Brother Gniazdowski admires the modesty and simplicity of people who teach him humility through their poor but peaceful lives.

“Keep praying for me and my brothers” is the simple message for anyone who drops by the profile of Brother Krzysztof Gniazdowski on the Salesian mission website.

The Polish Salesian lay missionary has served in Mongolia since 2007 and has spent most of his 25 years of consecrated life in the East Asian country.

Brother Gniazdowski, 49, was born on April 17, 1971, and is the third of three sons and one daughter of his parents. He has a master’s degree in pedagogy in family social work.

Originally from Skwierzyna in western Poland, he took his first vows with the Salesians on Sept. 22, 1995, and final vows on Aug. 22, 2000. He worked in a Salesian mission in Poland before joining the Mongolian mission.

In Mongolia, he first worked for the Don Bosco Technical School in capital Ulaanbaatar that offers vocational courses on auto mechanics, welding, plumbing, design and sewing, office administration and construction. For about two decades, the school has enabled more than 1,000 students, mostly poor school drop-out children, to graduate and find jobs to support their families.

Stories Transform Lives

He has also been involved with a Salesian-run orphanage for street kids in the capital that has been a home for hundreds of poor, abandoned children since 2003.

Brother Gniazdowski now oversees the Salesian mission in Darkhan, Mongolia’s third largest city, where another vocational school for 300 students was set up in 2005.

The school is close to St. Mary, Help of Christians Church. It offers courses for students in a range of useful subjects: computer skills, writing and formatting documents, processing video files, drawing and handicrafts, and foreign languages. Many Mongolians emigrate to China, Japan and Korea for work and settlement, so the courses aim to help them find a good job abroad by teaching conversational English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

Salesians also run a library for local residents and encourage all including children to read books regularly.

In 2020, Brother Gniazdowski celebrated his silver jubilee of consecrated life with his students and confreres in Mongolia.

Mongolian families

On the occasion he also wrote an article supplemented with colorful photographs for Misje Salezjanskie (Salesian Missions), a magazine published by the Mission Office in Polish capital Warsaw. The article, “Mission Mongolia,” offers vivid details about his personal, joyful mission despite various challenges.

A mission of joy, love and hope

Mongolia’s “untouched, pristine nature” has greatly fascinated Brother Gniazdowski.

“When I move away from the metropolitan area, it seems time has stopped ... in places with steppes, animals, birds of prey, vast uninhabited spaces, and piercing wind,” he said.

He notes that Mongolians experience a harsh continental climate. During summer the temperature reaches over 40 degrees Celsius but during winter it drops below minus 40C.

The missionary is also fascinated by the Gobi, the largest desert in Asia, where nomadic tribes are found who move from place to place in search of water and pastures for animals, mainly sheep and goats.

The Gobi also provides a breeding ground for camels and yaks amid the vast steppe landscapes, sands, meadows, rocky areas and the Altai Mountains, a sanctuary for many rare species of animals and plants.

“Apart from extreme weather conditions, one can also come across ruins of Tibetan monasteries, destroyed during the communist period and archaeological excavations in the Gobi. This is where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered,” Brother Gniazdowski noted.

Families and children

In Darkhan, almost every day he meets with poor children who need support.

“Many Mongolian families do not take care of their children and are only interested when the government gives them money. And it’s often the lack of income which causes families to break up. Children suffer the most because they remain on the streets where they steal and are victimized and exploited,” Brother Gniazdowski told Salesians ANS service.

In 2015, the Salesians opened a youth center in the Shuwuu area, which had been lacking a safe, youth-friendly environment for years. Besides running an elementary school for the little ones, a playground sparked huge cheers among hundreds of children who flock to play every day.

Brother Gniazdowski is saddened by the plight of people facing poverty, especially children. He recalled one incident involving a poor boy that made him emotional. He was about to throw away a pair of his sneakers as they were worn out. Suddenly, a kid approached and furtively asked for them.

“The same day I saw the boy playing soccer wearing my old shoes. No one knew they were my worn-out shoes. I told myself: 'I vowed poverty but I see that these are the people who are truly practicing poverty,'” he said.

Care for environment

In recent years, thanks to Pope Francis’ celebrated environmental encyclical, Laudato Si', Brother Gniazdowski has also been involved in agricultural and ecological projects.

Some five kilometers from the Salesian center in Darkhan, he has been looking after a small Salesian farm and nursery.

