It is easy to feel that companies in the travel and tourism sector have inflated claims about their ‘green’ credentials in order to capitalise and profit. We’re a small, specialist tour operator without stakeholders or investors and we’re limited by our resources – both time and economic. However, we try really hard to make good decisions and although we cannot hope to change the world, do not get everything right or know all the answers, as a tour company, we have the chance to educate and influence the behaviour of our team and to inspire our guests and one way we are doing this is focusing on how we can help to eliminate single-use plastics in Mongolia.

As part of our (Mini) Plastic Free Mongolia Challenge, we highlight five ways in which our guests can help us to eliminate single-use plastics in Mongolia. One of those steps focuses on the use of plastic bottles.

In Mongolia, due to its challenging infrastructure, a majority of families do not have access to drinking water from a tap. Instead, there is a countrywide network of water supply stations where families come to collect their water. Here at EL we have never bulked purchased disposable plastic water bottles for our guests on our Mongolia tours. Instead, we have always provided two 20 litre water containers in each of our tour vehicles which we then refill taking fresh drinking water from these water supply stations. For added security, we provide a Steripen Adventurer or Lifesaver water filter which our guests use to neutralise their water.

We now also have a working partnership with Water-To-Go from whom our guests can purchase filtered water bottles. The filter in their 75 cl bottles is the equivalent of 400 single-use plastic bottles. Water-To-Go is a 3-in-1 filtration system that eliminates well in excess of 99.9% of microbiological contaminants including viruses and bacteria from any non-salt water source. Furthermore, the filter eliminates harmful contaminants from the water but allows the beneficial minerals such as sodium and magnesium to pass through leaving the healthiest water possible. Water-to-Go filters have also been independently tested against internationally recognised standards by industry specialists including The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK) and BCS Laboratories (USA).

EL guests that purchase a Water-To-Go bottle also receive an exclusive 15% discount. From each purchase using the discount code, an additional 15% is donated to buy Plan Vivo Foundation carbon certificates which are used to support the Plan Vivo Mongolian Nomad Project – working in partnership with the Mongolian Society of Range Management – https://www.planvivo.org/pastures-conservation-climate...

What We Need To Work On

In the EL office, we use 1-2 20L water dispensers a week. These are recyclable dispensers purchased from a local family-run shop next to the office and the dispenser is returned and reused. But, we do purchase cold drinks for our guests when on the road (oh the joy of finding a Coke in a working fridge in a small town in the Gobi Desert in the middle of summer), our guests and team purchase drinks for themselves when on tour and we do purchase drinks for the office which we keep in the fridge for our team for when they return to the office. These drinks are a mix of cans and plastic bottles.

Also, although the need to bring a reusable water bottle and our partnership working with Water To Go is highlighted throughout our Pre Departure Guidelines and Packing List, not all of our guests manage this and do purchase bottles of water.

A major issue in Ulaanbaatar – Mongolia’s capital city – remains that sorting or recycling are undertaken by very few companies and there are very few regular collections. Outside of Ulaanbaatar, the sorting and recycling of waste is even more limited (although local projects are focusing on waste reduction and management such as Ecosoum in Bulgan Aimag). However, in Ulaanbaatar, there is an emergence of organisations within the private sector and we are in the process of establishing a recycling system within our UB office with separate bins for paper, plastic, and cans which we can then transfer to recycling bins which have been placed close to our office. For plastic bottles and drinks cans bought when on tour by our guests and EL team members, we will try and set up a system whereby they are crushed, placed in a sack, and brought back to the recycling bins close to the EL office.

‘The production of plastics totalled around 368 million metric tons worldwide. The incredible versatility of this group of materials accounts for the continued growth in production year after year. In tandem with that growth, the market value of plastics also continues to grow.’

We’re a small company but with small steps, we are working on making our own small corner of the travel industry a better place and managing our usage of plastic bottles, and working with Water To Go form part of those small steps. Transparency is as important as action and we will publish each year our progress. For now, we invite you to be part of this bigger travel philosophy and purchase a Water To Go bottle.

