Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved the release of $60 million as second tranche of a program to improve the air quality and health in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

The policy-based program loan of $160 million for the Ulaanbaatar Air Quality Improvement Program (Phase 2) was approved in December 2019, with the first tranche of $100 million released that month.

The program set out to improve the efficiency of the Government of Mongolia’s National Program for Reducing Air and Environmental Pollution 2017–2025 and the government’s regulatory framework on air quality management. It also implemented urgent measures to reduce air pollution and protect human health in Ulaanbaatar and establish mechanisms for environmentally sound and integrated urban, energy, and transport systems in the capital city and nationwide.

“The government has demonstrated strong ownership and a sense of appreciation of the program benefits and the further work required to green the energy sector,” said ADB Environmental Economist Annabelle C. Giorgetti. “The second tranche follows sustainable long-term measures taken for clean heating supply and accompanying policy reforms. Many of the program reforms are entrenched in state legislation and will be further supported and enhanced under an ongoing ADB technical assistance.”

The program was highly relevant and timely during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which saw social, health, and economic conditions deteriorate for people around the world. There is scientific evidence that people living in areas with higher levels of air pollution face a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and of experiencing more severe symptoms if they do contract the virus.

The program builds on reforms initiated in the Ulaanbaatar Air Quality Improvement Program (Phase 1), a $130 million loan approved in March 2018 that helped improve air quality management efforts and enacted measures to cut pollution and protect health.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Source: ADB

Mongolia has taken the unusual step of congratulating Azerbaijan on its victory over Armenia in the recent war, seemingly stepping up its efforts to strengthen relations with Turkey.

Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in September and the war continued until early November, when Russian President Vladimir Putin convinced both sides to accept a ceasefire. Some sporadic fighting has continued despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers.

Azerbaijan is considered to have clearly won the war, as Armenia ceded all the territory it lost plus other areas that it has held since 1994.

International media have reported that Turkey supplied, trained and supported Azerbaijani troops, with further reports suggesting that Turkish soldiers even guided drone attacks (which Turkey denies).

Although Russia preserved some influence in the region through the peace deal and the presence of its soldiers on the ground, Azerbaijan’s victory shows the growing extent of Turkish influence in the region.

This may be why Mongolia’s Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan Bold Radvan met with the Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov late last week.

In a statement, the Azerbaijani ministry said that the Mongolian ambassador “conveyed his congratulations on the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from Armenian occupation and restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.”

In the meeting, the ambassador also “drew attention to the development of relations between the two countries in various areas in recent years and expressed confidence that the bilateral relations will continue at a high level.”

The focus of the meeting appeared to be on bringing Azerbaijani expertise on oil and gas exploration and processing to Mongolia, as well as cooperating on renewable energy and international student placements.

Nonetheless, Mongolia’s congratulatory note over the war will no doubt be the main takeaway.

It could be seen as an effort to woo Turkey under the ‘Third Neighbour’ foreign policy, which is Mongolia’s strategy to improve relations with countries other than Russia in order to counter-balance China.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was outspoken in his support for Azerbaijan during the war, meaning Mongolia’s congratulations will not go unnoticed in Turkey and could open doors that may previously have been closed.

Turkey is a strong candidate for Mongolia’s ‘Third Neighbour’ policy thanks to long-standing diplomatic, educational and cultural ties: Turkey has had diplomatic relations with Mongolia since 1969 and has signed a number of bilateral agreements; Mongolia’s Orkhon Monuments are the some of the oldest Turkic-language inscriptions in existence and relate to the mythic origins of Turkic peoples; and thousands of Mongolian students have graduated from Turkish universities.

However, improving the relationship may not be entirely risk-free. Russia and Turkey have had disputes in the past and the war over Nagorno-Karabakh was seen as a test of both countries’ influence in the Caucuses. In seeking to improve relations with Turkey, there is a risk that Mongolia might draw the ire of Moscow, particularly if the Russo-Turkish relationship deteriorates.