“During the vacation season and early spring after school, we take students to a farm. There they learn how to learn how to till the soil, sow, plant and care for vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, squash, broccoli,” he said.

Together with students, he also plants various kinds of Mongolian natives, shrubs, trees and flowers.

Many of the young people enjoy learning how to farm, especially during harvest time when they receive the fruits of their work. Crops are sold and the money goes to a special fund set up for children and youth for scholarships or school admission fees.

The students also learn about protecting their environment. They segregate waste and sew shopping bags from fabrics for use instead of plastic bags and packages.

Help for the needy

Like other Salesians, Brother Gniazdowski also finds great joy running the conventional Salesian Oratory, which is a place for learning, playing, prayer and work for children and youth.

“They come and play football, volleyball, table tennis, learn how to ride bicycles and learn the basics of traffic. With the help of volunteers and teachers, they do their homework and receive help in learning foreign languages and in mathematics,” he said.

After classes, children and youth gather for a short prayer. “Many are interested in the Catholic faith, asking questions and seeking solutions to their problems.”

St. Mary, Help of Christians Parish in Darkhan has only 250 Catholics, all ethnic Mongolians. The situation is different in the capital where Catholics hail from various nationalities including Koreans and Filipinos.

Despite their small numbers, Catholics regularly attend church services including Sunday Masses.

The faithful remain committed to church rules and rituals such as sacraments like matrimony. The idea of the indissolubility of marriage is surprising to Mongolians in a country where conjugal infidelity and divorce are common.

Brother Gniazdowski loves the traditions, rituals and hospitality of Mongolians that are influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.

Mongolians celebrate cultural feasts like Cagan Tsar (New Year) and national days such as Naddam (Independence Day) with great enthusiasm. They wear traditional costumes called Deel and families visit relatives, friends and acquaintances for days and traditional food delicacies are served.

The missionary is compassionate about Mongolian families who live in extreme poverty.

“Many of them live on garbage dumps and they look for what can be recycled and still be used. They go around with big bags in which they collect cans, bottles, rags and cardboard and sell them to make a few pennies,” he said.

He is amazed by the incredible modesty and simplicity of people who teach him humility through their poor but peaceful lives.

“I am happy to live and work in Mongolia among people who, in spite of deprivations and difficulties, trust that the next day will be better,” he said.

Mongolia and the Church

Mongolia, a country of some 3.2 million, is a mineral-rich nation but some 28 percent of the population live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Poverty in Mongolia declined steadily after the country parted ways with communism in 1991 and entered a free market economy. Mongolia’s economic success in recent decades is mostly credited to foreign investment linked to vast mineral resources and mining.

The mining industry is a mainstay of the Mongolian economy but is also blamed for an acute water crisis by causing depletion of groundwater and polluting surface water. According to the 2030 Water Resource Group, about 40 percent of Mongolians don’t have proper access to a safe water supply.

More than 50 percent of Mongolians are Buddhists, about 40 percent are non-religious, about 3 percent are Muslims, 2.5 percent are Shamanic and 1.3 percent are Christians, according to a 2020 census.

Catholicism arrived in Mongolia in the 13th century during the Mongol empire but withered away with the end of the Yuan dynasty in 1368. Although missionary activities resumed in the mid-19th century, they ceased to function when a communist regime came to power.

With the fall of communism and emergence of democracy in 1991, Catholic missionaries arrived and rebuilt the Church from the ashes. The Church currently has about 1,200 Catholics in four parishes.

Salesian missionaries, who arrived in Mongolia in 2001, play an important role in the Church’s mission, providing critical support for poor children and families to ensure they have equal opportunities for a better future.

Salesians serve from three mission stations in capital Ulaanbaatar, Shuwuu, about 30 kilometers from the capital, and in Darkhan, some 229 kilometers away.

They run a daycare center and elementary school, centers for street children and disadvantaged youth and two technical schools. A vital service provided by Salesians is a safe water supply point at Shuwuu mission center that provides clean water for hundreds of families every day.

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday that Mongolia had approved its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 for domestic use, becoming the 23rd country to do so globally.

Mongolia granted the vaccine an emergency use authorisation without conducting its own clinical trials. Pharmaceutical firm Mongol Emimpex Concern LLC supported the process, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Two mine shovels of model EKG-12K (430 t, 24 t payload) made by IZ-KARTEX in St Petersburg, part of UZTM-KARTEX group, were recently commissioned at the mining operations of leading copper mine PGS Erdenet Company in Mongolia. The Mongolian mining company procured new Russian machines within the framework of a company development project.

