rivers, go over mountains and along the Mongolian steppe as the horses and riders leave from the wilds of Sukhbaatar Province and finish up outside Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the country which is bordered by China and Russia.
“It’s the adventure,” Keim said of what attracted her to the ride. “It’s not something anyone I know has ever done or experienced. For me, that just sounds like a thrill.”
She is also eager to support the Veloo Foundation’s Children of the Peak Project and hopes to raise $10,000 for the nonprofit.
Experienced equestrian based in Rochester
Keim is a longtime professional equestrian who owns Cold Moon Farm in Rochester. She is also the president of the New Hampshire Horse Council. She’s been an avid distance rider for the past decade, initially getting into the sport when she had a horse that didn’t fit the traditional show ring mold.
“I really love to ride out,” she said. “I think you can see and experience some pretty amazing things on horseback that you wouldn’t get the opportunity to enjoy when you visit in other ways.”
The type of conditioning necessary to participate in long-distance rides led to a different type of relationship with her horses.
“In the process of getting ready and doing your rides, you spend so much time with your animal that you get to know them pretty intimately. It’s a real true partnership,” she said. “When we’re successful, knowing it happened because of our partnership is a pretty powerful feeling.”
What led her to the Gobi Gallop
The germ of her desire to ride in the Gobi Gallop began during the coronavirus pandemic when she finally read that stack of books on her bedside table. Several of the books centered on the theme of how horses have influenced the development of civilization and the role they fill in the world now.
“In every single book there was some fairly significant attention paid to the horse culture of Mongolia,” she said.
Like others, Keim’s impression of Mongolia was the history with savages like Genghis Khan, which didn’t track with what she was learning. “As I read more, it seemed like this was a great example of how the history we’ve been taught didn’t accurately reflect the history that actually occurred,” she said.
She turned to the internet to look up more about the role of the horse in Mongolia and came across information about the Gobi Gallop. That ride is not to be confused with the Mongol Derby, which is better known because of a memoir about the race, and much more intense. In that, the horses are “mostly feral” and the riders hang on and survive. “I decided that was a little too much adventure for me,” she said.
To take part in the Gobi Gallop, she had to apply, submit three references, and go through a Zoom video conference interview with the founder of the ride. Keim asked about the type of horses she would be riding after observing the somewhat wild horses in the Mongol Derby.
“These horses are owned by a family, and this is how they’re making their living by providing safer mounts for people who would like to come learn about the horse culture of Mongolia,” she said. “They are rugged, sturdy creatures. They are, I’m sure, tough as nails.”
How Keim prepared for 500-mile ride
The horses are exercised year-round to prepare for the ride. Keim took the winter off from riding and has been back in the saddle since mid-March. “We will find out how prepped I am,” she joked. “I’ve been trying to spend as much time in the tack as possible.”
She’s been riding two to four hours a day and doing regular yoga to prepare. “I like the stretching and the centering and the alignment, but I think also yoga has taught me you can do hard things, and you’re probably going to get through it,” she said, adding, “It might be uncomfortable.”
Her past training for distance riding with her own horses has taught her that there is a mindset to this style of riding. “I don’t run but I would imagine it’s similar to what a distance runner does; you get into a state of being,” she said.
Keim connected with riders who have done the ride in an online chat group to get a sense of what to expect. “I’m told by folks that have done the ride before that day three is the low point,” she said.
They said the first day is filled with excitement, the second day you’re still propelled by adrenaline, but on the third day, you start to get sore. “And you’re kind of wondering what you’re doing out there,” she said. “If you can get through day three, then you feel like you can do it forever.”
She hopes her ride will raise awareness of another side to the country. “I think it’s important for us to remember how small the world really is,” she said. “Even though I will literally be on the opposite side of the globe, I think the connection of horseman to horseman is going to make it feel like home.”
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Why are people leaving Russia, who are they, and where are they going? www.bbc.com

