LONDON – Ulaanbaatar-based carrier Eznis Airways has been accused of transporting military supplies to Russia.

The Accusation…

A “concerned aviation worker” has approached AviationSource on condition of anonymity and has said that one of Eznis’ Airbus A330 aircraft has been grounded because of this.

“I have critical news regarding Eznis Airways and their newly acquired Airbus A330-200 Freighter, registration JU-1332”.

“The aircraft is currently grounded in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with a shipment of military supplies from China, final destination Russia.”

“The aircraft is loaded with 50 tons of military apparel and equipment headed for Russia.”

“The insurance provider has started an investigation into this matter and found out that a large shipment of military goods has been brought from China.”

“Eznis Airways is directly assisting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

About JU-1332…

JU-1332 has not been in the Eznis Airways fleet for very long. The aircraft started out life as C-GGWC with Canada 3000 Airlines in May 1999.

By February 2002, the aircraft was handed over to Precision Aviation Consulting and Training Inc as F-WQQL.

Later on in that year, the jet was handed over to Volare Airlines, where it remained with the carrier until November 2004, with ILFC taking control of the leased jet as EI-DIR.

By February 2005, the aircraft was sent over to Etihad Airways as A6-EYV. The aircraft remained in the fleet until May 2008, when it was subsequently handed over to Air One and then to Alitalia by January 2009.

EI-DIR was ferried over to Ulaanbaatar on November 4-5 for Eznis as JU-1332, with the aircraft entering service on November 9.

Has The Aircraft Been Grounded?

The last flight that the aircraft did was from Beijing on November 30, with the flight losing ADS-B signal over Erenhot, China.

It could be suggested that if the aircraft were indeed headed to a Russian base of sorts, then the Russian Government probably would make sure that transponder signals are blocked.

All other flights that this aircraft has operated have been from Seoul only before this sudden change over to Beijing.

This would be a well-used strategy in preventing knowledge of hidden bases within the region.

On the other hand, we do know that the ADS-B signal strength around Mongolia and Russia is virtually non-existent, which could enable governments to contract flights like this.

No other flights have been operated with this airframe since November 30, which does back up the idea that the jet is grounded in Ulaanbaatar.

AviationSource has approached ILFC, AerCap, and Eznis Airways on this particular issue, but at the time of publication, neither party has responded.

Overall…

In the context of the Ukraine invasion, this is a controversial thing for carriers like Eznis Airways to do and would show where their loyalties lie.

All eyes will be on that particular A330 to see when it will be ungrounded and whether it will operate such flights into Russia again.

Ulaanbaatar Railways JSC is taking urgent measures to improve the distribution and meet the domestic demand for diesel fuel.

According to Head of the Transport Control Department of Ulaanbaatar Railways M. Tsogt, the company has shortened its transportation and unloading time by 16 hours to improve the distribution and meet the domestic demand for diesel fuel. Trains arriving through the border ports used to spend 36 hours at Tolgoit Station in Ulaanbaatar City for unloading and transferring oil products. Now the duration required for the abovementioned procedures has been reduced to 20 hours. He also informed that the customs office works 24 hours a day.

These works are being organized with the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry as discussed between the companies and enterprises that import and transport diesel fuel.

It was reported that diesel fuel is currently being imported from China in addition to Russia last few days. The duration required for the transshipment of diesel fuel has also been shortened as it no longer waits for transportation calculations and customs clearance.

The decrease in the diesel fuel imported from Russia poses a potential fuel shortage, not the transportation and unloading procedures. As of December 9, the company received 267 wagons of fuel from China and planning to receive 200 more wagons.

220 wagons out of 253 loaded with petroleum products from Russia have been unloaded at the railway station so far.

Since December 4, peaceful demonstrations is taking place at the central square by citizens demanding the government take decisive and swift actions to resolve the coal theft allegations.

As demanded by the demonstrators, specific measures are being taken by the President of Mongolia, the State Great Khural, the Government, and law enforcement agencies. For instance, a number of working groups have been set up and investigations are underway in accordance with the demonstrators' demands to reveal the violations in the coal sector.

The following decisions were made to resolve the current issue for the past few days:

December 5.

-The Chairman of the State Great Khural issued an ordinance to set up a working group to organize a public hearing on the coal theft allegations.

-The State Great Khural convened virtually to hear reports by the law enforcement agencies regarding the issue.

December 6.

-Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene held a press briefing, pledging that the Government would put concerted efforts to bring justice to the issues surrounding the coal theft allegations. Moreover, as chairman of the ruling party in the parliament, he expressed readiness to dissolve the State Great Khural before its legal term if necessary, announcing that he would initiate negotiations with political parties and other stakeholders on this matter.

-The Directors of the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC), the General Intelligence Agency (GIA), and the National Police Agency (NPA) issued a joint order on establishing a working group to look into the criminal cases related to coal mining, export, transportation, and payment.

December 7.

-The President met with the representatives of the Cabinet and the heads of law enforcement agencies and tasked to expedite works on resolving the coal theft allegations. He then warned the authorities that the time is near to dissolve the State Great Khural and the Cabinet before their legal terms and grant the citizens’ right to vote as provided by the relevant law unless the issues are promptly resolved.