Erdenet is the leading Mongolian state-owned company engaged in mining and processing copper-molybdenum ore. The company is currently upgrading its facilities: total investments for the previous year amounted to about $245 million.

While implementing their investment program, Erdenet has procured four EKG-12K mine shovels from IZ-KARTEX since 2018: the first one has been supplied in 2018, the second in 2019, and two more machines have been commissioned in December 2020. According to B. Otgondava, the manager of the open pit mine owned by Erdenet, the company decided to procure machines made by IZ-KARTEX because these machines are optimally adapted to the conditions of Mongolian mines.

“We are satisfied with the performance of machines made by IZ-KARTEX. These machines are very reliable and user-friendly. We expect the new machines to show high performance level and stable trouble-free operation”, says the Chief Engineer of the open pit mine, D. Ulammandah.

Today Erdenet company is using 11 different models of earth-moving machinery made by IZ-KARTEX. PGS Erdenet Company is one of the largest Asian mining companies and the leading Mongolian company in the field of mining and processing copper-molybdenum ore. In the year 2020 Erdenet reported processing more than 32.5 Mt of ore. Since 2017 the company has spent more than $27 million towards geological survey works, increasing its ore reserves in the deeper part of the deposit and plotting several prospective areas of the deposit of strategic importance.

Bryansk Machine – Building Plant, part of Transmashholding, has delivered two more TEM18DM shunting locomotives to Mongolia for the operation of Ulan – Bator railway network.

The locomotives are part of the contract signed in 2019 with a duration of two years, expected to be completed in 2021. Under the contract, Ulaanbaatar Railway company will receive a total fleet of 24 locomotives, of which 10 TEM18DM diesel locomotives and 14 2TE25KM mainline freight diesel locomotives.

In October, the plant has delivered Ulaanbaatar Railway two esel shunting locomotives.

For Mongolia, the two shunting locomotives were equipped with KVARTZ-M2 audio and video recording system. Bryansk Machine – Building Plant is also responsible for the organisation of training courses for the locomotive maintenance personnel and operator crews.

During the Covid-19 world pandemic, 87 railway specialists from Mongolia finished their coursework and passed the necessary exams online.

TEM18DM locomotives are manufactured since 2008. They are in demand at rail networks as well as at closed industrial yards. Their sales geography and use case portfolio constantly grow.

In 2019, TMH received a certificate for batch production of new modification of TEM18DM locomotive. Its base model can now be supplemented by four additional systems in various combinations to better suit the customer’s needs. A customer can now choose from a total of six modifications of TEM18DM vehicle. One of the available modification allows the operation on the 1435mm-gauge railway network.

The new modifications will widen the area of application and increase work efficiency. To reduce fuel consumption, most modifications will include a start-stop system, which is crucial during winter months. The system manages the machine’s operation mode and thermal utilities without driver’s involvement. It will shut down or launch a machine’s engine automatically, triggered by critically low or high temperatures.

Dehumidification unit for compressed air and electro-pneumatic lines will allow passenger train operation.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On February 9, Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Battsetseg received U.S. Ambassador Michael S. Klecheski to discuss about bilateral relations between Mongolia and the U.S.

After congratulating the Foreign Minister for her appointment, the U.S. Ambassador expressed his content with the wide-ranging relationship between the two countries.

Minister Battsetseg noted the successful development of Mongolia-U.S. strategic partnership and pledged Mongolian government’s willingness to develop cooperation with the U.S. in trade, economic and humanitarian areas. In specific, she highlighted the opportunities for cooperation in increasing chances for Mongolian youth to study English language on the basis of past experience with the Peace Corps. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Peace Corps Mongolia program. Both sides also expressed their delight with mutual support being provided to each other during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the meeting, Minister Battsetseg expressed condolences for the passing of former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, who signed the memorandum on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the U.S. on January 27, 1987, representing the U.S. side.

Mongolia’s government is said to be actively seeking to cancel a deal with Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) governing a $6.75 billion expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in the Gobi Desert, as it looks to replace it with a new agreement.

Rather than acting unilaterally, which would risk future foreign investment projects, local authorities have suggested Rio Tinto to mutually terminate the plan. The end goal, Financial Times reports, is to reach a new agreement more beneficial to Mongolia.

