The Mongolian cabinet approved a resolution in April to dismiss all civil servants, especially high government officials and directors of state- owned enterprises from their jobs if they are caught gambling in foreign casinos. Gambling is now officially considered as an impropriety.

Siberian fuel and energy company (SITEK) was the shipper of the cargo. The buyer was the Mongolian company UB Metan. The LNG will be used as motor fuel on public transport in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. In total, according to the buyer, the demand for LNG in Mongolia in 2020 can reach 8,000 tons (equivalent to 11 mcm of natural gas).

“It is pleasant that Mongolia has now joined the list of the countries where Russian gas is delivered. The use of natural gas on transport is one of the most promising factors of gas consumption growth. I am sure that the residents of Ulaanbaatar will appreciate the environmental benefits of LNG as motor fuel, " said Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Director General of Gazprom Export Elena Burmistrova.

“Since 2017, UB Metan has been successfully developing the use of natural gas on the Mongolian market. We are the first and only company in the country that imports natural gas and refuels vehicles. In cooperation with Gazprom Export and SITEK, we delivered LNG from Russia to Mongolia by rail in our own tank containers for the first time. This is a significant event not only for our company, but for the economic cooperation of our countries as well. We are focused on expanding this cooperation, " said the Director of UB Metan Bold Basjargal.

“The LNG demand on the Mongolian market is rapidly growing. The new LNG export route created by Gazprom Export and SITEK for the first time brings Russian gas to new markets via railway transport, allows to involve Russian railways and to increase the demand for cryocontainers produced in Russia, " said Director General of SITEK Georgy Trofimov.

The pilot succeeded in linking each phase of the supply chain from mine to original equipment manufacturer (OEM), RSBN said in a media statement.

Built on the IBM Blockchain Platform and assured by RCS Global Group, RSBN will have continued participation from founding members including Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen Group, LG Chem and Huayou Cobalt.

RSBN also announced that starting Wednesday, Volvo Cars will join the network as its newest member with further partners from the auto, tech and mining sectors expected to join this year.

RSBN and its participants are building an open, industrywide blockchain platform to trace responsibly produced minerals from source through to end product, with RCS Global assessing each participating entity against responsible sourcing requirements set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and industry bodies.

“We are setting in motion a process of mainstreaming responsible sourcing practices across major industries,” said Dr. Nicholas Garrett, CEO of RCS Global Group. “We’ve reached significant new milestones as we’ve moved beyond testing, proving the merits of this coupled technology and assurance model can extend to a wide range of participants across every tier of the supply chain and to other minerals.”

In initial testing, the RSBN blockchain demonstrated how cobalt produced at Huayou’s industrial mine site in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be traced through the supply chain to LG Chem’s cathode and battery plant in South Korea, and then to its final destination, a Ford plant in the United States.

An immutable audit trail captured on the platform delivered corresponding data providing documentation for the initial ethical cobalt production, its maintenance and its ethical provenance from mine to end manufacturer.

The next move is expansion into other battery metals, including lithium and nickel, the platform is also actively working to progress the solution to support tracing other common metals including tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, also known as 3TG. Further announcements will be made over the initial pilot consortiums in the additional raw materials.

The main objective of this Doing Business with Mongolia Guide is to provide you with basic knowledge about Mongolia; an overview of its economy, business culture, potential opportunities and to identify the main issues associated with initial research, market entry, risk management and cultural and language issues. We do not pretend to provide all the answers in the guide, but novice exporters in particular will find it a useful starting point. Further assistance is available from the Department for International Trade (DIT) team in Mongolia. Full contact details are available in the guide.

To help your business succeed in Mongolia we have carefully selected a variety of essential service providers as ‘Market Experts’; 4u Mongolian Company Formation LLC, Cashmere Holdings Mongolia, IARUDI Financial Consultancy TMZ LLC, Mongolian Business Database/B2B Mongolia, The English School of Mongolia, Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia (TDB) LLC.

The guide has been produced by International Market Advisor, in partnership with the Institute of Export & International Trade, and with support from the British Embassy Ulaanbaatar and Mongolian British Chamber of Commerce (MBCC).

Five things to know about exporting to Mongolia:

• Since 1991, Mongolia has transformed into a vibrant parliamentary democracy, with rule of law and a free, lively media, three times the level of GDP per capita and vast agricultural and mineral resources including major deposits of coal, gold, copper, iron ore and uranium.

• The Mongolian Government is keen to develop its industry, and there are opportunities for UK companies in many areas, such as the mining and oil and gas industries, the supply of equipment and expertise, financing, and other professional, legal and consulting services.

• Mongolia has a younger generation with an increasing number of English language speakers who are open to new products, services, and ideas.

