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    

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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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Mongolian government offers more concessions on probe into coal mafia said to have embezzled billions www.intellinews.com

The sixth day of the Mongolian street protests against the “coal mafia”, a group of state officials and executives who have apparently robbed the public purse of billions of dollars, also brought more concessions from the government in terms of investigating the affair.
As protesters again on December 9 gathered in front of Government Palace in Ulaanbaatar to demand accountability, the government announced that it would start giving daily briefings on the coal theft scandal. The Cabinet secretariat, meanwhile, said nine contracts related to the state mining company at the heart of the affair, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT), would be declassified and made public. Henceforth, the government would not enter into any non-public agreements on coal export sales, officials also pledged. The confidentiality of non-disclosure agreements (NDA) would be terminated.
The secretariat also announced that parliament will form a temporary committee to probe the coal theft case.
Statements from the secretariat also alluded to claims that the protests—which on December 8 led to some instances of traffic flows in central Ulaanbaatar being obstructed—were incited by political and business groups who were involved in the coal mafia. "The government will continue to fight these thugs," the secretariat said.
Most of those who will be investigated in relation to the thieved coal and related earnings on coal exports to China are Mongolian customs officials. Among those officials is Asralt Batbold, head of the General Directorate of Customs, who, shortly after acknowledging the allegations, resigned from his post.
It is unclear if any of the nine contracts dated from 2019 to 2022 implicate any of the companies involved with ETT in terms of missing coal and coal export monies. Nonetheless, these contracts will be turned over to the National Audit Office for further investigation, while conflict of interest issues are to be verified and transferred to the temporary parliamentary committee.
The contracts were signed based on recommendations in June 2019 of the National Security Council (NSC), which consisted of former president Battulga Khaltmaa, Speaker of the Parliament Zandanshatar Gombojav, and former prime minister and current president Khurelsukh Ukhnaa.
One shocking revelation is that former MP Enkhbold Luvsan raised the coal theft case in parliament as far back as 2018.
On December 8, Enkhbold provided in-depth details about the affair to local TV station TV8. He said that he first discovered information when attempting to help a former customs official avoid prison time. This customs whistleblower was eventually sentenced to two and a half years in prison, while trying to make the coal scandal public.
Enkhbold recounted that when he raised the issue in parliament four years ago, he encountered opposition from within his own party, the Mongolian People's Party (MPP).
One established claim in the affair is that when 379,000 tonnes of coal went missing in 2010-2011, inspectors at the time determined that 3,758 coal haul trucks were registered as "empty" at customs.
Enkhbold also told how, when he was a member of parliament in 2016 and a member of the parliamentary standing committee on justice in 2017, he asked the prosecutor general about the claimed coal theft, but the prosecuter general replied: "It [the case] is closed because the statute of limitations has expired."
Nyambaatar Khishgee, the Justice and Internal Affairs Minister, gave a briefing on some details of the coal theft and how law enforcement would proceed with its investigation. The statute of limitations will be lifted in all cases related to the coal theft, with investigators to primarily look into discrepancies between local and foreign customs data, said Nyambaatar.
By Anand Tumurtogoo in Ulaanbaatar
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Ulaanbaatar Railway Run its First Export Freight Train www.montsame.mn

The freight train starts transporting export goods and products to China on December 9. The train which brought import goods departed to deliver export goods to China.
The ceremony of this first export train departure was held at the Central Station of Ulaanbaatar Railway, where the leadership of the Ulaanbaatar Railway (UB Railway) JVC participated and sent off the machinists of the export train. The first vice chief officer of the UB Railway JVC, I. V. Milostnykh, who participated in the ceremony, emphasized that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Transportation Control Department of the UB Railway and said naming today’s export train after the anniversary.
The head of the Transport Control Department of UB Railway, M. Tsogt, explained the cause of the first convoy of the export train. He stated that 95 percent of the containers loaded with imported goods from China were returned empty. Therefore, the two sides had several discussions on the issue for quite a long time and agreed to send back the containers with export goods. In this regard, all the empty train containers were collected in one of the terminals of the logistics center of Amgalan railway station in Ulaanbaatar to be loaded with the export goods.
Eventually, 4-5 trains per month, each with at least 50 wagons and containers, will transport value-added agricultural export products and mining and mineral resources.
The new export train weighs 3,440 tons of 70 containers and 70 wagons loaded with agricultural products such as wool, oleo oil, pine nuts, bran, and rapeseed. As a result, MNT 57.3 million was earned from one train, export freight transportation was increased 2.4 times, and the freight profit of the railways was increased. The uniqueness of this export train is that it supports our country’s manufacturers and entrepreneurs, according to UB Railway JVC’s management.
The head of the Transport Control Department of UB Railway, M. Tsogt, also stated that export trains with containers loaded with goods and products from our country would be sent once a week. He highlighted that at the same time, our country is starting a new transport by sending an export train to the southern neighbor and handing over the 2022nd freight train passing through our country from the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation at the Sukhbaatar railway station.
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Mongolia grabs 20 medals at Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship 2022 www.montsame.mn