Yet Russia is also a realist power. It appeared to recognise the inevitability of Azerbaijan’s victory and did not support Armenia in the war despite their mutual defence treaty. Perhaps Russia’s pragmatism is one reason why Mongolia was able to congratulate Azerbaijan - it’s a move that is unlikely to come with any significant cost, but could bring strategic benefits well into the future.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2020) - Steppe Gold Ltd. (TSX: STGO) ("Steppe Gold" or the "Company") is extremely pleased to announce its plans for a secondary listing of its common shares on the Mongolian Stock Exchange ("MSE").

The Company has retained Ard Securities as its lead advisor and underwriter in connection with the proposed listing. It plans to complete the listing in conjunction with a placement of shares to Mongolian investors, subject to regulatory approvals, on or before April 2021.

Bataa Tumur-Ochir, Steppe Gold, President and CEO, commented, "Steppe Gold quickly positioned itself as Mongolia's leading gold producer and we are excited to attract more Mongolian retail investors and institutions in the growth of our exciting and growing portfolio of precious metal assets. Steppe Gold already has over 20% of its shares owned by Mongolian investors and, with this move, we are reaffirming our commitment to enable more Mongolians to share in the success of Steppe Gold. Steppe Gold has built a strong reputation for community engagement and support, job creation and responsible mining already, and this proposed listing is aligned with our goal to create a national champion in precious metals, and an important contributor to Mongolia's economic success. Ard Securities is Mongolia's leading brokerage and financial advisory company, and we are looking forward to working with them on our secondary listing."

Amarbayasgalan Enhsayhan, Executive Chairman of Ard Securities and Head of Investment Banking at its parent, Ard Financial Group, noted, "We are delighted to be working with Steppe Gold on the dual listing of its shares on the MSE. We are witnessing an increased interest from Mongolia's growing retail investor base and they are excited to participate in the success of a home-grown mining company with a demonstrated success story. Mongolia is a proud mining country and Steppe Gold has quickly established itself as a great example of responsible mining and job generation in this high growth sector. We want to make this deal a case study for listing in this tough environment."

Proceeds of this placement will be used for Phase 2 expansion at the Company's ATO Gold Mine.

About Ard Securities:

Ard Securities is a fully licensed Mongolian investment advisory firm that offers brokerage and financial advisory services. Ard Securities has led the market with 40 percent secondary trading volume on MSE in the past two years. Its parent, Ard Financial Group leads the Investor Nation initiative which aims to increase access to capital markets to ordinary Mongolians.

In 2020, Ard Securities has successfully underwritten and closed the funding for the country's first ever closed-end fund on MSE, National Privatization Fund, bringing the total listed companies managed by the Group to 5: Ard Financial Group JSC, Ard Insurance JSC, Ard Credit NBFI JSC, Mongol Post JSC, National Privatization Fund.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolia needs more selective infrastructure investments that target key value chains in order to drive growth, lower costs, and boost the competitiveness of the country’s economy, according to a new World Bank report released today.

The report, Infrastructure for Connectivity and Economic Diversification, analyzes Mongolia’s infrastructure needs and investment priorities in the context of the country’s geospatial characteristics, fiscal challenges, and the government’s economic diversification agenda. It focuses on five key value chains that are likely to generate the greatest demand for infrastructure services: the livestock industry, value added mining, tourism, renewable energy, and digital services.The focus on these selected value chains does not imply, however, that other sectors should be neglected; it means that these areas are likely to generate the scale of demand for infrastructure services to shape national investment decisions.

“Infrastructure is the backbone of Mongolia’s economy, yet a ‘build and they will come’ approach would limit economic returns on investments. Instead, infrastructure investments should be prioritized to unlock new drivers of growth,” said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. “In addition to the mining sector, which has so far been the predominant driver of economic growth, priority should be given to unleashing growth potential in the livestock, tourism, digital services, and the renewable energy sectors.”