Hundreds of thousands of Russians are estimated to have left their country since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We look at who they are, where they are going, and why they are leaving.
Svetlana is in her early 30s and originally from a small town. She moved to Moscow at 18 to study physics at university. After graduation she worked as a product manager for various companies.
"I never thought I'd have to leave, I planned to retire in Moscow," she says, "I love Russia and I enjoyed my life."
Russians had been leaving even before the Ukraine war, including those who disagreed with Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and with new laws that made it easier to punish dissent. Many settled in the Baltic states and other EU countries, as well as in Georgia.
For Svetlana, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine of 2022 was a turning point.
"When the war started, I realised that it would not be over soon and also that people would not come out to protest. I felt both emotionally and rationally it made sense to leave," she says. She is now in Belgrade, Serbia's capital.
"I wanted to put as great a distance between myself and the authorities as possible."
Many Russians shared her feelings and what had been a trickle turned into a stream.
Clash of generations in Russia as young take on parents
The first wave came in March and April last year - new emigres told the BBC they were against the war, and disappointed more Russians did not come out to protest. Feeling isolated and at risk, they felt it was safer to leave.
President Putin began a military mobilisation in September 2022. Described as "partial" by the authorities, in reality it meant most men were at risk of the draft.
Numerous reports followed of poor training and insufficient kit provided to the newly conscripted.
Men and their families started leaving in droves, creating days'-long queues on the Russian borders with Georgia and Kazakhstan.
The Russian president's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov has denied Russians were leaving en masse to avoid being drafted.
In April Russian authorities introduced an "online call-up", where new conscripts could be added to a digital register rather than be handed the papers by hand - he also denied the new system was designed to stop the flow of men leaving.
How many left - and where to?
There are no exact figures on how many people have left Russia - but estimates vary from hundreds of thousands to several million.
In May the UK Ministry of Defence estimated 1.3 million people leaving Russia in 2022.
Other estimates of figures from various sources confirm the trend. Forbes magazine cited sources inside the Russian authorities as saying that between 600,000 and 1,000,000 people left in 2022. The Bell and RTVi - both independent Russian media - published comparable figures.
Leaving Russia is relatively easy, as long as you have money and have not been called up to the army. But finding a permanent place to stay is hard.
In the months following the start of the war many countries, mostly the EU and the US, made it difficult for Russians to apply for visas unless they already had family there or were travelling for work.
In many other countries - such as Georgia and Armenia - Russians faced no such restrictions and could come and go as they please. They still can.
Other countries, including Kazakhstan, changed their laws earlier this year, reportedly to stem the flow of Russian immigrants by limiting how many days they can stay as tourists.
Without a prospect of returning to Russia, more and more people need to apply for residency to be able to work in the countries they are settling in - though many are finding ways to keep working remotely for Russian employers.
We know that in the past 15 months, around 155,000 Russians received temporary residence permits in, collectively, EU countries, in several countries of the Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia.
Nearly 17,000 have applied for political asylum in EU countries but only around 2,000 have received it, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum.
The Russian Interior Ministry says 40% more have applied for foreign passports in 2022 than in the year before.
'I was terrified of being sent to kill other people'
Since the start of this war we have spoken to dozens of Russians who have left.
They come from different walks of life. Some are journalists like us, but there are also IT experts, designers, artists, academics, lawyers, doctors, PR specialists, and linguists. Most are under 50. Many share western liberal values and hope Russia will be a democratic country one day. Some are LGBTQ+.
Sociologists studying the current Russian emigration say there is evidence that those leaving are younger, better educated and wealthier than those staying. More often they are from bigger cities.
Thomas is from St Petersburg.
"I am a pacifist and was terrified of being sent to kill other people. I've been against Russia's policy towards Ukraine since 2014. Invasion and killing of civilians is unacceptable," he says.
A man - who the BBC has not spoken to - is detained at a protest in Moscow. Some who protested against military mobilisation were themselves handed draft papers
After the start of the full-scale invasion he posted anti-war messages on social media and joined street protests, he says. As a gay man, he was also concerned for his safety.
"After Russia adopted laws on 'ban on gay propaganda' and on 'fake news' about the Russian army I knew that the threat to my life and freedom had increased," he says.
Thomas applied for political asylum in Sweden and tried to explain to the authorities there why returning to Russia would be dangerous. His application was turned down but he appealed against the decision.
"Since I only have the right to limited time with a state lawyer, I am working on gathering evidence for my case on my own."
For Sergei, a native of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, it is a different set of problems. He is now in Tbilisi, Georgia. The day Russia invaded Ukraine, he phoned several of his friends and they all agreed the war was bad news.
"Whatever happened next, the economy was going to go down," he says. "A week later we all met up and decided we needed to prepare to [leave]."
As days went on, Sergei says, the war got closer.
"We saw a lot of military kit on its way to Ukraine. Hospitals were full of wounded. Rostov airport was closed for civilian flights but there were lots of planes and we knew where they were going."
In September after Putin's mobilisation speech Sergei's mother, who had criticised him for not being sufficiently patriotic, phoned him and said: "Pack your things and go." Sergei drove all night to Georgia, where he now lives.
Advertisements for army service have become common in Russia
"My wife and child are still in Russia. I have to pay their expenses and accommodation out there and my own here. I work two jobs - one remotely for my company in Russia and one here, for a friend's small business."
Sergei says he is saving money to get his family out of Russia to another country. His wife, who had been reluctant, now agrees they need to look for a new life elsewhere, he says.
What does this mean for Russia?
The Russian authorities tried to downplay the impact of hundreds of thousands of educated and well-off people leaving the country along with their money, but the economic impact is evident.
Russia's largest private bank, Alfa Bank, estimates that 1.5% of Russia's entire workforce may have left the country. Most of those who left are highly skilled professionals. Companies complain of staff shortages and hiring difficulties.
Russia's Central Bank reported in the early stages of the war that Russians withdrew a record 1.2 trillion roubles (around £12bn / $15bn) from their accounts. This is a scale unseen in Russia since the 2008 financial crisis.
Economist Sergei Smirnov from the Russian National Academy of Sciences believes that, as a general trend, higher skilled individuals will continue to look for ways to leave.
"There will be increasingly more demand for people to be able to fix cars or make shoes. I don't like apocalyptic scenarios but I believe this will lead to productivity within the Russian economy continuing to fall over time."
The economist points out that these trends will primarily affect large cities, such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.
"Most of the Russian territory will not be aware of these transformations because standards of living in smaller cities, towns and villages have always been low and will continue to be in the future."
Meanwhile Svetlana, in Belgrade, has no plans to return to Russia.
"I am working for a start-up based in Moldova but recently I applied for a job in the Netherlands."
Sergei in Tbilisi is applying for jobs in Europe. For now his life is tough: "I don't have any days off, sometimes I don't have enough time for a night's sleep, I nap in the car."
And Thomas in Sweden hopes he won't be forced to go back to Russia where he fears homophobic abuse. He is learning Swedish to be able to get any job at all.
Edited by Kateryna Khinkulova
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Mongolia To Strengthen Transparency Through Constitutional Reforms www.moderndiplomacy.eu