The athletes from Mongolia won 10 gold, 6 silver, and 4 bronze medals at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship 2022, which took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on December 2-8, 2022. Twelve athletes from Mongolia competed in the championships and two of them became Asian Champions.
To summarize the achievements of the athletes who participated in the competition:
Ts. Bayarkhuu lifted a total of 590 kg and became Asian Champion by winning the 3 gold and 1 silver in the men`s +120 kg weight class of the masters-2 category.
B. Orkhon also ranked first at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship 2022 by winning 3 gold and 1 silver in the women`s -84 kg weight class of the sub-junior category.
Kh. Amarsanaa ranked second at the championship by grabbing the 2 gold and 3 silver in the men`s -74 kg weight class of the masters-2 category.
S. Minjnaatar ranked third at the championship by claiming silver and bronze medals in the men`s - 105 kg weight class of the open category.
B. Batkhishig won the gold medal by benching in the women`s 75 kg weight class of the junior category.
P. Enkhnasan won the gold medal by benching in the men`s – 105 kg weight class of the masters-1 category.
B. Amartsengel claimed two bronze medals by benching and deadlifting in the women`s -69 kg weight class of the open category.
A. Tserensodnom won a bronze medal by benching in the men`s – 74 kg weight class of the masters-1 category.
The championship comprises three powerlifting categories, namely squat, bench press, and dead-lifting. Over 600 athletes from 29 Asian countries competed in the tournament.
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Mongolia raises Personal Income Taxes www.news.mn

On November 11, 2022, the Parliament approved the Law on Amendments to the Personal Income Tax Law. The new law will be enforced from January 1, 2023. Therefore, Mongolians will pay
-10 percent taxes if he/she earns up to MNT 120 million a year,
-15 percent taxes from taxable income up to MNT 180 million a year,
-20 percent taxes if their taxable income exceeds MNT 180 million a year
In Mongolia, there are 57 citizens who earn more than MNT one billion per year. According to the amendments to the Law, taxes will be increased for only 1,300 citizens.
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Mongolia arrests ex-head of state mining company after corruption protests www.aa.com.tr

Rocked by protests over allegations of corruption in its coal trade with China, Mongolia on Thursday announced the arrest of the former head of its state-owned mining company.
Battulga Ganhuyag, ex-CEO of Erdenes Tavantolgoi JSC, was among eight people arrested in raids on Wednesday night, said Interior Minister Khishgee Nyambaatar.
Their offices and homes are also being searched as part of ongoing investigations, he told reporters at a news briefing, according to a report by state news agency Montsame.
Several hundred people braved freezing temperatures in the capital Ulaanbaatar to protest against corruption in the coal industry and the country’s ailing economy, with some trying to storm government buildings on Sunday.
Nyambaatar said a working group formed to support investigations into accusations of corruption in the coal industry held its first meeting on Wednesday evening.
He said the working group includes specialists and will “urgently collect necessary information from government agencies.”
It will also be “responsible for obtaining information on border customs from foreign countries,” he said.
Nyambaatar added that authorities have reopened probes into “four previous cases of unregistered coal transportation.”
 
 
 
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Air pollution slowly killing Mongolian children www.news.mn

On 1 December, Ulaanbaatar’s Air Quality Index was 169, showing air pollution levels with a particulate matter (PM) 2.5 concentration 18 times the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended level. It has remained well into unhealthy levels through 7 December.
Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world. Nighttime temperatures falls below -40 degrees Celsius. Some 200 thousand people living in gers, traditional Mongolian yurts belonging mostly to migrants from the countryside, burn raw coal for heat as they do not have access to the central electricity grid of the capital. This practice has been identified as the main cause of Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution.
The city is located in the narrow valley of the Bogd mountain on the Tuul river. This geography creates a thermal inversion layer above the city, which traps its toxic air. With colder weather conditions expected in January and February, PM2.5 concentrations in the Mongolian capital could be up to 40 times higher than the WHO standard.
The toxicity of Ulaanbaatar’s winter air has very serious health implications for its population, particularly for children. Pneumonia is the second leading cause of death for children under 5, and children in Ulaanbaatar have 40 percent lower lung functioning capacity than children in rural areas of the country. Air pollution has also been strongly correlated with a decrease in delivered-infant conception rates during the winter months, demonstrating overall negative effects on reproductive health.
In May 2019, for the first time in history, the government implemented a ban on raw coal use. Instead, the government provided a form of processed coal product called briquettes, which burn for longer and don’t release fumes. (Source: Diplomat)
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Rio Tinto plays chancy round of Mongolian roulette www.reuters.com