Ulaanbaatar threatened in early January to halt construction at the mine, arguing that delays and higher-than-expected costs had eroded the economic benefits the country had hoped for.

Rio had in 2019 flagged stability risks associated with the original project design, which translated into as much as an additional $1.9 billion cost and a 30-month delay.

The miner confirmed in December the new estimate for the long-awaited underground expansion, adding that production would begin in October 2022.

Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, the Mongolian state-owned company that owns a third of the mine, reacted to the new timeline and budget by saying that Rio had not delivered on its 2015 promises.

Erdenes’ interest in Oyu Tolgoi is technically held through a 34% in a Mongolian company called Oyu Tolgoi LLC. The remaining stake belongs to Canada’s Turquoise Hill Resources (TSX, NYSE: TRQ), which is 50.79% owned by Rio Tinto.

The best scenario for everyone involved in the mine development, which will make Oyu Tolgoi the world’s fourth-largest copper operation once completed, is uncertain.

The Mongolian Parliamentary Working Group, formed in 2019, recommended exploring possibilities for a production sharing agreement and/or replacement of the equity interest with a special royalty.

Multiple issues

Rio and Turquoise Hill are focused on bringing the underground expansion into production, but they have locked horns on the financing aspects. The Canadian miner scored a temporary, but key victory last week, after an arbitration tribunal handling the spat granted the Canadian miner interim relief.

The ruling prevents the mining giant from restricting Turquoise Hill’s talks on funding and other matters with its fellow stakeholders in Oyu Tolgoi.

The miners also have other issues to resolve, including extending an existing power agreement beyond March. The operation is powered by coal-fired electricity imported from neighbouring China via overhead cables.

Then there is a potential restructuring of Oyu Tolgoi’s management team, as well as the need to ratify a 2019 statement of resources and reserves and a feasibility study prepared in 2020.

All these topics need to be addressed before Rio Tinto makes a major mining decision — an undercut — in May.

The technique is part of an extraction method known as block caving. It involves creating an artificial cavern below the ore body, allowing it to progressively collapse under its own weight.

Oyu Tolgoi’s expansion cost blowout to hit up to $1.8 billion

The copper-gold mine is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, about 550 km south of the capital Ulaanbaatar. (Source: Rio Tinto.)

Rio Tinto’s decision will also be affected by the view of its brand-new boss, Jakob Stausholm, who only two weeks ago overhauled the senior leadership team and created two new roles.

The mining giant has repeatedly said the underground expansion is its most important growth project. Once completed, Oyu Tolgoi will churn out 480,000 tonnes of copper a year from 2028 to 2036.

Following the resignation of Prime Minister (PM) Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Mongolia partially redefined its political landscape with the forming of the cabinet of its new, young Prime Minister. On 27 January 2021, the State Great Khural — the Mongolian Parliament — appointed the new Prime Minister. A scandal concerning a COVID-19 patient (involving a mother and her new-born baby’s relocation to a specialist quarantaine facility) had led to major protests and ultimately to the dismissal of PM Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, appointed after the June 2020 parliamentary election. The incident sparked popular protests, topping public dissatisfaction caused by the lack of job opportunities and the vulnerable economic condition of Mongolia. The choice of the new PM fell on Mr Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, who became Mongolia’s 32nd Prime Minister and one of the youngest Prime Ministers currently in office. Notably, he was backed by an 87.9 percent approval rate in the State Great Khural new PM vote.

Who is Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene?

Born in 1980 in Ulaanbaatar, L. Oyun -Erdene holds majors in journalism, law and political sciences and started his political career in 2008 as the Head of the Social Development Department of Bayanzurkh District Governor’s Secretariat. From 2011 to 2012 he served as the Secretary for the Mongolian People’s Party, to become its Acting General Secretary in 2012. In 2015, he completed his MA degree in Public Administration at Harvard University, returning to Mongolia to become a member of Parliament in 2016, serving as Cabinet Secretary from 2017.

Oyun-Erdene belongs to a new generation of Mongolians who are too young to have taken part in the 1990 democratic revolution. Showing a break from those politicians trained under the Soviet Union rule, this new era is opening the door for a new generation of politicians. Deeply policy-focused as he is, L. Oyun-Erdene devoted his time under U. Khurelsukh’s administration to the designing of Mongolia’s Vision 2050. As one of the architects and main promoters of this long-term strategy, he aims to boost Mongolia’s development, establishing a path for the country in fighting climate change, while creating opportunities for sustainable development. Furthermore, with his appointment he introduced a number of new Ministers, blowing somewhat of a new wind through the Mongolian political landscape. On 29 January 29, 2021, L. Oyun-Erdene issued the ordinance for his new cabinet, presenting eight new names to join his administration.

