The Minister looked over the situation at the Gashuunsukhait border crossing in the course of his three-day working visit to Umnugobi aimag over the weekends. J.Bat-Erdene, Minister of Road and Transport Development and L.Enkhbold, Member of Parliament also visited the site. The officials met local authorities, representatives of the mining companies and coal transporters to seek solutions.

The situation at the Gashuunsukhait border crossing arose after national Naadam festival when the People’s Republic of China significantly reduced its daily coal truck passage, causing a 90-km-long line of trucks at the border crossing as of November 12.

According to B.Davaasuren, Head of the Customs Division of Gashuunsukhait border crossing, the Chinese side explained that the decision was made due to - smuggling of goods such as meat and guns from Mongolia and major events such as the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party.

Before the situation emerged, about 1,200-1,500 coal trucks passed the Gashuunsukhait border crossing on daily basis. In accordance with the Chinese decision, about 500-600 trucks now pass the border crossing in a day.

G.Battsengel, CEO of Energy Resources LLC, explained the logjam cause linking with increase in number of coal transport trucks. As of today, over 100 entities have acquired coal transport permits for about 7000 trucks.

The authorities of the mining companies and the drivers requested the Ministers to solve the issue in the near future. As the situation has not been improved over the last four months, the drivers are spending at least two weeks in the logjam.

The Ministers also familiarized with the operations of Energy Resources LLC, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC, Tavan Tolgoi Incorporate Company and Oyu Tolgoi LLC.