Water-To-Go EL Discount Code (link)

Your Closest Water-To-Go Distributor (link)

For more on our Responsible Tourism philosophy – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/responsible-tourism.../

At its regular meeting on May 4, the Cabinet heard a report on the progress of railway construction works.

As of today, the construction of the Tavantolgoi-Zuunbayan railroad is running at 88.4 percent. The railroad is planned to be put into operation in October this year, reported the Ministry of Road and Transport Development.

As for the railroad being laid en route Tavantolgoi-Gashuunsukhait, its construction is running at 76.4 percent. The railroad is planned to be commissioned in July this year.

Furthermore, corresponding officials are holding talks with the National Development and Reform Commission of the PRC on the construction of railroad en route Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod, informed the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson Ch.Bolortuya. The talks aim to comprehensively resolve certain issues related to freight transportation and coal exports.

China’s metallurgical coal supply is expected to remain limited in the second quarter of 2022, as coking sector’s inventories deplete and Mongolian coal suppliers face logistical hurdles, industry sources said April 13. Industry analysts see relatively lower seaborne met coal shipments reaching China in Q2 than Q1 due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Meanwhile, some Mongolian coal shipments got stuck at Northwest Inner Mongolian land ports, as authorities flagged fluorine content in coal not in compliance with standards, resulting in several containers accumulating at the land ports of Erlian and Ganqimaodu.

This has hindered Mongolian coal trade into China.

As a result, Ganqimaodu’s efforts to step up daily coal haulage into China and raise the number of trucks to 300 remain a distinct possibility for now, according to investment bank Founder CIFCO Futures.

Also, China has adopted strict measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, a development that would keep operations at the Ceke land port closed. In the near term, daily Mongolian coal haul to China is expected to remain steady at around 200 trucks.

At one point in 2020, the number of trucks hauling Mongolian coal into China reached more than 2000.

Mongolia aims to ship 36.7 million mt of met coal to China in 2022. That will take 2022 volumes 161% higher from the last year level.

China is prioritizing thermal coal demand, leading to capping of domestic met coal output growth in January-February, while limited Mongolian coal haul has squeezed met coal supplies further.

More met coal supplies from Mongolia and Russia are only expected by the third or fourth quarter of this year.

While met coal stocks at coking producers were down, stocks at key Chinese ports were also at lower levels. As of April 8, met coal stocks at six Chinese ports were at 2.02 million mt.

On May 2, Speaker of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar received IMF representatives led by Ms. Angana Banerji.

At the outset, the Speaker expressed his gratitude to the IMF for its support provided to Mongolia during the difficult times of the pandemic. The Speaker noted that three factors: the COVID-19 pandemic, the international situation, and border closures have negatively affected Mongolia's economy and balance of payments, and put strong pressure on foreign exchange reserves, while emphasizing the importance of active cooperation in strengthening the balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves.

Last Friday, the State Great Khural passed 10 laws in addition to the amendments of the 2022 Budget Law of Mongolia, the 2022 Budget Law of the Social Insurance Fund, and the 2022 Budget Law of the Future Heritage Fund. The passing of these laws not only amended the state budget, but also enacted legislation to shift all levels of public institutions and state-owned companies to cost-saving measures and to begin structural reforms of state-owned enterprises.

Ms. Angana Banerji said, “The 'Vision 2050', Mongolia's long-term development policy, was projected to lead to economic growth, but new risks emerged due to external and internal factors. In order for Mongolia to protect itself from future risks, it is important for public institutions to focus on cost-saving and targeting child allowance and welfare to the target groups”.

“IMF is supportive of commercial banks’ IPOs. However, it should be postponed considering the adverse effects of the pandemic and the international crisis”, she added.