The Government of Mongolia has this week made efforts to strengthen the governance of its legislature and increase transparency by passing into law a number of changes to the country’s constitution. The country hopes to create more opportunities for civil society representation by moving to a mixed electoral system.
Representatives in the country’s parliament, the State Great Khural, debated and approved reforms that will increase the number of members in the parliament from 76 to 126, with nearly 40% of the MPs now being elected through proportional representation. The Government is also shortly due to introduce separate proposals that will increase the representation of women in the parliament. All these changes are set to be in place in time for the next set of general elections in 2024.
Mongolia’s political system is centred on the sharing of executive power between the Prime Minister as the head of government, and an elected President. The country’s Constitution was adopted in 1992, with amendments made in 1999, 2000, 2019, and 2022. Recent changes have focused on securing political stability in the country, through for example limiting the maximum term of the presidency from two four-year terms to one six-year term, and amending the number of parliamentarians who can hold ministerial positions.
The increase in the size of the State Great Khural will address the rise in the number of voters represented by each parliamentarian, which has increased from 27,000 in 1992 to 44,000 today. Alongside the move towards a more proportional electoral system, the reforms are designed to bring parliamentarians closer to the people they are elected to serve by enhancing the scrutiny given to new laws.
A separate amendment to the country’s constitution creates a role for Mongolia’s Constitutional Court in reaching a final decision on citizen petitions alleging breaches of civil rights and freedoms, including equal rights between men and women, freedom of thought, speech, and peaceful assembly.
Commenting on the proposed changes to the constitution, Mongolia’s Prime Minister, L. Oyun-Erdene, said:
“I strongly support these proposed changes to Mongolia’s Constitution. They represent a further step for our country in the direction of a more inclusive and democratic future. Through increasing the representation in our parliament and broadening input into the law-making process, we will be better placed to meet current challenges and ensure that we continue to make progress towards our Vision 2050 goals, improving the livelihoods of people across Mongolia.”
 
 
 
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Twenty thousand People Participating in “Ulaanbaatar Marathon-2023” www.montsame.mn

