1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

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

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Mongolia requests for more vaccines from India www.wionews.com

Days after India gifted vaccines to Mongolia, the country is keen to get more vaccines from New Delhi, this time commercially.
The deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia has written to India's external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar requesting for 10 to 15 lakh India-made vaccines Covishield.
India had gifted 1.5 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine to Mongolia on February 21 that helped the country begin its vaccination drive.
Interestingly, the Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene was vaccinated using India-made vaccines. What makes Covishield is the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine produced by Pune-based Serum Institute of India much sought after is that it has got approval from the World Health Organization (WHO).
India and Mongolia share close ties and have seen a number of visits including the famous visit of Indian PM Modi in 2015. Mongolia, landlocked between China and Russia considers India as its spiritual and third neighbour.
New Delhi's outreach on COVID-19 vaccines has been much appreciated globally with India sending 568.06 lakh doses of vaccines to 56 countries and UN Health workers.
Not only Mongolia but countries in South Asia - Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and countries in Africa and Caricom region began their COVID-19 vaccination using India-made coronavirus vaccines.
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Apple is discontinuing the iMac Pro www.cnn.com

New York (CNN Business)Apple is no longer making the iMac Pro, once the most-powerful computer the company offered.
For those looking to get their hands on the all-in-one-Mac, they can still do so for a limited time. The $4,999 standard model can still be purchased on Apple's website, but only while supplies last. Once existing inventory runs out, the iMac Pro will no longer be available, Apple told CNN Business.
Apple (AAPL) released the iMac Pro in 2017, in which it was deemed "the most powerful Mac ever." The all-in-one computer aimed at creatives and professionals features advanced capabilities for graphics and 3D rendering. However, the machine hasn't gotten any major updates in the past few years.
In August, Apple debuted its 27-inch iMac, which is the go-to iMac option for most customers. The tech company added that the current model can be configured to address the needs of professionals. But for those desiring a boost in performance and expandability, they can choose the Mac Pro -- a Mac tower that exceeds the capabilities of the iMac Pro.
Apple is gearing up a for new release of iMacs this year to replace its 21.5-inch and 27-inch models, Bloomberg reported in January.
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108 new COVID-19 cases detected, total reaches 3,336 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. At the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Health today on March 8, it was reported that 108 new cases were detected in Mongolia after testing 13,269 people nationwide within the past 24 hours. This is the highest number of cases detected in a single day since the first domestic coronavirus transmission in the country.
While three of the new cases were detected from citizens that were brought back on charter flights, the rest were locally-acquired infections.
In the past 24 hours, 49 people have been discharged from the hospital, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,588.
As of today, the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Mongolia now stands at 3,336, with 732 patients receiving treatment
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Every investor wants an answer to this question www.cnn.com