-The Cabinet established a working group to speed up investigations regarding the coal theft allegations.

-The Standing Committee on Economy of the State Great Khural decided to organize a public hearing on the issues of coal shipment and exports on December 21. At the public hearing, the information on offtake contracts established by “Erdenes Tavantolgoi” JSC, the enterprises that mined coking coal in the country and the amount of the output; the enterprises that transported coking coal and their revenue; and the detailed information on the coking coal exported through all border checkpoints of Mongolia will be presented.

December 8.

-During the State Great Khural session, a decision was made to extend the working period of the ad hoc committee in charge of investigating the difficulties encountered in cargo, transport, coal entry, and free zone operations at border ports by six months.

December 9.

-An emergency regime was imposed for “Tavantolgoi” JSC for a duration of six months and State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs P. Sainzorig was appointed as the Government’s Special Representative.

-The Government disclosed nine contracts related to "Erdenes Tavantolgoi" JSC, which were classified as confidential.

-Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Kh. Nyambaatar and Chief of the NPA J. Bold were tasked to regularly provide the public with accurate and prompt information regarding the progress of the cases and investigation related to the ongoing issue.

-The Ministry of Digital Development and Communications and the Ministry of Mining and Heavy industry agreed to expedite works to establish a Minerals Commodities Exchange in cooperation with the private sector.

December 12.

-At its irregular meeting, the Cabinet resolved to have independent experts audit the operations of “Erdenes Tavantolgoi” JSC, offer the shares of the company to the public through the stock exchange, and publicly disclose the company’s procurement contracts on an official website.

-The Cabinet decided to impose a 6-month emergency regime for “Tavantolgoi Railways” JSC and appointed a special representative.

December 13.

-With the permission of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the IAAC released the names of the companies and their owners and executives that signed contracts with “Erdenes Tavantolgoi” JSC on coal transportation, purchase, and sales in addition to the details of the contracts. As disclosed by the IAAC, from January 1, 2018, to December 1, 2022, the company established 633 (double-counted) coal sales agreements. In the reference period, the company signed 576 procurement contracts worth MNT 20 million or more. As of today, 398 companies are carrying out coal shipments from the Tavantolgoi deposit to the Gantsmod border port.

-The names of 17 people who are being investigated by the IAAC were revealed. The IAAC underscored that it was revealed during the investigations that these people are directly or indirectly involved in the coal theft allegations, and the court will decide whether they are guilty or not.

December 14.

-The Cabinet decided to submit the amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to the State Great Khural for a prompt discussion. The amendment includes provisions such as prohibiting the court to charge minor sentences to cases of corruption and abuse of power or office by a state official and stiffening sentences.

Mongolia’s anti-corruption authority announced Tuesday that former President Khaltmaagiin Battulga is being investigated in a coal theft case that began in the wake of a large-scale demonstration in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, early last week.

The Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia (IAAC) announced at a news conference that Battulga, in addition to 15 other notable figures, including former ministers and current MPs, were contacted and courts will decide their crimes.

“The following officials participated in coal mining, transportation, and procurement of goods and services with state-owned assets,” said M. Davaatogtoh, deputy head of the investigative department of the IAAC.

Davaatogtoh said a joint investigation related to coal mining and its sale and transportation was underway by the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia and the National Police Agency.

“Investigations are underway in a total of 22 cases. During the investigation, 47 objects were searched, 15 people were arrested, and 10 people were detained,” he said. “In order to speed up the investigation, a sub-working group was also established at the IAAC. So far, 35 people have been charged.”

Separately, the IAAC published information about transactions conducted by state-owned companies, Erdenes-Tavantolgoi JSC and Tavantolgoi Railway, which amount to 633 contracts between Jan. 1, 2018, and Dec. 1, 2022.

“[Eleven] cases of investigation and 7 cases of investigation are currently being opened and investigations are being carried out in connection with the problems of giving advantage to others, taking bribes, and getting rich without reason during the construction of the coal transportation railway,” according to a statement.

Mongolia’s Cabinet of Ministers decided Monday to place Tavantolgoy Railway under direct control of the government and introduce a “special regime” for the company for six months.

Several hundred people braved freezing temperatures in Ulaanbaatar to protest corruption in the coal industry and the country’s ailing economy, with some trying to storm government buildings Dec. 4.

Ulaanbaatar was a place on the globe I wondered at as a child, an exotic, seemingly unreachable place. Once I learned that it was in the heart of the Asian steppe region where horses were thought to have been domesticated 1, it took on a new temptation to reach, not for its soft vowels and sharp consonants, but for its access to the horses that bind all of us in the world that share a love for them. There are 3.5 million people in Mongolia, but there are more horses than people. This is the land of the horse, say the Mongolians. It is the axis on which my world spins.