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - December 9 is shaping up to be a big day for Jakob Stausholm. Just ahead of his two-year anniversary as Rio Tinto’s (RIO.L) chief executive, he will learn the fate of the mining giant’s tortuous efforts to buy out minority investors in Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO), the majority owner of a flagship project in Mongolia. Success would give the growth strategy a real boost; failure could mean senior heads roll.
Oyu Tolgoi, a $10 billion copper and gold mine near the Chinese border, is an epic saga dating back more than a decade. When it eventually scales up, it will be the world’s fourth largest excavator of the red metal. It has long been saddled with an unwieldy corporate structure, which involves Mongolia controlling 34% and Canada-listed Turquoise Hill, in which Rio holds a majority stake, owning the rest.
Cleaning up that structure prompted Stausholm to take two expensive steps. With Mongolia’s entire GDP a mere $15 billion, the country’s equity stake was only made possible by over $2 billion of historic loans owed to Turquoise Hill. The costs of repaying that debt and the accrued interest meant Ulaanbaatar stood to wait decades before receiving dividends from its own project. To stem political blowback regarding Rio’s alleged poor performance as the mine’s operator, Stausholm agreed a year ago to write off that debt.
Buying out the Turquoise Hill minority shareholders is Stausholm’s other initiative. Rio’s 51% ownership means it already consolidates $4 billion of the related Oyu Tolgoi debt onto its balance sheet. A successful deal would allow it to keep more of the earnings and increase Rio’s global copper production by 50% to around 900,000 tonnes by 2028. It also would be a way to rid Rio of similar complaints about its operational performance from the minority shareholders.
The process has been a shambles. Before Stausholm’s first offer in March, Turquoise Hill shares had been trading around C$25 ($18.35) apiece, valuing the equity at $3.7 billion. Some owners, including Pentwater Capital Management, which now holds a 15% stake, spurned the initial 36% premium. They also dismissed a sweetened C$40 bid. Even when Rio divulged its final offer of C$43 a share in September, valuing the company at $6.7 billion, Pentwater and another refusenik, SailingStone Capital, demurred. Determining the fair value has multiple answers, but the dissenters have come close to reaching the simple majority of non-Rio shareholders needed to block the deal.
Then things got really silly. In desperation, Stausholm deployed a peculiarity of Canadian securities law allowing Pentwater and SailingStone to have their Turquoise Hill valuations determined by an arbitration process, in return for sitting out the vote. While it wasn’t certain that process would award them much more, other shareholders feared the risk of an exclusive sweetheart deal was too great. Canadian regulators decided to investigate, which delayed the ballot yet again. On Nov. 18, Rio reversed course and scrapped the whole side deal.
Stausholm looks somewhat foolish, but he is not in a hopeless position. Arguably, the minority shareholders will have to accept the C$43. If they don’t, the shares could fall back to C$25. Considering that pure-play mining stocks such as First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and the copper price itself have both retreated by 15% since March, Turquoise Hill’s stock price might even drop to around C$20.
The Rio boss also has a stick, however. Due to cost overruns and delays, Oyu Tolgoi faces a funding gap exceeding $3.6 billion. Regardless of what happens at the ballot box, Stausholm will need money to get the project back on track. One way to do so is with a rights issue, which gives Stausholm the chance to kill two birds with one stone.
Imagine minority shareholders vote down the offer, but Rio then has Turquoise Hill issue fresh equity. Extending the due date on a chunk of its debt while raising, say, half the funding gap in shares at a 40% discount to Turquoise Hill’s current C$42 price would dilute Pentwater from 15% to 10%, on Breakingviews calculations. The viability of renegotiating the borrowing terms is controversial, however. If Rio had to raise the full $3.6 billion at a shrunken C$20 a share and Pentwater once again declined to participate, its stake would slump to 5%.
Given the buyout mess, Stausholm may regret not opting for a rights issue at the onset. It was always apparent Pentwater might have Rio over a barrel. The battle has damaged Rio’s board. With minimal net debt, the miner had enough cash to buy more Turquoise Hill equity.
Even so, it’s easy to see why Stausholm took a chance. Acquiring the other 49% of Turquoise Hill is the only way to truly simplify Oyu Tolgoi. If the roster of pesky investors simply sold their rights, Rio might have wound up with even more difficult partners, while still having to deal with an independent board.
Those factors may save the Rio CEO if he loses the takeover vote, but a failed buyout could still put pressure on Bold Baatar, the head of copper. He played a key role in negotiating the recent deal with the Mongolian government. At the same time, in a potential sign of where the blame might fall, only Baatar was included in the company’s Nov. 18 press release ending the ill-fated side deal with investors, whereas Stausholm appeared alongside Baatar in the September offer announcement.
The wider lesson is not that developing-world mining projects are fraught with difficulty; they are what big miners like Rio do. Rather, the episode illustrates the need for a leader with the wits and the gall for roulette. Rio shareholders soon will see just how well Stausholm plays.
Follow @gfhay and @karenkkwok on Twitter
 