London (CNN Business)A wave of anxiety is sweeping through stock and bond markets as investors prepare to enter a new phase of the pandemic.
What's happening: Concerns are growing that a strong economic recovery later this year will cause a spike in inflation. That's sparked a selloff in government bonds. When prices fall, yields rise, which weighs on stocks.
Without a sharp bump on Friday, the S&P 500 — which has dropped in the last three trading sessions — will notch its third consecutive week of declines, as the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury moves back toward 1.6%.
"With the Covid-19 vaccine allowing for economic activity to be restored, coupled with fresh injections of fiscal stimulus in the pipeline, investors are holding on to the narrative that inflation could make a roaring comeback," FXTM market analyst Han Tan told clients on Friday.
In recent days, Wall Street has become laser-focused on one big question: If significantly higher prices do materialize, will Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers have the stomach for it?
Powell said at an event on Thursday that he does expect inflation to rise as the economy reopens. But he emphasized that the Fed does not intend to change course as a result, since low interest rates and bond purchases will continue to be necessary to support the ongoing recovery.
"Compared to the economic scenarios we contemplated a year ago, it's good to see where we are," Powell said. The Fed, he added, will try to differentiate between a "one-time surge in prices and ongoing inflation."
Easy monetary policies like rock-bottom interest rates have been a boon for riskier investments like stocks over the past year. Wall Street is worried the mood could change when rates start to rise again.
Such fears are top of mind with Friday's jobs report on tap. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expect to learn that the US economy added 182,000 jobs in February, up from 49,000 in January.
That's certainly an improvement, but would still leave Americans down millions of jobs since the start of the pandemic. Such a reading may reassure Wall Street that any talk of the Fed tightening policy is premature.
Investors will be particularly alert for unexpected signs of wage inflation, however. Average hourly earnings are forecast to have risen by 0.2%.
Watch this space: US prices don't exist in a vacuum. One of the reasons inflation has been so low in recent decades has been thanks to China, which has served as a global factory for low-cost goods.
The country said Friday that it would target economic growth of more than 6% in 2021. A strong recovery in China could help keep prices low. But there are some concerns that economic scarring from the pandemic has permanently hurt supply chains and reduced manufacturing capacity. That dynamic could contribute to inflation.
Oil prices surge after producers extend production cuts
Countries are beginning to look toward life after the pandemic. But oil producers, nervous about upsetting delicate price dynamics, aren't racing to put more barrels on the market.
Oil prices surge as OPEC and its allies extend production cuts
Oil prices surge as OPEC and its allies extend production cuts
The latest: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies said Thursday that they would largely roll over production cuts during the month of April, my CNN Business colleague Charles Riley reports.
Two countries — Russia and Kazakhstan — were granted exemptions to increase their output by a small amount.
Remember: The OPEC+ group agreed in January to keep production steady for February and March. At that time, Saudi Arabia surprised markets by pledging to cut its production by an extra 1 million barrels per day, a move that reflected unease about fragile demand.
Saudi Arabia agreed on Thursday to extend its extra cut through April. Including that contribution, the broader group's supply cuts amount to nearly 8 million barrels per day.
In recent months, rising prices have made producers more confident that the market is on solid footing following its pandemic crash. But for now, the group is opting to play it safe.
Investor insight: Oil prices are jumping as a result. US oil was last trading above $65 per barrel for the first time since January 2020. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, are near $68.50.
UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo thinks US oil prices will rise to $72 per barrel later this year if the expected surge in demand for energy materializes as economies reopen.
"With a cautious approach from OPEC+ and limited production growth outside the group, oil inventories are likely to fall at a fast pace in April," Staunovo told clients.
That would continue to support prices. Customers could also start to pay more for gas at the pump. AAA said Thursday that the US average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by two cents this week to $2.74.
A global shortage of shipping containers triggered by the pandemic is squeezing companies around the world.
Costco (COST) is the latest to sound the alarm. Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti told analysts after markets closed on Thursday that container shortfalls contributed to delays in delivering furniture, sporting goods, lawn and garden equipment and even some food items, including seafood, imported cheeses and oils.
"We expect these pressures to ease in the coming months, but it's impacting everyone, of course," Galanti said.
What's happening: According to Hillebrand, a logistics company, containers were stranded in North America and Europe at the beginning of the pandemic and couldn't make their way back to Asia. There was no time to clear the backlog before more started coming in.
The firm says that production of new containers remains "woefully low," and prices for those on the market has skyrocketed. Hillebrand doesn't expect the situation to normalize until later this year.
Costs are being passed on to customers like Costco, which said Thursday that sales increased nearly 15% from one year ago in its most recent quarter as customers continue to stock up on food and cleaning supplies. Shares are down nearly 2% in premarket trading.
Up next
The US jobs report for February posts at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Coming up: It's been nearly a year since markets crashed as Covid-19 fears overtook Wall Street. Check back Sunday for a look at what's happened since then — and where we could be heading next.
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Global Hack Breaches Thousands of Microsoft Business Accounts www.bloomberg.com