Mongolia’s population is small relative to the country’s size, limiting the range of economic activities in which it has a comparative advantage. The report finds that targeted investments in meat and iron beneficiation infrastructure have the highest potential to accelerate growth and reduce the country’s logistics cost, which stands at a high of 30 percent of GDP.

To improve the meat value chain, the report suggests establishing a network of strategic hubs in Ulaanbaatar and eight provinces with the highest concentration of meat and milk production. Priority should be given to upgrading key parts of the 4,300 kilometers of roads connecting these strategic hubs. Concentrating services in these hubs would reduce waste, ensure unbroken cold storage chains, and add value through ancillary services.

The report argues that improving urban mobility in the capital city will be crucial to promoting tourism and other services. Improvements in urban mobility should focus on construction, maintenance, and operations of Ulaanbaatar’s 1,190-kilometer road network.

As the country enjoys a strong backbone of digital infrastructure, the report suggests that priority in this area should be given to strengthening gaps in internet capacity and access, improving last-mile connectivity, and expanding 4G connectivity in rural areas.

In the mining sector, selective infrastructure investments can unlock the latent potential of several mineral value chains. For instance, supplying power to the mines, which currently only get 44 percent of their power supply from the grid, with the remainder coming from auto-generation or imports. This offers a major opportunity for a large revenue base of creditworthy, long-term power customers.

Similarly, privately financed mining projects could contribute to building shared railway infrastructure that is open to multiple uses and users, according to the report. Given limitations in public budget for infrastructure, Mongolia must leverage more private financing for developing needed infrastructure by improving the regulatory framework and investment climate. Efforts should be prioritized on turning the concessions list of projects into a market-facing credible list of well-prepared projects, which would help the government redirect its focus to priority projects and pique investor interest.

Finally, efforts must be made to develop Mongolia’s institutional infrastructure for the selection, planning, and implementation of infrastructure projects. The report recommends establishing a central unit to better manage highly fragmented investments and lack of coordination among agencies.

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/mongolia

Source: World Bank

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Following the Cabinet’s irregular meeting held today at noon, Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh presented the decisions made at the meeting.

The Cabinet decided that the government will pay utility bills (electricity, heat, water, and waste bills) of households and some enterprises for seven months with MNT 650 billion funding from Erdenet Mining Corporation. Specifically, from December 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021, the government of Mongolia will be responsible for the electricity, heat, water, and waste bills of enterprises except budget-funded entities, state-owned enterprises, mining extraction and processing facilities, banks, non-bank financial institutions, entities engaged in cryptocurrency activities, petroleum importers and sellers, telecommunications service providers, alcohol and cigarette manufacturers, and ferrous and nonferrous metal and concrete producers.

Moreover, it was decided to exempt every household in Mongolia from electricity, water, and waste bills and the ones living in apartments of up to 100 square meters from heat bills from December 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021 and increase the discount rate of refined coal from 50 percent to 75 percent with MNT 69 billion funding from Erdenes Tavantolgoi JSC. A household living in a home of 120 square meters, for example will have to pay the heat bills for the 20 square meters by themselves.

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. In the first 11 months of 2020, securities worth of MNT 39.6 billion were traded at the national stock market, which is decreased by MNT 117.1 billion (74.7%) compared to the same period of the previous year.

In November 2020, 17.2 million pieces of securities worth MNT 1.9 billion were traded at the national stock market, which is decreased by MNT 18.1 billion (90.7%), while the traded amount increased by 5.3 million (45.2%) pieces of securities compared to the same period of the previous year. The total worth of traded securities decreased by MNT 1.0 billion (35.9%), and traded securities decreased by 8.9 million pieces (34.2%) from the previous month.

In November 2020, the average of indices of the top 20 financial markets was 17541.3 units, increased by 83.2 units from the previous month, but decreased by 1064.0 units from the same period of 2019.

In November 2020, the total value of joint-stock companies operating at stock markets reached MNT 2.6 trillion, increased by MNT 32.8 billion (1.3%) from the previous month and increased by MNT 66.4 billion (2.6%) from the same period of the previous year.