How real is this Generational Turn?

Among the newly appointed members of the cabinet we find Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) S. Amarsaikhan ( a Member of Parliament since 2020). Before taking up his position as DPM, he served as mayor of Ulaanbaatar between 2019 and 2020. Before that he was the CEO of Oyunii-Undraa Group (one of the first private sector companies active in Mongolia’s core economic sectors including Mining, Banking and Finance, ICT and Real Estate). He was also a consular officer at the Mongolian Embassy in China. Besides him, the new Head of Cabinet Secretariat is Tsendiin Nyamdorj, lawmaker since 1981 and an important figure in the Mongolian Political landscape.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is now led by N. Urtnasan (Class of 1975). She graduated in journalism from the National University of Mongolia and later on specialised in environmental journalism in Japan and Germany. She worked as an editor and reporter for the Mongolian National Broadcaster, where she was in charge of environment and responsible mining. Furthermore, she has also been CEO for Uni Solar LLC and New World Television.

The new Minister of Finance is lawmaker Boldyn Javkhlan (Class of 1975) who worked as Deputy Vice President of the Bank of Mongolia, resigning to enter Parliament in 2016. In addition, Minister Batmönkhiin Battsetseg is the New Minister of Foreign Affairs, while the new Minister of Culture is Chinbatyn Nomin (Class of 1983) who studied Economics and Accounting at the Universities of Cambridge, East Anglia and Harvard and has been CEO of Mongol HD TV since 2011. The appointed Minister of Health is S. Enkhbold and the Minister of Education and Science is MP L. Enkh-Amgalan, elected lawmaker in 2012 who served as secretary of the Montsame Agency. Meanwhile, the reappointed members include the Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs Khishgeegiin Nyambaatar, Minister of Labour and Social Protection Ayuushiin Ariunzaya, Minister of Construction and Urban Development Begjavyn Munkhbaatar, Minister of Defence Gürsediin Saikhanbayar, Minister of Road and Transport Development Luvsangiin Khaltar, Minister Mining and Heavy Industry Gelengiin Yondon, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Zagdjavyn Mendsaikhan and Minister of Energy Nansalyn Tavinbekh.

By re-appointing most of the previous administration’s Cabinet members, bearing on their expertise, the new Prime Minister made a clear statement by prioritising stability over new faces, especially in times of crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Noteworthy, many of the ministers pursued their studies overseas. There are also three newly appointed women among the members of Cabinet — Minister B. Battsetseg, Minister Ch. Nomin and Minister Urtnasan — totalling four female ministers with A. Ariunzaya, who was re-appointed from the previous administration.

The inclusion of such a share of women at the highest decision-making level marks a first for the Mongolian Government. Also, the new Minister of Health S. Enkhbold counts as an interesting choice, having served as the Director of the State Central Hospital since 2009. Other noteworthy appointments are the Foreign Affairs Minister and the new head of Cabinet. The New Minister in charge of the Foreign Office, Minister B. Battsetseg (Class of 1973) holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Mongolian National University and a second one in Business Administration from the University of Finance and Economics in Ulaanbaatar. In addition, she holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Her appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs springs from her notable experience in the diplomatic field, having served as the Head of Foreign Relations and Cooperation Department of the MPP from 2010 to 2012, and more recently as Mongolia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2016 and 2020.

The Cabinet assumes a generational mix, with seven members belonging to the generation born between 1975 and 1985, with Minister Ch. Nomin being the youngest in office. Notably, this generation was too young to have taken part in the democratic revolution of thirty years ago. The other appointed Cabinet members being slightly older, the new head of Cabinet can be considered the most senior one and a scholar of an older class of Politicians. Head of Cabinet Ts. Nyamdorj, (Class of 1956) is one of the most eminent Mongolian political personalities. After graduating from Leningrad State University in 1981 he became a lawyer, serving as prosecutor and later becoming the unit and department head of the State General Prosecution Office between 1981 and 1988. Between 1992 and 2020 he was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament, and from 1998 to 1999 he acted as the Head of Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (the previous name of the MPP) group in Parliament. Additionally, he served as Minister of Justice during three terms (2000-2004, 2008-2012, and 2017-2020). In recent years he was featured in the news for his role in the Parliamentary standing committees for the investigation on the privatisation of Erdenet.