A sophisticated attack on Microsoft Corp.’s widely used business email software is morphing into a global cybersecurity crisis, as hackers race to infect as many victims as possible before companies can secure their computer systems.
The attack, which Microsoft has said started with a Chinese government-backed hacking group, has so far claimed at least 60,000 known victims globally, according to a former senior U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation. Many of them appear to be small or medium-sized businesses caught in a wide net the attackers cast as Microsoft worked to shut down the hack.
Victims identified so far include banks and electricity providers, as well as senior citizen homes and an ice cream company, according to Huntress, a Ellicott City, Maryland-based firm that monitors the security of customers, in a blog post Friday.
One U.S. cybersecurity company which asked not to be named said its experts alone were working with at least 50 victims, trying to quickly determine what data the hackers may have taken while also trying to eject them.
The rapidly escalating attack drew the concern of U.S. national security officials, in part because the hackers were able to hit so many victims so quickly. Researchers say in the final phases of the attack, the hackers appeared to have automated the process, scooping up tens of thousands of new victims around the world in a matter of days.
“We are undertaking a whole of government response to assess and address the impact,” a White House official wrote in an email on Saturday. “This is an active threat still developing and we urge network operators to take it very seriously.”
Microsoft Server Flaws Raise Alarms at White House, DHS
The Chinese hacking group, which Microsoft calls Hafnium, appears to have been breaking into private and government computer networks through the company’s popular Exchange email software for a number of months, initially targeting only a small number of victims, according to Steven Adair, head of the northern Virginia-based Volexity. The cybersecurity company helped Microsoft identify the flaws being used by the hackers for which the software giant issued a fix on Tuesday.
The result is a second cybersecurity crisis coming just months after suspected Russian hackers breached nine federal agencies and at least 100 companies through tampered updates from IT management software maker SolarWinds LLC. Cybersecurity experts that defend the world’s computer systems expressed a growing sense of frustration and exhaustion.
‘Getting Tired’
“The good guys are getting tired,” said Charles Carmakal, a senior vice president at FireEye Inc., the Milpitas, California-based cybersecurity company.
Asked about Microsoft’s attribution of the attack to China, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Wednesday that the country “firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms” and suggested that blaming a particular nation was a “highly senstive political issue.”
Both the most recent incident and the SolarWinds attack show the fragility of modern networks and sophistication of state-sponsored hackers to identify hard-to-find vulnerabilities or even create them to conduct espionage. They also involve complex cyberattacks, with an initial blast radius of large numbers of computers which is then narrowed as the attackers focus their efforts, which can take affected organizations weeks or months to resolve.
In the case of the Microsoft bugs, simply applying the company-provided updates won’t remove the attackers from a network. A review of affected systems is required, Carmakal said. And the White House emphasized the same thing, including tweets from the National Security Council urging the growing list of victims to carefully comb through their computers for signs of the attackers.
Initially, the Chinese hackers appeared to be targeting high value intelligence targets in the U.S., Adair said. About a week ago, everything changed. Other unidentified hacking groups began hitting thousands of victims over a short period, inserting hidden software that could give them access later, he said.
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Mongolia and Russia to increase Sputnik-5 vaccine deliveries? www.news.mn

Mongolia received the first 10 thousand doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine on 27 February, 2021. This came after long negotiations between the two countries, which began in October, 2020. The vaccine was brought by a cargo charter flight from Seoul-Ulaanbaatar; the next batch of 10 thousand doses of Sputnik V vaccine is planned to arrive next week. Currently, Ulaanbaatar is holding talks with Moscow to import 200-250 thousand doses of Sputnik-5 vaccines per month.
In this connection, discussions about the production, approval and registration of Sputnik-5 vaccines were held on 4 March at the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Mongolia. The meeting was attended by Mongolian doctors, scientists, journalists from both countries, delegates from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Mongol Emimpex Concern and the Intermed Hospital.
Sputnik-5 is currently produced in several Russian biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies such as Binnopharm, Pharmsintez, R-Pharm, BIOCAD and Generium after being registered as the world’s first vaccine against Covid-19 in Russia on 11 August. Mongolia becomes the 23rd country to approve the Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use.
Rossotrudnichestvo is a Russian Federal Agency under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Set up by Dmitry Medvedev in 2008, it has the full-title of the ‘Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States’ Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation.’
It can be noted, that these negotiations come at a time, when there is growing evidence for the uncontrolled spread of coronavirus in the Mongolian capital.
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Activist investor Pentwater takes aim at Turquoise, Rio boards over CEO exit www.reuters.com