As they prepare for the next round of global climate talks in November, officials from rich countries are trying to pull together a series of multibillion-dollar packages to help poor countries phase out coal.

But negotiations have been snarled by national politics and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has made the dirtiest fossil fuel a lucrative commodity to mine and export, according to people familiar with the talks who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

The talks stem from a landmark $8.5 billion pledge by the UK, US and European Union before last year’s COP26 summit to support South Africa’s move away from fossil fuels. The deal has become a model for decarbonizing other nations including India, Indonesia and Vietnam. The hope is that agreements can be reached with those countries before COP27, the people said, and that details of the South Africa pact will be finalized by then.

Much of the focus is on Indonesia, which will this year host the Group of 20’s meetings and have significant influence over COP27. Getting a deal done could earn rich countries some goodwill in Egypt after they failed again last year to meet a decade-old target to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance for poor nations. But developed countries are also adamant that money can only flow if recipient governments come up with detailed economy-wide plans to end the use of coal.

Three officials from donor countries that visited Indonesia this year raised concerns privately that President Joko Widodo’s cabinet remains split over the need to end the use of coal. That’s been compounded by the war, which has raised the demand for coal exports. The government hasn’t come up with a coherent plan to transition away from coal, an obstacle to any breakthroughs this year, they said, asking not to be named so as not to jeopardize the talks.

“There are about 20 different visions within the Indonesian government about what they’re actually talking about,” said Jake Schmidt, senior strategic director of the international climate program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who closely monitors the discussions. “There are still factions within the Indonesian government that are wondering why should we not build more coal and why should we transition?”

Indonesian ministries contacted by Bloomberg didn’t immediately respond to queries sent ahead of a week-long public holiday. The government last October released a plan to get to net-zero emissions by 2060 which includes retiring all coal-fired power plants by 2055.

Indonesia’s finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, has said one of the biggest challenges is convincing private owners of coal plants to switch them off. Speaking on the sidelines of the IMF spring meetings in Washington in April, she also said rising inflation and borrowing costs were making any deal tougher to reach.

“If you ask Indonesia to transition off this energy that will bankrupt my budget, bankrupt the PLN, it will not fly,’’ she said, referring to the state electricity utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara.

Still, progress has been made recently as officials engaged in difficult questions about the speed of Indonesia’s energy transition and discussions have become more granular, according to a U.S. Treasury official familiar with the matter. US officials met with ministers and PLN representatives in Washington last week.

phase out coal

Meanwhile talks between India and the U.S. and Germany — representing the EU — haven’t progressed significantly, according to people familiar with the discussions. Any commitment could end up being a bilateral arrangement rather than a multilateral one, two of the people said. A coal shortage that’s led to power cuts are a hurdle, one of the people said. The Indian government has also chafed at being “talked down to” by Western countries that have offered more studies than concrete solutions, another person said. India’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to questions.

As for the South Africa deal, major elements of the financial package are still being developed six months after the agreement was signed. Finer points about how the money will be spent have yet to be confirmed, including how much will go to heavily indebted utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., how communities will be compensated and how any loans will be structured.

Technical details are now being worked out to determine the contours and scale of financing, with one goal being that it enables the government to escape long-term pressure tied to Eskom’s debt, a U.S. Treasury official said. When the deal was announced last year, South Africa hadn’t designated a lead negotiator and Eskom’s participation was unclear, among the many steps needed to turn the declaration into a final plan, the official said.

The country has since appointed Daniel Mminele, a former South African central banker, to lead the talks. He said that “work is progressing well” and the focus over the next few weeks will be on “assessing the detail of the funding elements relative to South Africa’s needs and priorities.”

Though there is still a chance that a broad agreement in principle will be reached for Indonesia before the G-20 meeting in Bali in November, some activists and insiders are more optimistic about the prospects for a pact with Vietnam at this point. The country has a smaller coal industry and more potential for wind energy, one person said. Officials with Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade were unavailable for comment.