Ulaanbaatar, developed as a Soviet-era city, now has 1.5 million people, a population that has doubled in size in the last 15 years. In downtown Ulaanbaatar there are smart hotels and good restaurants catering for local professionals and businesspeople, as well as tourists and the small expat community. On the whole Mongolians, particularly the women, are very well educated, and there is a profusion of world class cultural activities including opera, ballet, folk music and dance, and art galleries. Otherwise, the old Soviet apartment blocks can appear grey and inhospitable, although inside they are often nicely decorated and updated. Surrounding the city, the ‘ger’ district (areas populated originally with traditional Mongolian tents and latterly with small houses) extends for miles, colorfully filling the hillsides like a child’s painting. In winter, the city is cloaked in a cloud of smog generated from the domestic coal fires that warm the population when temperatures drop as low as -40C 2.

Professor David Warburton is a world leader in child health at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC) 3. He has been visiting Ulaanbaatar for more than 20 years, sharing knowledge and fostering training and research collaborations with the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, the National Center for Maternal and Child Health, and other hospitals to improve mothers' and children’s health, as well as to understand better and combat the ill effects of seasonal severe air pollution 4-6. During a research visit in 2017, along with a group of medical scientists from USC and Dr Carol Readhead from Caltech, he attended the summer horse races at the Mongolian Naadam Festival where they were hosted by local medical scientist Dr Jargalsaikhan Bardach 6. At Naadam, horses race across the steppe at speed over distances of 16 km or more.

“When we met with one of the major horse breeders and owners, I wondered what in their genetic makeup gave these Mongolian horses such endurance and stamina.

“Carol and I thought that by studying the genetics of his bloodstock we might be able to find out what made these particular Mongolian racing horses faster and more competitive than the rest of the more than four million other horses that occupy the vast geographical space of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. That evening, after a quick google search, Carol found and contacted Emmeline. The project was off to the races.” recalled Professor Warburton.

Since the discovery of the ‘Speed Gene’ in 2009 7,8, my research groups at Plusvital Ltd and University College Dublin, Ireland, have generated genetic data for thousands of Thoroughbreds 9 and horses from other breeds 10,11. We teamed up with the Californian scientists to organize a sampling mission to Mongolia to try to answer their questions.

In the summer of 2018, we were warmly welcomed by the Ajnai Sharga Horse Racing Team, which has bred champion racehorses for decades on their farm in Khentii province. We were a team of both young and more established enthusiasts, including Carol, my 13-year-old son Henry, and research student Lucy Allen, from the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, UK.

In two vehicles with local drivers, we set off in convoy on the road to Khentii, an eight- hour journey due east of Ulaanbaatar. Perched in the back seat was Hulsen, Ajnai Sharga’s seven-year-old apprentice jockey who was returning from a visit to his home province 500 km west of Ulaanbaatar. Hulsen shared his bag of sweets with us as he watched DVDs streamed to the back seat of the jeep. His little strong legs were already taking a bowed shape; he had been riding from four years old, having his first race at five years old, and in 2017 at six years old he finished 11th in a 300-horse field. He weighed just 25 kg and at 30 kg his racing career would end.

We stopped at one point to marvel at a gigantic statue of Chinggis Khan on horseback, facing east towards Khentii, his birthplace. The statue, standing 40 feet high, has been credited by the Guinness Book of Records to be the largest equestrian monument in the world. It has a rightful place given Chinggis Khan’s influence in spreading the genes of horses from this region to all corners of the globe. The statue is sited on the place where, it is told, he found a golden riding whip, which identified him as the future Khan, universal emperor of the Mongolian steppe.

We were welcomed to the farm by the trainer and his mother who produced warm milk, donuts and milk curd cookies. Our hosts had gone to enormous lengths to ensure we were comfortable, sharing space in their gers that were adorned with photographs of champion racehorses and a traditional morin khuur (horsehead fiddle).

As the sun rose the next morning, in the deep quiet we could hear the hushed sounds of voices and horses being moved into the corrals. Generally, the horses are rarely handled and roam freely in small bands, yet during the next two days, with the help of the highly skilled herdsmen, we collected hair samples from 100 of the 500 horses on the farm. The tail hairs were processed and, considering local custom, the residue hairs were incinerated and carefully preserved in an urn.

By combining the genetic data that we obtained from the Mongolian horses with Thoroughbred racehorses and racing Arabian horses we compared their genomes to those of non-racing breeds to identify genomic regions under selection for racing. To identify genes that were functionally relevant to racing, we integrated the results from the population genomics analyses with gene expression data from Thoroughbred skeletal muscle. Since 2006 we have collected muscle biopsy samples from large cohorts of Thoroughbred horses at various exercise time points and stages of race training to understand the functional effects of exercise on muscle 12-15. By integrating the population genomics outputs with the gene expression signatures for exercise and training 12 we were able to identify a critical set of genes for racing. Whole genome sequencing of a set of Asian horses identified protein-coding variants in these genes, which clearly differentiated racing horses from other horses and were functionally relevant to exercise.

Manhattan plot for the results of the population genomics analysis to detect targets of selection among Racing breeds when compared with non-Racing breeds

Dr Haige Han, an equine geneticist 10,16 at the Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China, and first author on the research paper said, “Testing hundreds of horses from racing and non-racing breeds identified seven essential genes for racing. These genes have roles in muscle, metabolism, and neurobiological functions, and are central to racing ability among horse breeds.”

