Erdenebat.D: Mongolia was required to raise $400 million within 12 days www.zgm.mn
Erdenebat Dondogdorj, head of the Democratic Party (DP) caucus in the Parliament, has informed of submitting a draft bill on the official dissolution of the caucus to the Parliament Speaker.
Accordingly, the DP members in the Parliament will steer without a group; thus, the Deputy Parliamentary Speaker appointed from the caucus will be ousted as the Law on Parliament obliges a political party with a parliamentary caucus to appoint a Deputy Speaker. As a result, Sanjmyatav Yadamsuren, the Deputy Speaker elected from the DP caucus, will resign from his position.
Mr. Erdenebat remarked, “I respect the self-resignation of Bold Luvsanvandan from the party. It should be noted that the caucus is under a disruption due to the situation. Also, the decision will not be tailored to the DP's opposition to the Parliament’s recent actions and will continue to monitor the executive branch.”
He then responded to the issues regarding the Erdenet Mining Corporation (EMC). “In June 2016, I submitted the 49 percent privatization of EMC to the Cabinet as the Minister of Industry. At the time, a letter came from Sergey Chemezov, the director of Rostek, Russia. The letter obliged to complete the payment transaction within 12 working days to purchase Rostech stake in EMC. This letter was delivered to the Government on June 1, 2016. The Government was faced with an option to make a legal decision to raise USD 400 million within 12 days. During the Cabinet discussion, I addressed the Government’s inability to buy the stakes within 12 days,” addressed Mr. Erdenebat.
He added, “If the EMC's 49 percent stake was granted to a Mongolian company, it would have allowed the country to claim full stakes in EMC. The contract was a well-made decision that was based on hard facts. In 2016, when the EMC's stake was owned by Russia, Mongolia’s state budget earned MNT 70 billion from the company. As for 2018 when a Mongolian firm held the 49 percent, the EMC's taxes paid to the state jumped by nine times. The economic benefits are clearly visible.”
Published Date:2019-03-12