The European Commission confirmed it is exploring energy transition partnerships with Vietnam, India and Indonesia. “A first progress review will be conducted before the summer, in good time before COP27,” a spokesperson said.

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said work was underway on Indonesia and the South Africa talks were moving forward. “We’ve mobilized some funding to help deal with Eskom — bail out the Eskom problem of South Africa and be able to help them transition,” he said at the Global Electrification Forum hosted by the Edison Electric Institute on April 25. “In Indonesia, they don’t have an Eskom problem, but they do have sort of a break-the-status-quo” challenge, he said.

Negotiations are ongoing at high levels. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has met with finance ministers from South Africa and Indonesia, a sign of the seriousness of the effort, which might otherwise be the domain for energy and environmental ministers.

The outcome of the talks will have significant consequences for the success of COP27. Striking deals with larger developing countries could lead to similar arrangements to help smaller and more climate-vulnerable nations.

The South Africa plan “provides a good model to build on here,” said Brendan Guy, lead strategist with NRDC’s international climate program. “But the question really is, can similar packages be tailored for the unique needs of countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam and others to really help them accelerate the move past coal?”

(By Jess Shankleman, Jennifer A Dlouhy and Archana Chaudhary, with assistance from Antony Sguazzin, John Ainger, Yudith Ho, Eko Listiyorini, John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen)

Russian tax law has been amended to make it easier for foreign companies to open accounts in Russian banks and register with the country’s tax authority.

President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law amending Russia’s tax code on Sunday, and it was published on the official portal for legal information.

The law aims to help foreign firms pay for Russian gas in rubles, in line with the new mechanism adopted last month. Foreign entities will be able to register with Russia’s tax authority after the bank that opens an account for them submits an application.

“This makes it really easy to register and open an account,” business daily Vedomosti quoted lawmaker and tax committee member Olga Anufrieva as saying. She added that the measure is temporary.

In March, Moscow demanded that “unfriendly states” which have imposed economic sanctions on Russia pay for gas in rubles. Brussels refused, saying that doing so would breach the Ukraine-related sanctions and the terms of current contracts. However, according to media reports, 10 member states, including Germany, Austria, and Slovakia, have agreed to use the new payment mechanism, and four have already made their first payments in the Russian currency. The Hungarian government confirmed on Sunday that it had opened a euro account with Russia’s Gazprombank.

The Mongolian tughrik has since late January been steadily losing value against the dollar, while inflation has been mounting. There are several reasons for this, including increases in the prices of Russian gas, energy and wheat due to effects of the war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, Mongolia’s dollar income is down, as a result of a decline in exports caused by China’s “zero-Covid” policy and consequent border closures. These have also interfered with imports from China, driving up the prices of most finished goods and value-added products in Mongolia, affecting everything from toothpaste to cleaning supplies. Additionally, the lack of foreign tourists and the decrease in exports over the past two years has caused fewer dollars to be available.

Dollars enter Mongolia via imports, loans, remittances, tourism and aid. Most of these dollars wind up in the central bank, the Bank of Mongolia (BOM). The BOM determines how many dollars they wish to add to their foreign currency reserves. The remainder are auctioned off to commercial banks, twice a week. The commercial banks bid on the dollars based on demand and expected demand from their clients.

Several money changers in Ulaanbaatar have reported that, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, a number of Russians came to Mongolia, buying up dollars, further driving down supply. When asked why money changers and bankers would have sold off all their dollars, knowing what was happening in Ukraine, a data scientist who tracks economic phenomena in Mongolia said that the bankers and money changers sell at the market rate, according to supply and demand. “They aren’t concerned with macroeconomic factors.” he explained.

A commercial banker provided a very similar answer, saying that the BOM is concerned with regulating the price of the tughrik, or MNT, but bankers and money changers are just businesspeople who perform services for their clients. Additionally, they are effectively bound to sell at the market rate, irrespective of their personal prognoses. Bankers and money changers generally wait for geopolitical events to reflect in prices, rather than altering prices or ceasing trading in a particular currency of their own accord.