Commenting on the work, co-author Professor David MacHugh, Professor of Animal Functional Genomics at University College Dublin said, “Although racing is a multifactorial trait, with management and training having a considerable influence on the success of a racehorse, our study provides good evidence for major-effect genes shaping the racing trait in horse populations.”

Selective breeding has resulted in certain horse breeds specialized for racing. Now, application of these research findings can help to accelerate breed development by more precisely choosing genetically suitable horses for racing through genome-enabled breeding. Some of the genes may also influence athletic performance in humans and other athletic animal species.

“Although man does not cause variability and cannot even prevent it, he can select, preserve, and accumulate the variations given to him by the hand of nature in any way which he chooses; and thus he can certainly produce a great result.” Charles Darwin, Animals and Plants Under Domestication

BY: Emmeline Hill

Professor, University College Dublin

I am an equine geneticist with a focus on Thoroughbred racehorse genetics. My scientific interests however are more broadly in animal population and conservation genomics, and functional genomics. In 2010 I co-founded Equinome, the first equine genetics testing company to test for a gene associated with racing performance, which we called the 'Speed Gene'. I am Chief Science Officer for Plusvital, an Irish equine science company that acquired Equinome in 2015.

Funding:

This work was supported by National Key R&D Program of China; National Natural Science Foundation of China; Science Foundation Ireland; National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center and NIEHS; Royal Agricultural University Cirencester Fund; and Plusvital Ltd.

Mongolia will push ahead with plans to list a state mining firm embroiled in a corruption scandal that has sparked protests in the capital Ulaanbaatar, with new ownership likely to help drive out graft, the country's justice minister told Reuters.

The state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC (ETT) owns a large chunk of a sprawling 6-billion tonne coking coal deposit near the Chinese border that has been at the heart of Mongolia's plans to grow its small and mining-dependent economy for more than a decade.

But development at Tavan Tolgoi has been held back by poor transport links and disputes about how Mongolia's strategic assets should be funded and owned. Fluctuations in global coal prices and cooling investor sentiment have also stymied previous efforts to list ETT's shares overseas.

"The prime minister is putting forward an initiative to change (ETT's) governance and make it public quickly," said Nyambaatar Khishgee, Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, after thousands gathered in recent days to protest government corruption.

"It is expected that this will end the problems of transparency in the mining sector and public officials' corruption," he added.

A spokesperson for ETT was not immediately available for comment.

Protesters clashed with police in the capital Ulaanbaatar last week, as recent allegations of so-called "coal theft" at Tavan Tolgoi brought many to the streets demanding action against those responsible.

Hundreds of protesters were still at the city's central square on Tuesday, with some erecting traditional tents known as gers to stay overnight as temperatures plunged to minus 30 Celsius.

Mongolia earns about 50% of its export revenues from coal, mostly mined by ETT. However, around 400,000 tonnes of coal produced by the company in recent years is unaccounted for, the government said in October. Earlier allegations suggest almost 1 million tonnes of coal were exported but not registered between 2011 and 2017.

Nyambaatar said all contracts signed by ETT have now been made public. Details of the owners of 25,000 trucks involved in transporting ETT coal have also been disclosed.

The authorities are also investigating 7,373 trucks that repeatedly carried coal to the Chinese border between 2013 and 2017 but appeared to have arrived empty.

Mongolia also plans to appoint a top international auditor to look into ETT's finances, Nyambaatar said.

The government is working hard to ensure exports from the project are not disrupted by the probe, Nyambaatar said, and it will also steer clear of an inspection of Chinese coal buyers, who account for about 85% of sales.

"We are trying to reduce risk as much as possible," said the minister, adding he had met China's ambassador to Mongolia this week to reassure him that trade would not be impacted.

Mongolia has long been plagued by poor governance of its state-owned mining companies, which are saddled with billions of dollars of debt. But its economy has been further hit by strict COVID lockdowns from 2020 to 2021 that drove up unemployment, as well as high energy costs due to the war in Ukraine.

"How can we leave our children in this ugly debt-ridden society?" said Gantulga Tumentogtokh, 42, who stayed overnight at the central square for a fifth day, wrapped in a goat fur coat to stay warm.

"We should indeed issue shares (in state owned companies) and develop Mongolia. If we had already done that, our lives would be different. I want to see accountability," he added.

However some questioned whether the government's efforts will go far enough.

"Galloping price increases and widening poverty is the reason for public anger," said Otgochuluu Chuluuntseren, an economist and former government official.

"In the short term, we need reform in the governance of the SOE (state-owned enterprises). In the long term, the business must thrive on creating more sustainable and decent jobs," he added.

Reporting by Munkhchimeg Davaasharav in Ulaanbaatar. Additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai. Editing by Dominique Patton and Raju Gopalakrishnan

Mongolia has an opportunity to strengthen its business environment to create a more level-playing field for companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, (SMEs) and facilitate a more productive private sector beyond the mining sector, according to a World Bank report released today.