One can observe a certain sense of continuity between the L. Oyun-Erdene cabinet and the previous one under U. Khurelsukh. While a new cabinet does not necessarily represent a drastic generational turn, it embodies how Mongolia’s political landscape is changing. A younger, highly educated abroad political class is ready to take over, starting to cover leading roles in further developing the country. For the current cabinet the sense of continuity is the most desired outcome for an MPP that wishes to maintain the priorities set by the Khurelsukh’s administration, especially with regard to mining and oil refinery projects. With the ongoing pandemic and the recent approval of Mongolia’s Vision2050, it seems that the new cabinet’s priorities will be accompanied by a significant integration of new policies.

Political Priorities

With the new PM as the main designer and promoter of Vision 2050, the strategy will form the core of the next Mongolian administration. The plan marks a turn in Mongolia’s policy-making and development strategy alike. Prior to 1990, the country’s development model was directly inherited from the Soviet Union, while after 1992 it followed a Western model without an adequate adaptation to the characteristics and specific needs of the country. The 2050 strategy will accompany Mongolia for the next 30 years, but the first medium-term action plan has already been set in motion. From the Action Plan strategy for 2021-2030 the main areas of interest lie in Education, Human, Digital, Scientific and Green development, with Health playing an important role.

One of the effects of the Pandemic was the creation of the E-Mongolia platform, offering a range of online government services for citizens during the pandemic. The platform serves as a basis for the development of a strong and efficient e-governance strategy and will continue to be developed by diversifying the services it offers. It is possible that the development of an efficient e-government strategy could prove useful for another priority of the administration: the fight against political corruption. For Mongolia’s human development the protagonist will be the middle class, a group that the government wishes to enlarge, thereby reducing economic, social and geographical gaps between its citizens. It is important to note the emphasis on Green development depicted in the Vision. Mongolia, like many other countries in the region, displayed a strategy aimed at reducing emissions, pollution and the country’s climate impact, as well as fostering sustainable development. While this aspect will certainly have effects on the urban and rural development of the country. It also touches upon another important aspect of the recent events that occurred. Reading the document for Approval of the Action Plan of the Government of Mongolia for 2020-2024 for instance, it is the interest related to mining infrastructures that captures the eye. One of the main goals inherited from the previous administration is to create a sustainable and multi-pillar economic structure and implement the principle of fair distribution of wealth by developing transparent and responsible mining and value-added industry and ensuring the growth of mineral revenues. This aim will bring back attention to both the Oyu Tolgoi mining project involving Rio-Tinto, and the Erdenet mining corporation ownership that until now saw in the newly appointed Cabinet Secretariat Ts. Nyamdorj one of the main protagonists in the investigation occurred for its privatisation. While the Cabinet was approved only recently, it will be worthwhile to see which direction the country will take in the next couple of years.

PM L. Oyun-Erdene summarised the action plan that his cabinet will follow in 4 main key objectives: to overcome the Pandemic within a short time, to recover the economy of the country, strengthening and supporting the middle class and improving justice and online governance. The key challenges awaiting the new cabinet are connected to the need to improve infrastructures and transportation throughout the country to ease the exporting sector of Mongolia. Two related important projects in act right now are the two railways that will connect Tavan Tolgoi with Gashuunsukhait and with Zuunbayan.

Another sector in which Mongolia hopes to become more competitive is the touristic one. The Tourism sector will be among the sectors required to recover after the pandemic, once the people will be allowed to travel again and airways will be reopened. Mongolia is one of the most scenographic countries in the world holding a great potential as a tourist destination. Current problems the tourism industry faces in the country are connected to logistical strategies, which the new cabinet aims at solving with an efficient digitalisation of the tourism sector, including e-embassy services, e-visas and better infrastructure. Income inequality is also a challenge the Cabinet will have to face, especially with regard to the goal of boosting the country’s middle class. Education, Sustainability and Digitalisation are the core of the Cabinet’s goal and are emphasised in Vision 2050. The first challenge remains a complete and successful recovery from the Pandemic that, despite the contagion itself being successfully contained, has had a long-lasting effect on the population’s psychological health, economic and social well-being.