The current shortage of dollars in Mongolia results from both decreased supply and increased demand. As citizens see their MNT accounts decreasing in value, they wish to convert their cash to dollars. Although the tughrik price of dollars has been increasing steadily, demand continues to grow. In March and April, commercial banks and the Naiman Sharga currency exchange market imposed limits on the volume of exchanges. The BOM assured the public that there would be no problem transferring larger amounts of money in an emergency, such as for medical expenses or paying tuition to foreign universities. The central bank also stated that they did not impose restrictions on currency conversions, but that these were imposed by the commercial banks. In March, the banks’s daily conversion limit was MNT 50mn (around $16,550). By mid-April, however, the limit had been reduced to MNT 300,000 (around $99.30).

In Ulaanbaatar, there are three primary markets for foreign currency: banks, money changers and Facebook. Private citizens actually sell hard currency through Facebook at a premium, in a Facebook group called ВАЛЮТ АРИЛЖАА ТОХИРОЛЦОО (“Currency Trading Negotiations”). The difference between the bank rate, that of money changers and the offers on Facebook can be hundreds of MNT.

On Facebook on April 15, one person offered to buy dollars for MNT 3,140 while another was offering MNT 3,150. They were selling for MNT 3,150 and MNT 3,160, respectively. On the same day, banks were buying for MNT 3,470 and selling for MNT 3,530. Money changers advertised various prices: One was buying at MNT 3,420, while another was buying at MNT 3,460. Their respective selling prices were MNT 3,510 and MNT 3,550. On the same day and at the same time, the BOM official rate was buy MNT 3,250 and sell MNT 3,551. In theory, one could buy via Facebook at MNT 3,150 and sell to the bank for MNT 3,470. Consequently, Mongolia has strict rules on commercial banks engaging in currency arbitrage, to avoid distortions in the currency market.

Apart from dollars, other foreign currencies are also in short supply. Many mining companies and international companies need a certain amount of Australian dollars, Canadian dollars or British pounds sterling to pay suppliers back home or repatriate profits. These currencies do not appear to be available in the Facebook market place, which relegates buyers to using the banks and money changers, where supply is low and rates are high.

Apart from dollars, yuan were readily available in large quantities on Facebook. Unlike dollars, however, the sellers did not make their exchange rates public, instead just leaving their contact information. Ostensibly, a buyer could call them and ask the rate, or possibly negotiate a better rate. A commercial banker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he believed that other hard currencies might be mispriced because of their scarcity in Mongolia. Consequently, there could be arbitrage opportunities moving between three currencies and three markets.

Because of the shortage of dollars, foreign businesses are having trouble making international payments. Turbold, an employee at Oortsogiin Hondii, a non-bank financial institution, reported: “It’s getting difficult, not only for business owners but also for normal citizens. I tried to make a payment with my Visa card from the Trade and Development Bank, but wasn’t able to because I’d reached the daily limit of $330. Companies are probably using different currencies to make purchases.”

Naraa, a loan manager at State Bank, confirmed the shortage of dollars. When asked about other currencies, Naraa said: “If people want to convert, it seems like they can’t. The only currencies that may still be available are the dollar and yuan.” The fact that the yuan is still in large supply across banks, money changers and Facebook suggests that it is not particularly important for international payments and will not provide a viable alternative solution.

Many Mongolians expect the situation to worsen. Turbold, the Oortsogiin Hondii employee, said: “I’m sure, in the next three months, the dollar will reach its all-time high against the Mongolian tughrik.”

By Antonio Graceffo

This article was written with research assistance from Khangal Odbayar, Tengis Enkh-Amgalan, Suldbayar Nasanbat and Nomintuul Batsaikhan.

A total of 49 forest and steppe fires have been reported across Mongolia so far this year, which have destroyed 889,993 hectares of forest and grassland, the country's National Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday.