For two decades, economic growth performance has been impressive – though volatile – in Mongolia, with significant success in poverty reduction and human well-being. However, the country has become highly dependent on commodities exports, especially coal and copper with weak linkages between mining and the rest of the economy. Unemployment is high, and the labor force participation is falling, notably for women.

Establishing a more conducive and predictable business environment would benefit SMEs, which are more vulnerable to restrictive regulations and make up 97 percent of the active firms in the country, according to the Mongolia Business Environment and Competitiveness Assessment report. They contribute around 5.5 percent of GDP and 2.4 percent to exports (31 percent to non-mining exports). Mongolian SMEs could be positioned as active agents of the country’s much needed economic diversification and transformation, integrated in clusters and supply chains for goods and services, providing jobs and fostering inclusive growth, according to the report.

“The Government of Mongolia has recognized the need for a more conducive investment climate and implemented several significant reforms.” Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. "It is crucial for policymakers to stay the course when tackling business environment reforms – ensuring policy coherence and minimizing implementation gaps while modernizing policies and legal frameworks in the medium to longer-term."

The report recommends focusing on increasing competition amongst firms to encourage investment and foster innovation. It also highlights the importance of reducing barriers to international trade to facilitate competitiveness of domestic manufacturing and boost non-mining productive sectors. Other recommendations include digitizing and simplifying administrative systems to improve government services that create a conducive business environment.

In the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the MMS Green Building has achieved Platinum certification under the LEED for Building Design and Construction rating system. As Mongolia’s first LEED v4 project and first Platinum project, this building has set the standard for the entire country’s green building future as a LEED Earth recipient.

LEED Earth is a campaign that offers certification at no cost to the first project overall and first LEED v4 or LEED v4.1 project at the Platinum level in countries where the rating system is still emerging. These projects’ leadership brings more sustainable and thoughtful construction to emerging markets.

The project owner, MMS LLC, is a Mongolian-based specialized supplier of advanced technology products, engineering and technical consulting services in the agriculture, mining, construction and energy sectors. The company brought on USGBC Gold member and LEED Proven Provider BEE Incorporations as a consultant to assist with the complications sometimes associated with a country’s first LEED project.

Sitting in the capital city’s newly planned smart growth and urban development zone, the multi-use MMS Green Building covers nearly 28,000 square feet of space that incorporates office spaces, showrooms, a workshop and a warehouse, connected by integrated technology systems to monitor output and efficiency. The building sits on a 107,600-square-foot plot of land that includes landscaping, green space and a garden.

Designing for occupant well-being

The project team focused on creating the highest possible indoor air quality and occupant health through an open design that allows high-quality views, natural ventilation and daylighting through highly efficient, triple-glazed glass windows, along with using low-emitting materials with the lowest possible VOCs. The HVAC system works in tandem with the building management system, which regulates performance to ensure superior indoor air quality and thermal comfort by using energy-efficient technology solutions for considerable cost savings on the overall operating expenses of the building.

A building with a glass facade set into a grassy hillside.

Using creative energy solutions

One of the highest-impact decisions made by the MMS Green Building team was to install a rooftop solar PV system with integrated battery energy storage, which provides 100% of the building’s energy. This curbs demand-response by load-shifting against peak demand hours through a hybrid solar inverter system, which separately regulates both on- and off-grid PV operations and redirects excess energy under the contracted feed-in-tariff to the central grid network.

“Our MMS Green Building is not only healthier, but [is] also setting a benchmark for how buildings should operate cross-industry in Mongolia. Our collaboration with BEE Incorporations established a momentum that will support the global goal for creating more sustainable future,” says Erdenebayar Jigmeddorj, head of the business development department at MMS.

As USGBC works to bring the environmental and human health benefits of green buildings to all, LEED Earth recipients put that into practice across the world by building spaces that raise the quality of life for their occupants.

Dulamsuren Demberel, a 58-year-old herder who lives an eight-hour drive from Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar, finds it harder each month to make the household budget work.

Prices of flour and rice, among the basic staples Mongolia’s herders cannot produce themselves, have soared due to the war in Ukraine, with overall inflation running at an eye-watering 14.5 percent.

Even worse has been the 40 percent jump in the price of coal, as well as shortages recent protests have blamed on corrupt officials’ alleged theft of 385,000 tonnes of coal for sale in China.

In Mongolia, where winter temperatures often dip below -35°C, about 60 percent of the population lives in gers – traditional tents – that are not connected to the country’s Soviet-era heating and water grid, but instead heated using coal-powered stoves. More than one-quarter of households are made up of herders like Demberel, who relocate their flocks and gers several times per year.

“Last time when I went to the soum, they weren’t even selling coal,” Demberel, who shares her ger with her husband, her second-eldest son and his wife and five children, told Al Jazeera, referring to the provincial district nearby.

Meanwhile, Demberel, whose husband’s poor health leaves him unable to work, finds it hard to justify making the trek to Ulaanbaatar to sell sheep, wool and milk, the prices of which are in decline even as gasoline prices soar. Mongolia produces oil but, without a cost-effective means to refine it into gasoline, exports almost all of it to China.