Activist investor Pentwater Capital Management LP on Friday condemned the surprise resignation of Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd’s chief executive officer following pressure from the Canadian miner’s top shareholder Rio Tinto.
Turquoise Hill said on Thursday Ulf Quelmann resigned, effective March 3, after Rio said it would vote against his re-election to the board.
SIGN UP FOR THE COPPER DIGEST
Pentwater, Turquoise Hill’s largest shareholder after Rio with a 9% stake, said it believed the boards of Turquoise and Rio breached their legal obligations in the way Quelmann’s departure was handled.
In response to Pentwater’s statement, a Rio spokesman said the company supports the reset of leadership at Turquoise.
Turquoise Hill did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
During Quelmann’s over two-year tenure as CEO, Turquoise found itself locked in a feud with Rio over how to fund the underground expansion of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.
Rio is the operator for the mine and owns 51% of Turquoise Hill, which in turn owns 66% of Oyu Tolgoi.
Pentwater did not detail what actions it plans to take and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(By Shariq Khan; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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Judo Grand Slam: Japan, Italy and Mongolia take top spots on day 2 in Tashkent www.euronews.com

Uzbekistan welcomes the International Judo Federation World Tour with a passionate opening Ceremony on day 2 of the Tashkent Grand Slam. IJF President Mr Marius Vizer praised the organisers' efforts and noted the strong home team and enthusiastic crowd.
The middleweights battled it out for victory, and our woman of the day was Japan’s Tashiro Miku who flew through the elimination rounds, winning all her fights with her signature “sticky foot” or Kosoto gari. She upped Japan’s gold medal count to an impressive five with a beautiful foot sweep in her gold medal match, making this her fifth Grand Slam title.
After being awarded her gold by the President of the International Judo Federation, Mr Marius Vizer, Tashiro expressed her emotions about finally competing after a year.
“There was no significant meaning to my celebration, but I have been away from competition for a year and my emotions spontaneously came out like that as I have been holding my anxiety for not competing for a year.”
Winning his first Grand Slam gold in Tashkent, our man of the day was Italy’s Christian Parlati who defeated 2015 World Champion Nagase in his semi-final. In his final, Parlati took the fight into golden score where he dramatically managed to defeat the local favourite Sharofiddin Boltaboev, scoring wazari with a well-timed spinning ouchi gari to shock the home crowd.
President of the Judo Federation of Uzbekistan, Mr Azizjon Kamilov presented the medals and an elated Christian Parlati told reporters: “It’s really a special emotion because it’s one year without the public and I’m really happy for the atmosphere. It’s so special.”
In the under-73kg bouts, Mongolia’s Tsend-Ochir took the top spot on the podium, where Mr. Ravshan Irmatov, First Deputy Minister of Physical Culture and Sport, handed over the coveted gold medal.
The under-70kg category saw yet another Japanese gold from two-time world champion Arai Chizuru, who proved her strength and consistency once again. The President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Mr Rustam Shoabdurakhmanov, donned Arai with her gold medal.
The home nation of Uzbekistan fielded a full team of athletes and have achieved four medals so far, thrilling the local crowd with spectacular ippons throughout the event, including a well-celebrated bronze medal from Gulnoza Matniyazova.
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China’s exports surge at record pace from coronavirus-battered levels www.rt.com

