Russian airlines turn to Mongolian MRO provider for heavy checks www.news.mn

MIAT MRO, the maintenance arm of Mongolia’s state-owned national carrier Mongolian Airlines (MIAT), has added two more Russian customers to its portfolio. In late 2018, the Mongolian company completed a C-check on a Boeing 767 operated by charter leisure carrier Royal Flight and, at the beginning of the year, redelivered a Boeing 737-800 to Yakutia Airlines after a C-check.

Speaking to a Russian Aviation Insider on the side-lines of the on-going MRO Russia & CIS 2019 convention, MIAT MRO’s technical director Ayush Tuvd also mentioned that the company has had a positive experience with Russia’s Utair Airlines, and that cooperation has extended to this year as well. Alrosa Airlines, another Russian carrier, called upon MIAT MRO for special assistance with the opening of a line maintenance station at Sanya, China.

MIAT MRO has two maintenance hangars at Ulaanbaatar Airport (IATA: ULN) that are capable of handling a wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft simultaneously. The company employs some 150 people and its capacity increased by 20 percent last year compared to 2017, reaching 120,000 man-hours.

Under its own EASA Part 145 approval, MIAT MRO has commenced maintenance services on the Boeing 737MAX which was recently delivered to its Mongolian Airlines parent. (Insider)

From Kenya to Mongolia (and even in Paris!), Manchester United fans go wild after dramatic win against PSG www.dailymail.co.uk

Manchester United are renowned for their global fanbase and it came to the fore on Wednesday night.

Women in Mongolia earn less than men www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The majority of women in Mongolia are paid less than men, with the gender pay gap in the country reaching over 25 percent, the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) said on Thursday.

Turquoise Hill to announce fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results on March 14, 2019 www.turquoisehill.com

Eleven issues to be resolved during emergency regime www.montsame.mn

In regard with the emergency regime set at Erdenet Mining Corporation, head of the Cabinet Secretariat of Government L.Oyun-Erdene was interviewed on March 6.

- Nine officials have been just released from their duties and their rooms have been sealed. Does it mean that powers of these officials are being transferred into the Government?

-An emergency regime has been set to stop disturbance to conduct normal operations of Erdenet Mining Corporation (EMC) and make changes in its structure and composition as the Board of Director of EMC is incapable to function. It makes troubles to resolve debt issues regarding Standard Bank. Moreover, the EMC is unable to conduct its business plan normally, expend money and resolve staff issues. Since it is a vital issue concerning the national security of Mongolia and budget, the Government issued a resolution to set emergency regime.

Government is responsible to implement parliamentary resolutions. In other words, the Parliament issued a resolution No:23 that instructs the government to resolve disputes by means of negotiations. To resolve the disputes, it necessitated to conduct an intelligence operation within relevant laws because there are many issues arisen regarding how much money the Trade and Development Bank spent, how much of it was taken from the State, by what financial sources the 49 percent shares of EMC was purchased, and why then-Government was preferential without having the stake purchase matter discussed at the Parliament. Now, it is under scrutiny to make them clear. There is also an issue of financial scheme. Earlier, a working group of the Parliament worked on this matter. According to unclassified documents that the working group has had or documents that the Government and BoD of Erdenet obtain, it evidenced that the funding was made from five sources. However, there are many unclear things. There are some issues need to be investigated and issues in connection with money laundering. For instance, there are cases that some companies were given preference when making the agreement of supply and selecting bid, and that have not executed their duties given by the agreement. Therefore, some rooms of EMC have been sealed to inspect such issues.

-How will the emergency regime influence on EMC’s operations?

-It will not affect normal operation of EMC. The Government used to implement emergency regime before. For EMC, it will be for six months. If the issues are not resolved within this period, the Parliament has the right to extend the period.

- Will somebody be appointed instead of the officials released from their posts?

-First of all, its structure has become quite compact. There will not be anyone on these positions for six months. No one will be appointed. Moreover, the EMC’s Board of Director will not call its meetings. During this period, we will urgently resolve 11 issues. There are many other issues such as debt to Standard Bank and signature forgery.

BY ORKHON

Mongolia to chair WTO TRIPS Council www.news.mn

Czech Republic to help Mongolia’s renewable energy sector www.news.mn

Minister of Energy of Mongolia Ts.Davaasuren has made a working visit to the Czech Republic at the invitation of Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Marta Novakova.

KFC poisoning: US experts finally sent to Mongolia www.news.mn

Almost a month has passed since numerous people were struck down with serious food poisoning at a branch of KFC in Ulaanbaatar. A total of 247 people became ill on 10 February after consuming chicken products from the same KFC outlet in Zaisan – a well-off suburb tin the south of Ulaanbaatar. 42 people of those victims have undergone treatment in the National Centre for Communicable Diseases (NCCD). After the incident, two delegates from the U.S. fast food company have been sent to Ulaanbaatar. Facility personnel and standard analysis expert from Yum! Brands Inc which owns the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand arrived in Ulaanbaatar last week in order to study the review made by General Agency for Specialized Investigation. According to E.Zolbayar, marketing manager of KFC Mongolia, the specialists will come again to Ulaanbaatar next week for supporting the branch’s operation.

President sends official letter regarding the agenda of the Extraordinary Session of the Parliament www.montsame.mn

The President of Mongolia calls for the establishment of the Regional Energy Organization in North East Asia www.bcmongolia.org