“Ulaanbaatar Marathon-2023” is currently taking place at the Sukhbaatar Square. (June 03)
The international marathon annually organized by the Governor’s Office of the Capital city of Mongolia among professional and amateur runners and this year more than 20 thousand people from 30 countries including best professional runners of Mongolia, Japan, France and Kenya are taking part in the marathon.
Mongolian runner N.Munkhbayar has won in men’s 42 km or full marathon, while G.Khishigsaikhan won in women's full marathon.
The marathon has 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, 10 kilometers, 21 kilometers and 42 kilometers running categories. Specifically, the 1,500-meter run includes a run for families and disabled people. Full marathon or 42 kilometers is for participants over 18 years old, half marathon or 21 kilometers is for participants aged 18 to 34, 35 to 54, and over 55 years old, health run or 10 kilometers, 5,000 meters are for 12 to 17 and over 18 years old participants
Full marathon or 42 kilometers and half marathon or 21 kilometers running distances for disabled people have been added to this year’s marathon.
“Ulaanbaatar Marathon-2023” has been expanded to a day and a variety of art performances, services promoting a healthy lifestyle, recreation areas, and mobile food areas are being offered throughout the day. Moreover, traveling DJ sets, circus performances for children, contortion, bodybuilding shows, public dances and exercises are on display along the marathon route.
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Pope to visit Mongolia at end of summer in visit rich in geopolitical significance www.ap.com

Pope Francis is traveling to Mongolia at the end of the summer, a visit that will be a first for a pontiff and one rich in geopolitical significance given its proximity to Russia and China.
The Vatican on Saturday confirmed the Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip to the landlocked U.S-allied country sandwiched between Russia and China, two countries popes have never visited.
The visit comes as Francis is trying to toe a diplomatic line in his relations with both countries: With Moscow, Francis is seeking an opening for a peace envoy to nudge Russia and Ukraine to negotiations to end the war. With China, the Vatican has seen its landmark 2018 accord over bishop nominations violated, with Beijing making unilateral decisions.
Francis will be ministering to a tiny Christian community in Mongolia, part of his focus on visiting far-flung Catholics on the peripheries of the church’s main centers of influence. According to statistics by the Catholic nonprofit Aid to the Church in Need, Mongolia is 53% Tantric Buddhist, 39% atheist, 3% Muslim, 3% Shaman and 2% Christian.
Mongolia has strived to maintain its political and economic independence from both its Soviet-era patron Moscow — which supplies virtually all of its energy needs — and rising regional power China, which buys more than 90% of its mining exports, mainly coal and copper.
At the same time, many people in Mongolia refer to the United States as their country’s “third neighbor” in recognition of the many varied exchanges between the two that help counter both Russian and Chinese influence.
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Pope to visit Mongolia, home to just 1,300 Catholics www.reuters.com

VATICAN CITY, June 3 (Reuters) - Pope Francis will make an Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip to Mongolia, one of the most far-flung places he has ever visited and which has only about 1,300 Catholics but is strategically significant for the Roman Catholic Church because of its proximity to China.
The Vatican announced the trip in a brief statement on Saturday, saying it was being made at the invitation of the country's president and Catholic leaders. Details would be announced in the next few weeks, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
Last August, Francis named Archbishop Giorgio Marengo, an Italian, the first cardinal to be based in Mongolia, where he is the Catholic Church's administrator.
Marengo was in Rome last month and met with the pope to discuss the trip.
Francis first spoke of the possibility of going to Mongolia in a conversation with reporters aboard the papal plane returning from a trip to Africa in February.
According to Fides, the news agency of the Vatican's missionary activities, there are about 1,300 baptized Catholics in Mongolia among a population of about 3.3 million people.
According to the U.S. State Department, about 60% of the population identifies as religious while the remainder has no religious identity.
Among those who express a religious identity, 87.1% identify as Buddhist, 5.4% as Muslim, 4.2% as Shamanist, 2.2% as Christian, and 1.1% as followers of other religions.
Although the number of Catholics in Mongolia is smaller that most individual parish churches in many countries, the country is significant for the Vatican.
It has a long border and close ties with China, where the Vatican is trying to improve the situation of Catholics in the communist country.
Mongolia, once known as Outer Mongolia, was part of China until 1921, when it achieved independence with the help of the then Soviet Union. Inner Mongolia remained part of China.
Visiting places where Catholics are a minority is also part of Francis' policy of drawing attention to people and problems in what he has called the peripheries of society and of the world.
He still has not visited most of the capitals of Western Europe in his ten years as head of the 1.3 billion-member Church.
Francis is due to visit Portugal from Aug. 2-6 to attend the World Youth Day in Lisbon and visit the Shrine of Fatima. He has said he said he would probably go to India next year.
Additional reporting by Keith Weir; Editing by Toby Chopra and Mark Potter
 
 
 
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Cardinal Marengo: Pope's Mongolia visit an encouragement for Catholics www.vaticannews.va

