Stabilizing price of AI-92 gasoline, which is commonly used by the citizens, has significance to back up economic growth and avoid price increase in other goods. Furthermore, for the first time, Mongolia will introduce a mechanism to stabilize price of imported petroleum in consistent with world market.

In its Action Program for 2016-2020, the Government set a goal to ease price burden as making fuel price coherent with world market price. No additional financing will be required from state budget to make this coordination and changes will not be made in any agreements that were concluded with foreign countries by oil- importing companies.

The report says the number of license that was revoked or expired in last November reached 19, and 16 of which were exploration licenses. Three mining licenses were issued on three mining fields, including two licenses for ‘Gobicoal and Energy’ company in Bayankhongor aimag and one license for ‘Shine Mongol License’ in Umnugobi aimag.

Bloomberg Mongolia reports that there are currently active exploration permits issued on around 3.8 percent of territory of Mongolia. And 25.33 percent of them are owned by Chinese company, 22 percent and 16 percent by Singaporean and Canadian companies respectively, followed by companies from Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

Exploration licenses had been issued on through tendering process, however in December 2019 the government of Mongolia made a decision to not issue any exploration license for one year.

The 9th edition of this event will take place in the Kempinski Hotel, UB on 25th January 2020. Tickets are available via the link below or directly through the British Mongolian Chamber of Commerce. Ticket sales will cease on 20th January 2020.

http://www.sand-baggers.com/9th-ub-burns-supper/…

Scottish bagpiper Ally McCallum will be in attendance and we are delighted to be supporting the Scottish judo squad, who will also be present following a day of competition against their Mongolian counterparts in UB.

The apparent retaliation for last week's US drone strike against a senior Iranian commander amplifies concern about a spiraling tit-for-tat conflict between the United States and Iran.
US crude jumped more than 4% to over $65 a barrel Tuesday evening after US officials said Iran launched more than a dozen missiles that targeted at least two bases hosting American military personnel. Crude, which settled at $62.70 a barrel during regular trading Tuesday, climbed as high as $65.48 a barrel.
Significantly, the attack was claimed by Iran itself, not one of the nation's various proxy groups in the region. And the Pentagon said that Iran used ballistic missiles from inside Iraq, indicating a significant escalation.
"It comes as no surprise that there has been a reprisal from Iran -- the concern is that this is just the sign of things to come," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData.
President Donald Trump, who has previously visited one of the airbases targeted, has been briefed on the rocket attacks. The Pentagon said it is "working on initial battle damage assessments" and will "take all necessary measures to protect and defense" US personnel and allies in the region.
Trump has previously vowed to hit back at Iran if it retaliated for the US drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC Quds Force.
Investors are on high alert for any signs of a clash between the United States and Iran that threatens oil supplies in the Middle East. Crude prices retreated earlier this week on hopes that energy supplies won't be impacted by the tensions.
A spike in oil prices could deal a blow to the world economy, which is already struggling from weak manufacturing activity. Dow (INDU) futures tumbled more than 300 points, or 1.2%, late Wednesday.
Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly described the bases in Iraq that were targeted.

Previously, many people have re-located from scarcely-populated provinces to big electoral districts – this has affected election results. This move is well-known as ‘grasshopper migration’.

The Mongolian cabinet has approved MNT 43 billion to be spent in organizing the 2020 elections. The cost of the parliamentary election will be MNT 24.3 billion.

At the meeting, the sides will exchange views on strategic partnership relations and cooperation between Mongolia, USA and Japan, regional matters, Korean Peninsula issue as well as trilateral cooperation.

The meeting will be co-chaired by D.Davaasuren, State Secretary of the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, D.Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Sh.Takizaki, Director-General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

In the congratulatory message, Xi Jinping pointed out, 2019 witnessed significant progress in China-Mongolia relations. The two countries celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations and achieved fruitful results in exchanges and cooperation in various fields. When President Khaltmaa Battulga paid a state visit to China and attended the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation last April, Mr. President and I had in-depth exchange of views and reached important consensus, providing important political guidance for bilateral relations.

Xi Jinping stressed, I attach great importance to the development of China-Mongolia relations. In the new year, I am willing to work with President Khaltmaa Battulga to push for new progress in the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership, so as to benefit the two countries and peoples.

Khaltmaa Battulga said in his congratulatory message, Mongolia and China held grand celebrations for the historic year of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2019. With joint efforts of the two peoples, the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership has achieved all-round development. As permanent neighbors, Mongolia and China have always been committed to regional security and development while respecting each other's development path as well as interests and concerns. I stand ready to maintain close cooperation with President Xi Jinping and wish China prosperity and progress.

The decision is part of the government's efforts to improve air quality in the capital, Ulan Bator, which suffers severe air pollution, by increasing access to processed fuel, it said.

On May 15, a government ban on domestic use of low-grade coal in Ulan Bator came into force, with the aim of reducing air pollution. Since then, households in the city have been supplied with processed fuel, instead of raw coal.

Currently, there is only one fuel processing plant in Mongolia. The plant, with an annual capacity of processing 600,000 tons of fuel, is barely meeting demand in Ulan Bator.

The construction of the new plant is scheduled from March to August, with the same processing capacity as the existing one, according to the press office.