While exports to China have declined in recent months as Mongolia’s economy slows under strict COVID-19 curbs, gasoline prices have risen as much as 65 percent since Russia launched its war in Ukraine in February.

“Unless you sell more than 30 sheep or something, it’s not worth it, even though we can sell in the city at a higher price,” Demberel said.

“It’s too far. Paying for gas and other expenses would just make it the same as selling it in the soum, unless you sell a lot.”

Mongolia, one of the world’s most sparsely-populated countries, is being squeezed economically by China and Russia, its two giant neighbours, which have historically dominated its vast landmass.

While Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused energy prices to skyrocket, China’s weakening economy has dampened trade even as some Mongolians question their government’s export of coal and other valuable resources to their southern neighbour.

Mongolia depends on Russia for electricity, gasoline, aviation fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel, about 60 percent of which comes from its northern neighbour.

China accounts for more than 80 percent of Mongolia’s total exports, 60 percent of imports and more than 40 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Mongolia’s dependence on its bigger neighbours is immediately obvious when visiting any store, where packaging is covered with Chinese and Russian writing.

“Of course, we’re fully dependent on China and Russia,” Narangerel, a 57-year-old businessman in Ulaanbaatar, told Al Jazeera.

“We’re dependent on China in terms of our economy, and we depend on Russia for electricity. Also, we buy 90 percent of our coal and petrol from Russia. All other consumer goods come from China.”

Mongolia gained independence in 1921, after nearly 300 years of rule by China’s Qing Dynasty. Until the collapse of communism in the early 90s, the socialist Mongolian People’s Republic operated as a satellite state of the Soviet Union.

The former Mongolian territories of Tuva, Buryatia and Altai are part of today’s Russian Federation, while China controls the geographic area of Southern Mongolia as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

While Mongolia is independent, Moscow and Beijing continue to exert significant influence over the country. After the Dalai Lama’s visit to Ulaanbaatar in 2016, China punished Mongolia by closing off the border. Although he is the spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhist faith, practised by the majority of Mongolians, the Dalai Lama has not been invited back.

Mongolians experienced a taste of what decoupling from China would look like in 2020 when the borders were closed as part of China’s COVID-19 lockdowns.

Mongolia’s economy shrank by 4.4 percent, prompting businesses to lay off tens of thousands of workers. Unemployment peaked at 8.5 percent in April of 2021 before declining to 5.4 percent in the third quarter of this year. Herders were not considered unemployed, although many could not get to the city to sell meat or milk during the height of the pandemic.

While the economy has rebounded, the recovery remains shaky due to China’s economic slowdown and the uncertain global economic outlook.

Mining revenue, which accounts for more than 20 percent of GDP, dropped by nearly one-quarter in the first two months of 2022, compared with the previous year.

Despite rebounding since October, resource export revenues remain well below pre-pandemic levels, with iron ore exports to China, one of the biggest money-makers, down 38 percent in the first eleven months of this year.

“We used to export fluorite to Ukraine, Russia and China. Now, we’ve stopped exporting to Ukraine. And because the border is closed with China, we can’t export to China,” M Uuganbaatar, a 40-year-old executive director at mining enterprise Bayan Jonsh Co, told Al Jazeera.

Previously, China accounted for 70 percent of Uuganbaatar’s business.

“Due to inflation, transportation and logistics, costs have increased,” he said. The one upside is that his exports are purchased in United States dollars, which he can use to hedge against a declining tugrik, the local currency.

So far this year, the tugrik has lost about 18 percent of its value against the dollar.

Oyuntsetseg Togoodorj, a kindergarten teacher in Ulaanbaatar who earns a salary of 800,000 tugriks ($234) a month, said feeding her four children is becoming increasingly difficult.

“Two hundred thousand tugrik ($59) a month, was enough to buy all we needed before but now it should be at least 600,000 ($176) to make barely enough to survive,” Togoodorj told Al Jazeera. “For the whole winter, we used to spend 400,000 ($117) for meat. Now it is 800,000 ($235).”

In addition to increased grocery bills, she is also dealing with higher school fees. “We’re paying four times what we used to pay last year.”

Anger and frustration over Mongolia’s dependence on its powerful neighbours is not hard to find.

Many Mongolians believe China and Russia discourage the construction of power-generation plants and factories in Mongolia for fear of losing their influence over the country. In one notable source of tensions, Russia has opposed the construction of a dam and hydropower generation plant along the Uldza River, claiming it would damage the ecology of Lake Baikal, which lies on the Russian side of the border.

While Moscow has protested the project on environmental grounds, many Mongolians believe its opposition is really motivated by a desire to keep their country subservient.

“Historically Russia claims to be our brother but they seem to keep us under thumb,” Ariunjargal Andrei, a 52-year-old construction engineer, told Al Jazeera. “We buy our electricity from Russia, so it isn’t beneficial for them if we build a hydropower plant. Therefore, they’re not allowing us to build it, claiming it’ll have a negative effect on Lake Baikal.”