In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, expresses his joy at the announcement of Pope Francis' Apostolic Journey to Mongolia, on 31 August - 4 September, calling it a "great encouragement" for the missionaries and faithful of the East Asian nation.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
The presence of the successor of St. Peter in Mongolia will offer "a real encouragement for all the faithful and missionaries" and instill a sense of "deep joy" and "grace."
In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, the Apostolic Prefect of Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar, the first-ever Cardinal of the country, expressed his joy in receiving Saturday's announcement that Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Journey to the East Asian nation later this summer.
Pope Francis to make Apostolic Journey to Mongolia
Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, made the following official announcement on Saturday: "Accepting the invitation of the President of Mongolia and the ecclesial authorities of the country," said Mr. Bruni, "Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Journey to Mongolia from 31 August to 4 September this year." The Press Office Director added that the visit's programme and further details will be released in the coming weeks.
In August 2022, Pope Francis made Cardinal Marengo the nation's first-ever Cardinal, showing his closeness to the fewer-than 1,500 Catholics in all of Mongolia.
In the interview, the Italian-born Cardinal, who has served Mongolia's small Catholic flock since 2001, discusses the significance of Pope Francis' upcoming Apostolic Visit, which will mark the first-ever papal journey to the country.
He also discusses the nation's Catholic community, relations between Christians and other religions, and his hopes for the Pope's visit.
Q: Cardinal Marengo, how do you welcome Pope Francis' Apostolic Visit to Mongolia? What is the Journey's importance?
It is of great importance! First of all, we welcome this official confirmation with deep joy and as an act of grace. I have already received several enthusiastic messages from many people, here in Mongolia, but also from all over the world. So many are saying "what good news!" And it is indeed good news.
This trip is a very important sign for the Church in Mongolia, a sign of care and closeness from the Holy Father for our small and young community. We were already aware of this closeness, because the Pope has always shown special consideration for the peripheries in the world, as special places of witness. But the presence of the Successor of St Peter at our side is a real encouragement for all the faithful and missionaries.
Q: Tell us about the community that will welcome the Pope.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar (which covers the entire territory of the country) counts about 1,500 local Catholic faithful, plus the few foreigners here for work or diplomatic assignments.
The missionary community consists of 75 missionaries, representing 10 religious congregations and 27 nationalities. It is a truly international and very diverse community. There are a total of 29 priests (of whom two are local), 36 women religious, six non-priest religious and three lay missionaries. There are 9 officially-registered places of worship.
The bulk of the missionary work takes the form of human promotion projects, flanked also by cultural research and inter-religious dialogue. The late Fr Stephen Kim Seong-hyeon, who suddenly passed away last week at the age of just 55, often confided to me, dreaming of a possible visit by the Holy Father, that it would probably be the only case of a particular Church where each and every member would be able to meet the Holy Father in person.
We thought with him that it would perhaps be possible to include all the faithful in one photo op with Pope Francis.
The Church in Mongolia is a poor and small Church, we are few, we do not have many resources. But in the small communities there is a particularly strong mutual care, and the bonds that are formed between people are marked by an uplifting sense of truth and authenticity.
This means that fraternal correction for example is very spontaneous, because people want the best for each other! There is something similar to the early Church. Which is not to say that there is no sense of history.
Formally, the Church in Mongolia was born in recent years, but in a rapidly changing world and in a country with a long history behind it, where traces of the Christian presence can be found at certain times. People who visit us from outside are often marked by something on the order of spiritual freshness. As a missionary who has served this Church for some 20 years, I can testify to this freshness.
Q: Christians in Mongolia are a minority. How is the relationship with other faiths?
Interfaith coexistence is a heritage that comes from afar and is rooted in the tolerant policy of the Mongolian Khan [rulers in the 1200s]. Christianity was already known and practised around 1000 and we like to ideally reconnect with this ancient tradition.
Last year, we celebrated the first 30 years of effective presence of the Catholic Church in the country in contemporary times. Interreligious dialogue is part of evangelisation, not so much as a strategy, but as a means of witness for the Church.
The interreligious relationship is like a friendship, a story always based on mutual trust and built over time. It is about experiencing together, walking together. The notion of minority comes from outside observation, but here, people do not think in these terms. They think rather about how to live in faithfulness to the Gospel every day.
Q: What fruits do you hope the Holy Father's presence will produce for Mongolia and Asia?
It is important that Mongolia be better known in the world, precisely because of its cultural and religious richness, as well as its history. The Holy Father's visit will certainly contribute to bringing to the forefront the beauty of this land and the nobility of its people, custodians of very deep traditions that have always characterised this region of Asia.
For the small Catholic community, of course, it will be a special gift of grace, thinking of the silent and fruitful work of so many missionaries who have given their lives for the Gospel and continue to do so, far from the spotlight, for the sole good of the people to whom they have been sent.
My hope is that this journey will mark a further step in building relationships of trust and friendship, within which the Gospel is lived and witnessed.
 
 
 
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