Source: National Statistics Office

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The national currency in circulation reached MNT 947.7 billion at the end of November 2020, decreased by MNT 12.1 billion (1.3%) from the previous month, but increased by MNT 87.5 billion (10.2%) from the same period of the previous year.

At the end of November 2020, the time deposit in domestic currency was MNT 12.4 trillion, increased by MNT 330.5 billion (2.7%) from the previous month, and increased by MNT 1.7 trillion (15.7%) from the same period of the previous year.

In the total time deposit in domestic currency, 89.5% (MNT 11.1 trillion) were deposits of individuals and 10.5% (MNT 1.3 trillion) were deposits of enterprises.

The time deposits in foreign currency was MNT 4.8 trillion, decreased by MNT 82.4 billion (1.7%) from the previous month, but increased by MNT 1.5 trillion (46.0%) from the same period of the previous year.

Source: National Statistics Office

Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Emmanuel Macron for initiating and organizing this summit in these difficult times of global pandemic.

As the pandemic is sweeping all over the world, there is a need to call more attention to climate change and take decisive and strong action to mitigate its negative impacts.

Developing solutions to combat and overcome climate change is the most pressing issue for Mongolia owing to its harsh continental weather and nomadic pastoralism.

Therefore, the Government of Mongolia approved its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which incorporates targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions identifying risks of all the sectors of the economy and all the walks of life and submitted the NDC to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In this document, the mitigation target was re-calculated from 14% to 22.7% in total national greenhouse emissions. Moreover, it is my great pleasure to announce that it is possible to further increase our commitment to 27.2%.

Mongolia developed a specific action plan to achieve its “determined contribution” target and is planning to carry out concrete measures. The implementation of some measures has been started given the time constraints. Namely, all the feasibility studies on the construction of a 1,000 km irrigation pipeline to the Gobi region, which is under threat of rapid desertification due to climate change, have been completed and it is ready to start the construction.

We, Mongols, are ready to mobilize all our resources because efforts and diligence from the whole of humanity is crucial to save Mother Earth, slow the pace of global warming and combat adverse effects of climate change.

Thank you for your attention.

Mongolia welcomes all investors, businesses, buyers and partners to join in the Webinar named “Investing in Mongolia’s Productive Agribusiness Sector” and pre-scheduled B2B meetings on 15-16 December 2020.

 The Webinar is –– Your opportunity to understand more about key investment agribusiness opportunities – including meat, dairy, leather and cashmere – as well as the processes and incentives for investing in Mongolia. 15 December 2020 / 14:00-15:30 ULAT

 The Webinar will follow the B2B Meeting (15-16 December 2020) – will give you the opportunity to explore more about the Mongolian prospective investment seeking projects such as

 Cashmere & textile,

 Leather,

 Industrial and Agricultural Parks,

 Food & Beverages (honey, meat, milk, oil plant, water),

 Animal Husbandry

 Fishery

 Health (beauty)

 Others (construction & brokerage)

Please pre-schedule your meeting time with Mongolian investment seeking project owners through https://www.expomongolia.org/12/b2b

“Export Mongolia 2020” International virtual forum & exhibition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Miw8VoRDfvI&feature=youtu.be

Guideline to register to the webinar and B2B meetings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww5iG1Z5Gwo&feature=youtu.be

Register here www.exportmongolia.org.

The Emergency Commission of Ulaanbaatar City has decided to lift the bans on the sale and consumption bans of alcoholic beverages. The relaxation comes into force from Monday (14 December); on the same day, the public emergency situation will be partially relaxed. Therefore, the residents of Ulaanbaatar can enjoy beers and wines; however, strong alcoholic beverages such as vodka and whisky remain banned.

With the lifting of the ban, supermarkets, minimarts, cafes, restaurants, hypermarkets and food markets will re-open from 07:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.

During the period of the alcohol ban, four people died of alcohol poisoning after drinking technical spirit.