“Russia is not allowing us to build the Enkh Gol power station,” Narangerel said. China is … we are getting so many loans that we are in really serious danger.”

For many Mongolians such as Narangerel, the answer to the country’s economic troubles lies in achieving greater independence.

“We’re not a producing country, we’re consumers,” he said.

Batmunkh, a 43-year-old accountant at the country’s fifth largest bank, Khas Bank, who, like many Mongolians, goes by one name, summed up the country’s economic problems simply: “The central cause of the success or failure of the Mongolian economy is the Chinese economy and China’s anti-COVID policy.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

This year marks the 57th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Mongolia. France has long been a major supporter of Mongolia’s independence, sovereignty, and modernization; the French have demonstrated a keen interest in Mongolian culture, traditions, and anthropological research.

Sebastian Surun, the ambassador of France to Mongolia, spoke with The Diplomat’s Bolor Lkhaajav on France-Mongolia bilateral relations, short-to-medium term bilateral activities, and his personal views on regional security issues involving Mongolia’s neighbors.

During your appointment as ambassador of France to Mongolia, in which sectors is France aiming to enhance cooperation? What outcome do you expect in the medium term?

When we established diplomatic relationship back in 1965 – or you could say re-established, because from the 13th century there was a very dense flow of contacts between the French kings and the Mongol rulers – the global context was a cold war between the Soviet Union and the West. We are now in a different world, one which is both more open in terms of state-state cooperation, with more individual, civil society, and state agency; and also more challenging, as we see with Russia’s war against Ukraine.

So, we look through the prism of that different world at what France and Mongolia share. Mongolia and France share values of international law and the peaceful settlement of differences. We share our understanding of the importance of freedom, open society and democratic rule; and we share an appetite for cooperation, connectivity, exchanges.

From the French side, all of that is reflected in our Indo-Pacific Strategy – where Mongolia definitely has a place

Last year we celebrated 60 years of Mongolia’s admission to the United Nations. I believe this is a significant milestone for Mongolia. In Mongolia’s pursuit in seeking international recognition, France not only supported Mongolia’s membership in 1961, we were also among its earliest supporters, when the prospect of membership was first debated in summer 1946.

Moreover, multilateralism is, of course, a central component both of Mongolia’s foreign policy and of the many values we share. And multilateralism is at the heart of France’s three priorities towards Mongolia.

Our first priority is supporting Mongolia’s sovereignty. A practical example of France supporting Mongolia’s sovereignty, through enhancing the service a democratic government delivers to its population, is in our major civil society program. For example, we have 42 fire trucks delivered and trained hundreds of personnel from the National Emergency Management Agency, and have already assisted 50 operational helicopter flights and dozens of victims. France’s efforts in supporting Mongolia’s sovereignty also have seen growing links between our two parliaments, our judiciary, and academic communities, including think tanks.

Our second priority is fighting climate change. Our focus, including through B2B [business-to-business] exchanges, is in supporting energy independence through renewables, boosting food security, and developing agriculture exchanges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the income of herders who produce sustainably. Mongolia joining the Global Methane Pledge during COP27 was a significant commitment.

Our third priority is the most visible: promoting our shared values through education, studies, and sports. Given Mongolia’s young population – median age of 28 – we have particular focus on youth-based projects. One example: The Olympic & Paralympic Games 2024, which will take place in Paris, will be a great opportunity for Mongolia’s capable sports teams. I have taken personal enjoyment from seeing the women’s and men’s basketball, cricket, rugby, and judo teams in action.

Moreover, within our third priority, we are also promoting our shared heritage. Next year, in October 2023, there will be an opening of an exhibition on Chinggis Khaan and the Mongol Empire in Nantes, France.

In your latest interview, you mentioned that France is interested in developing Mongolia’s natural resources – particularly, uranium. What challenges do you foresee for Mongolia to export its uranium either to China, Russia, or third countries, such as France?

Nuclear energy indeed makes up more than half of the electricity production in France, and 25 percent more comes from renewables. This is one of the reasons why we were less affected than other countries by the global energy crisis caused by Russia and its war in Ukraine. We see nuclear as one of the key components of energy transition, because nuclear energy production doesn’t emit carbon. French companies are also the only ones in the world to handle the whole cycle of nuclear fuel, including managing waste and spent fuel. Nuclear technology has many other uses, in which we partner closely with Mongolia: from medicine, archaeology and the manufacturing industry, all the way to smoke detectors.

In Mongolia, the French company, Orano, and the Mongol company, Monatom, are developing a mining project to extract natural uranium. The technology is called In Situ Recovery and is designed to be very protective of the environment. The same technology is used in Kazakhstan. As you would expect, Mongolia’s Academy of Science has engaged in detailed study of the environmental impacts.

I visited the site myself earlier this year. With the technology cleverly located underground, it’s simply the beautiful Gobi landscape and herds of camels that you see. When production of natural uranium from Mongolia starts – among the top ten deposits in the world – the uranium will be exported to one of the few facilities in the world that can manufacture fuel out of the mineral. How and where this happens is still very open.