Fighting the Pandemic together: New Opportunities for EU-Mongolia Cooperation

With hopes of the end of the Pandemic approaching, it is important for the EU to recognise the opportunities of the turn Mongolia is taking. In 2021, the EU and Mongolia started launching a number of new projects prioritising the protection of vulnerable population categories. The first one (Recovering Together) is an 18-months project launched in cooperation with World Vision, implemented in Ulaanbaatar and the provinces of Uvurkhangai and Bayan-Ulgii. It is targeted at protecting vulnerable households from the effect of Covid-19, thereby limiting the effects on health, nutrition, and livelihood. The second one, with a duration of 15 months will target children and their right to access to justice during the pandemic.

Lockdown measures have had several effects on households, including an increase of domestic and gender-based violence and violence on children. Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 by “Increasing Children’s Access to Justice in Mongolia” was launched in partnership with the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO). The project aims at helping their social recovery related to crimes against children. Visibly, the new year and the instalment of the new Cabinet has brought new cooperation opportunities between the EU and Mongolia, especially in view of Vision 2050, as well as a chance to develop a common response to the many effects of the pandemic and a lasting cooperation to face its aftermath. The question is how this opportunity will be seized.

Author: Alessandra Tamponi, Junior Researcher

Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 2,120 in Mongolia on Tuesday after 47 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours, according to a release from the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases.

Meanwhile, 53 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the nationwide recoveries to 1,546, according to the center.

The Asian country has recorded four COVID-19-related deaths since it confirmed its first COVID-19 case in March 2020. Enditem

TORONTO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Mongolia wants more tax revenueunder a revised deal to expand Rio Tinto's OyuTolgoi copper-gold mine rather than a larger ownership stake inthe project, a person with direct knowledge of the government'sthinking told Reuters on Monday, as the two sides bid to resolvea long-running standoff over the development.

On Sunday, the Financial Times reported Ulaanbaatar isseeking agreement with Rio to terminate a deal to expand themine and replace it with a new pact that offers better terms.

“We obviously would like to have more tax revenues," theperson said, declining to be identified owing to the sensitivityof the issue.

The mine is one of the world's largest-known copper and golddeposits. The government holds a 34% stake in the $6.75 billionproject, while Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill ownsthe rest.

Ulaanbaatar has previously told Rio it was concerned thatthe economic benefits of developing the mine have been erodeddue to the significant increase in costs.

Under current plans, Ulaanbaatar won't receive dividendsuntil 2051 while Oyu Tolgoi won't pay "meaningful" corporateincome tax, the person said. "That's really concerning."

Rio did not immediately return a request for comment.

The miner on its website says Oyu Tolgoi has paid thegovernment more than $2.7 billion in taxes, fees and otherpayments since 2010.

The source said government representatives met last weekwith Bold Baatar, a Mongolian national whose recent appointmentas head of Rio's copper operations is widely seen as an attemptto improve government relations and make progress in talks onthe project.

Baatar has vowed to discuss the plans with the newgovernment and work towards a resolution.

The underground expansion will push annual production tonearly 500,000 tonnes per year, making it among the world’sbiggest copper mines.(Reporting by Jeff Lewis; Editing by Mark Potter and ChizuNomiyama)

Mongolia's government is seeking an agreement from miner Rio Tinto to terminate a deal to expand the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in the Gobi Desert, the Financial Times says, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

The government has asked the Anglo-Australian mining giant whether it was prepared to mutually terminate the expansion plan, rather than acting unilaterally and risking future foreign investment, the FT reported.

Rio Tinto declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

The mine is one of the world's largest-known copper and gold deposits. The government holds a 34 per cent stake in the $US6.75 billion project, while Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill owns the remainder.

The underground mine expansion has been severely delayed by a dispute over funding as the Mongolian government seeks a bigger portion of the profits, even as costs have ballooned due to difficult geology.

Ulaanbaatar has previously told the miner it was concerned that the economic benefits of developing the mine have been eroded due to the significant increase in costs.

The recent appointment of Mongolian national, Bold Baatar, as Rio's chief executive of copper operations, is widely seen as an attempt by the miner to improve its relationship with the government and progress talks on the project.

Baatar has vowed to discuss the plans with the new government and work towards a resolution.

Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai took over as the Mongolian prime minister in late-January, after protests in the capital over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the resignation of his predecessor.