 
 
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S.Korea's fast-food chain Lotteria opens 3rd store in Mongolia www.kedglobal.com

Lotte GRS, the food affiliate of Lotte Group, said on Thursday that it opened its third Lotteria restaurant in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, last Friday.
Lotteria Mongolia’s newest store was opened near the Zaisan Memorial in the south of the capital city..
The opening of a Lotteria store is the first in three years since the opening of the second one in 2019.
Lotte GRS previously signed in 2017 a master franchise agreement with Eugene Tech Mongolia LLC, a local company, opened its first store in 2018, followed by a second one in 2019.
A company official explained that the recent popularity of Lotteria food in Mongolia led to the opening of a third store. According to Lotte GRS, Lotteria sales in Mongolia increased by more than 70% until November this year from the same period last year.
The same official added, "We will accelerate our search for new markets as our effort slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic while adding more locations in existing countries."
Write to Kyeong-je Han at hankyung@hankyung.com
 
 
 
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Horseback protesters gather on central square in Mongolia’s capital www.tass.com

ULAANBAATAR, December 8. /TASS/. About 1,000 people gathered to protest on the central square in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar on Thursday, the fifth day of protests, a TASS correspondent reported.
This time, horseback riders from various regions of the country joined the rallies. Police officers asked the newcomers to leave as the city’s mayor had banned horseback riders from entering the central square. "We haven’t come here to wreak havoc, we have come to show that the country’s regions support the protest movement. We want to meet with government officials and make our voice heard," the horsemen said. According to them, about two hundred more riders are expected to arrive in the capital from various regions of Mongolia.
The first participants in the horseback rally moved to a nearby park for the time being. Mongolia’s Public Radio reported that law enforcement officers had begun to detain horsemen at the entrances to the city, denying them entry.
A protest rally triggered by dissatisfaction over an investigation into a case on coal exports to China bypassing customs control broke out in the Mongolian capital on December 4. Demonstrators demanded to name the suspects, claiming there were high-ranking officials among them. On December 5, protesters tried to storm the Government Palace. On December 7, the Mongolian prime minister announced the creation of a working group to investigate the case, which will include up to 100 protesters along with government officials.
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ION Energy touts ‘impressive' drill results at its Urgakh Naran lithium brine project in Mongolia www.kitco.com

ION Energy (TSXV: ION), Mongolia’s first lithium brine explorer and developer, said today that it is “extremely pleased” with the drilling results obtained from the recently completed exploration diamond core drilling program at the Urgakh Naran lithium project in Mongolia.
In its press release, ION Energy reported that the company has successfully completed the drilling of three lithological diamond core drill holes for a total depth of 954m.
The company highlighted notable two metre drill core results, including 123m at 278ppm lithium from 122m, with maximum lithium reported at 832ppm over 2m (UNDH-01); 100m at 362ppm lithium from 65m, with maximum lithium at 601ppm over 2m (UNDH-02); and 71.4m at 360ppm lithium from 3.6m with maximum lithium at 911ppm over 2m (UNDH-03).
The company also said it has completed drilling of two hydrological test wells for testing of basin brines, adding that the third test well is currently being completed.
CEO and Director Ali Haji stated, “The company is extremely pleased with the drilling results obtained from the recently completed exploration diamond core drilling program. Results have indicated a lithium pregnant basin with significant potential for insitu brine at relatively shallow depths. The company is now completing its third hydrological test well with brine sampling to commence across all three wells in the coming months.
“The Urgakh Naran Basin is over 17,000 ha in size and is showing the potential to host significant brine accumulations in close proximity to the national electric grid and critical development infrastructure.”
ION Energy is committed to exploring and developing Mongolia’s lithium salars, which includes the Baavhai Uul and Urgakh Naran project. ION indicated that its flagship 81,000+ hectare Baavhai Uul lithium brine project represents the largest and first lithium brine exploration licence awarded in Mongolia.
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