• China provides a ready market for much of Mongolia’s mineral exports as there are no duties, and with no taxes on exports, Mongolia can serve as a gateway to nearby markets provided you have a Mongolian partner or are part of a joint venture.

• Mongolia's GDP growth rate increased from 1.2% in 2016 to 5.3% in 2017 and 6.9% in 2018 and the outlook remains positive in 2019, with the IMF having now raised its projections for Mongolian economic growth for 2019 from 1.5% to 1.8%. Supported by robust growth in private consumption as well as private investment in mining and manufacturing. The country is expected to be one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in the next few decades.

Please contact at contact@mongolianbusinessdatabase.com for the printed copy

Within a tender ‘Improving air quality’ announced by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the company has introduced the gas heating system produced by Rinnai Corporation of Japan in the school and kindergarten No.129, which is located in Bayankhoshuu, from September this year.

Rinnai Corporation is internationally recognized company with its installation of gas heating equipment and devices. Hiroyasu Naito, Executive President of Rinnai Corporation and Kokichi Kusakawa, Executive Director of ‘Kusakawa Kogyo’ Company that is responsible for the assembly and installation, arrived in Mongolia to be acquainted with introduction of the system on the site. They expressed satisfaction with the progress of the work.

Mr. Hiroyasu Naito said “Our corporation is marking its 100th anniversary this year and there was no accident caused by our equipment in this period. This is a guarantee of our work. Most importantly, I am happy with Mongolian and Japanese engineers are jointly implementing the work and creating clean and warm environment and condition for children and citizens of Ulaanbaatar city.” Since the gas heating equipment of Rinnai Company based on smart system, they are energy efficient and productive, he noted.

Director of the school No.129 G.Bat-Otgon said that we used to spend MNT 80-90 million annually to consume 460-480 tons of coal. Apart from saving money and labor force, it is crucial that the children and parents are living in smokeless environment.

Giving a brief information on the development of the 414.6 km railway from Tavan Tolgoi deposits to Zuunbayan, Minister B.Enkh-Amgalan mentioned about his meeting with Oleg Belozyorov, President of the Russian Railways during his working trip to Moscow, Russia.

At the meeting, Mr. Sergey Pavlov put forward a work proposal of the Russian Railways to take part in the railway construction of Tavan Tolgoi-Zuunbayan by developing bridge and pipeline crossing design works and implementing upper structure management strategy in cooperation with the Ulaanbaatar Railways Mongolian-Russian joint stock company. In turn, Minister B.Enkh-Amgalan noted that the partnership of the Ulaanbaatar Railways and Russian Railways on the given project will contribute to the human resource capacity building of the Mongolian railway sector.

The Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry authorized its Chinese representative to set up a business management company in the district, selling some 10 varieties of products including cashmere sweaters, leather bags, beer, sea buckthorn juice and rapeseed oil.

An exhibitor from the Republic of Mongolia is presented with the first business license at the China International Import Expo.

These products are the most representative commodities of Mongolia, said Dashnyam Gerelmaa, director of the chamber which comprises 10 Mongolian companies.

The company will become a window to showcase commodities from the Republic of Mongolia, she said.

The Qingpu District Administration for Market Regulation said authorities had started collecting registrations from exhibitors before the expo opened.

An exhibitor from the Republic of Mongolia with the first business license granted at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

The company's registration material was submitted on Tuesday morning to authorities at an enterprise service area set up by market watchdogs at the expo venue, and the business license was issued in the afternoon.

The company's products will be shown at the expo’s regular display and trade platform, officials said.

The completion is a significant milestone that will speed up underground development work at the mine site.

The mine is now moving towards the process of final commissioning.

According to Rio Tinto, Shaft 2 is a 10m diameter shaft sunk to approximately 1.3km below the surface.

It allows the mine to transport 300 people per cage cycle versus a maximum of 60 people per cage cycle through Shaft 1.

Rio Tinto noted that the 48t capacity cage in Shaft 2 can now be used to support logistics and transport supplies and other components for the mine development.

Oyu Tolgoi is jointly owned by the Government of Mongolia (34%) and Turquoise Hill Resources (66%). Out of this 66% share, Rio Tinto owns 51% in the project.

Rio Tinto Growth & Innovation group executive Stephen McIntosh said: “This is an important milestone because Shaft 2 significantly improves overall productivity of the underground development and allows us to move more material, equipment and people between the surface and underground.

“We have made very good progress in the past few months and completing Shaft 2 provides additional momentum as we move towards a definitive estimate for the development of this world-class ore-body in the second half of 2020.”

In January, the Government of Mongolia and Rio Tinto signed a framework agreement for the supply of electricity to an extension of the copper mine at the Oyu Tolgoi project by mid-2023.