The number of registered wildfires is up 31.4 percent compared with the same period last year, and the significant increase is mainly related to dry weather conditions and people's negligence, the emergency agency said.

As of Tuesday, Mongolian firefighters have been battling to extinguish a wildfire which broke out in the northern province of Bulgan on Monday afternoon, it added.

The emergency agency is warning the public not to make open fires or throw cigarette butts on the ground amid current dry conditions.

Mongolia's weather is usually dry and windy during the spring season.

ION Energy Limited has revealed that its lithium exploration programs in Mongola have advanced following site visits to its Baavhai Uul and Urgakh Naran projects in late April, as the company awaits the results from brine collected and core samples.

The company said its flagship Baavhai Uul project has shown about 25% lithium anomalies to date, with further drilling results pending.

Results from core brine sampling at Urgakh Naran are also expected in the coming weeks.

This sampling was collected from the surface, with five of eight transient electromagnetic lines completed, the company said in a statement.

A total of 53 auger holes, to depths of 12 metres (m), 2m after the water table or basement depending on which was arrived at first, are being sampled every 2m and are bailed a minimum of twice 24 hours after being drilled before brine samples are collected.

ION CEO Ali Haji said the site visits further reinforced the potential of the company’s highly prospective, world-class assets in Mongolia.

“We are encouraged by the prospect of Baavhai Uul’s pending additional drilling results and Urgakh Naran’s current sampling,” Haji said.

ION technical advisor Mark King said he observed the geology and morphology for the Urgakh Naran site to be highly prospective “with some parallels to Nevada playa basins and South American salars.”

“It was heartening to see some artisanal salt harvesting in the surface evaporite layers, contained in the low-lying dry ponds and lakes: a good indication of brine presence,” he said.

ION Energy is exploring and developing Mongolia’s lithium salars as the company positions itself to be a leader in clean energy amid a global rise in demand for lithium.

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) RMR (Regional Major Rankings) concluded a few days back on 16th April as IHC Esports defeated both TYLOO and Renegades to qualify for the PGL Major Antwerp 2022. With this, the Mongolian esports organization made history by becoming the first-ever team from the country to compete in a Major.

Not only did IHC Esports defeat two of the favourite teams that were expected to win the APAC RMR, but they also went undefeated through the LAN qualifier to win it and claim $5,000 USD (INR 3,81,780) in prize money for their efforts.

IHC Esports creates history by becoming the first CS:GO team from Mongolia to qualify for a Major

After 9z Team became the first-ever non-Brazilian lineup from South America to qualify for a CS:GO Major, IHC Esports created history by becoming the first Mongolian team to do the same through the APAC RMR.

IHC started by defeating its Asian rivals TYLOO by a '2-0' scoreline, handing them close defeats on Mirage (16-13) and Ancient (19-16). This was followed by comfortable victories against Renegades on Inferno (16-10) and Mirage (16-4), as IHC won four consecutive maps (two matches in a row) to qualify for the Antwerp Major.

Talking about how they were able to achieve this victory, 24-year-old Yesuntumur "nin9" Gantulga, in an interview with HLTV, explained that they usually compete against TYLOO with insane pings during local online tournaments, but here on LAN they felt really confident in themselves and came through with a fantastic victory.

As for Renegades, they did not know what to expect from them and they tried to watch a few demos. Due to not being able to download any of them they decided to go into the match with a mindset of just playing their own game.

Three IHC players Tengis "sk0R" Batjargal, Byambasuren "bLitz" Garidmagnai, and Munkhbold "Techno4K" Sodbayar made it into the list of top five CS:GO players at the APAC RMR, holding an overall HLTV rating of 1.34, 1.31, and 1.11 respectively.

According to nin9, the players came into the APAC RMR just hoping to qualify for the Major, but they are now pretty confident in themselves and could do some damage, "teams should not take us lightly".