China saw its trade booming in the first two months of the year, with exports rising more than 60 percent in January-February compared to 2020 lows, when the Covid-19 outbreak rattled the world’s second-largest economy.
Last month alone, outbound shipments spiked 154.9 percent year-on-year, marking a record monthly surge for Chinese exports. The sharp increase in exports, which was much higher than economists’ predictions, is partly explained by the low base from 2020, when exports fell over 17 percent as the government imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
The surge in exports also came due to strong overseas demand for Chinese goods, with the US and Europe remaining the biggest destinations for Chinese shipments. According to China's General Administration of Customs, stimulus measures in major economies have also helped to elevate consumer demand for made-in-China products.
Moreover, this year many Chinese firms stayed open during the traditionally long Lunar New Year holidays as workers were encouraged to stay at their workplaces instead of going to their hometowns. The customs agency said that this allowed exporters to deliver orders faster than usual for this period.
Imports also jumped in the January-February period, rising more than 22 percent compared with a year ago. Skyrocketing exports and growing imports allowed overall trade to rise over 41 percent in dollar terms and 32 percent in yuan terms in two months year-on-year. While that is compared to the low base of 2020, the growth was significant even when contrasted with pre-crisis years.
“Even when compared with normal years, such as the comparable periods in 2018 and 2019, growth in China’s overall trade was around 20 percent,” customs said.
Robust exports and imports have helped China to become the only major economy to see growth in 2020. The world’s second-largest economy expanded 2.3 percent last year, its weakest result in decades, but most of its global peers contracted or even fell into recession. Beijing has recently set a growth target for 2021, expecting its gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by six percent.
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Rio Tinto set to start negotiations over Mongolian mine www.ft.com

Rio Tinto is set to start face-to-face negotiations with the government of Mongolia as its seeks to complete the $6.75bn expansion of a huge copper project in the Gobi desert.
The Anglo-Australian group is sending a team of senior executives to the capital Ulaanbaatar to try and hammer out a new financing agreement so that the development timeline can be maintained and underground caving operations can start later this year.
The discussions will focus on a number of issues including tax, a new power agreement and benefit sharing, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Some government officials want Rio to pay more than $300m of withholding taxes on income it has received from Oyu Tolgoi LLC, the Mongolian holding company that owns the mine.
Rio receives a management service fee for running Oyu Tolgoi’s existing open pit and the underground project as well as interest on money it has lent the government to fund its share of the development costs.
However, the officials say it is “very difficult, if not impossible” to engage constructively on the issue because the payments are the subject of arbitration in London.
For its part, Rio believes the issue of withholding taxes is dealt with in the separate investment and shareholder agreements that cover its operations in the country.
The underground expansion of Oyu Tolgoi ranks as Rio’s most important growth project. At peak production it will be one of the world’s biggest copper mines, producing almost 500,000 tonnes a year.
Although Rio runs the existing operations and is in charge of the underground expansion project it does not have a direct stake in the mine.
It’s exposure comes through a 51 per cent stake in Turquoise Hill Resources, a Toronto-listed company. TRQ in turns owns 66 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, with the rest controlled by the government of Mongolia.
The project has been beset by difficulties and is already two years late and $1.5bn over budget. The government said earlier this year that if the expansion is not economically beneficial to the country it would be necessary to “review and evaluate” whether it can proceed.
To that end the ruling Mongolian People’s party and its new prime minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene are trying to replace the Underground Development Plan with an improved agreement.
Signed in 2015, this sets out the fees that Rio receives for managing the project as well as the interest rates on the cash Mongolia has borrowed to finance its share of construction costs.
However, it was never approved by Mongolia’s parliament and has become a focal point for critics who say the country should receive a greater share of the financial benefits.
Rio, which recently appointed a new chief executive, has told the government it is prepared to “explore” a reduction of its project management fees and loan interest rates as well as discuss tax.
However, analysts are sceptical that the two sides will be able to put a new agreement in place by June when a decision on whether to start caving operations must be taken if Oyu Tolgoi is to meet a new target for first production in October 2022.
Rio is also at loggerheads with TRQ on how to fund the cost overruns at Oyu Tolgoi. Last week, TRQ’s chief executive resigned after Rio said it planned to vote against his re-election at its annual shareholders’ meeting.
In a statement, Rio said it was committed to working with TRQ and the government of Mongolia to enable the successful delivery of the Oyu Tolgoi Project
“Aligning and co-ordinating our joint efforts to resolve the concerns of the Government . . . going forward is of the highest priority,” it said.
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