And, with our long expertise in nuclear energy, France is ready to go further and support Mongolia too. Small Modular Reactors are a new technology that would probably best suit the size of Mongolia’s electricity and heat needs.

In the meantime, there is still a lot to be done to enhance Mongolia’s energy independence. Developing renewable energy should be a priority, given Mongolia’s huge potential: its 2.6 TW of renewable energy [potential] is the total electricity consumption of China today. With the right calls made in terms of relations with the private sector and cooperation on issues like grid improvement, a lot more could happen soon.

Making the most of Mongolia’s renewable potential will enhance the country’s green energy supplies, serve as an efficient way to fight climate change, provide better air quality, and ensure energy independence from its neighbors.

France has been one of the leading countries to assist Mongolia’s natural disaster management capabilities. What other assistance and training France will be implementing during your appointment as ambassador?

I must stress that much of what goes on between our two countries is not government-driven, but business-to-business. This is a tribute to the maturity of private enterprise in both countries, driving our exchanges in every regard and understanding how potent economic exchanges and free enterprise can be.

Our cooperation with Mongolia’s National Emergency Management Agency is ground-breaking. The many trainers who come here from a diverse range of French Civil Security Units consistently tell me of the fantastic spirit, creativity, and responsiveness of their Mongolian counterparts.

Taking this opportunity, I am delighted to announce that year, we will have a Civil Security officer based in Ulaanbaatar. We want to take our cooperation in emergency management to the next level.

France is also assisting Ulaanbaatar to fight traffic congestion. We need to develop an urban transport system. The only mass transit project with financing, and where studies have properly started within the governor’s office and engineering bureau, is the French government-financed cable car project. Cable cars are used widely in urban transport, they operate specifically in cold and windy conditions, and they have a very light footprint on the ground. We want the cable car project to be an affordable and practical means of travel for the capital’s whole population.

Also, I am proud of what our embassy is achieving in Mongolia. But the critical thing is supporting and facilitating capable and dynamic businesspeople on both sides to have free exchanges and cooperation.

How do you view Mongolia’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war? Some countries (like India) have come under more pressure for not denouncing Russia, while other countries (Kazakhstan) have gotten less pressure. In your view, where does Mongolia fall in that spectrum?

In a region lacking integration and cooperation, Mongolia develops into a more established and mature democracy. Former President Elbegdorj Tsakhia’s “flame of freedom” is a powerful image of Mongolia. To me, that flame is burning ever stronger in Mongolia, even as democracy has been coming under strain in every part of the world.

France understands Mongolia’s geography: Mongolia is truly between a rock and a hard place. This can lead to vulnerabilities, which some countries feel they can use to exert pressure. And that can impact how the government sees Russia’s war in Ukraine, and what it chooses to say publicly. But it’s also important to note that in an open society like Mongolia, these things are debated in public, where decisions can be challenged and scrutinized.

From my observation, Mongolia’s population has a deep understanding for what is at stake in Ukraine. They understand that this is about the fundamental values of international law and sovereignty. And it’s about a country’s agency, by which I mean that country’s foreign alignment is selected by its people, not by force, not by its neighbors, not by another foreign power’s misguided historical revisionism.

Finally, I’d just say that Mongolia is clearly very capable at creating political space, and in making pragmatic decisions in pursuing its multilateral-oriented foreign and security policy. This is a view shared by France and the European Union.

There are many books written on Mongolia by French scholars. And you have been in Mongolia for a year now. What was something that surprised you about modern Mongolian society?

There are indeed very good books written by French scholars in different fields, for example, most recent, by Antoine Maire. The French academic community on Mongolian studies is hugely active and cross-disciplinary.

Since arriving, I have been impressed by the quiet way in which both the government and the private sector create space to act and develop Mongolia’s sovereignty and its economy, even during COVID-19.

I have also been struck by the energy emanating from Mongolia’s population. I believe its youth, the level of education, but also faith in the country’s future play a major role. As the speaker of the Mongolian parliament (The Great Ikh Khural) Zandanshantar told me when I first met him, the challenge for all of us is to prove that democracies can deliver. It’s clear that Mongolia’s democracy delivers – maybe not as quickly or as evenly as its people might want, but the development has nonetheless been nothing short of spectacular over one generation. Just look at infant mortality, access to higher education, size of the road network, and e-Mongolia.

As a diplomat, we try to identify, understand, and bridge cultural differences. I see how Mongolia’s ancient traditions are kept alive even among young urban Mongols. For example, the reflex of shaking someone’s hand when you inadvertently stumble on their foot in the street or raising a gifted book to your head as a sign of respect for books and knowledge. These are beautifully symbolic gestures still practiced every day. I am enjoying learning them too!

I also see many similarities between the Mongols I work with every day and the traditional French spirit called esprit gaulois, from our pre-Roman ancestors the Gauls, who were supposedly a sympathetic, rebellious, and feisty lot – if you know the cartoon character Asterix you will know what I mean!

GUEST AUTHOR

Bolor Lkhaajav

Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.