Members of Parliament B.Uyanga, B.Munkhsoyol and B.Jargalan submitted a draft Law on Transparency in the Use of Natural Resources to Parliament Speaker S.Byambatsogt on September 11. The bill aims to establish a unified system for collecting and publicly disclosing information and reports related to the use of Mongolia’s mineral, water, forest, wildlife and plant resources. According to B.Uyanga, the proposed legislation would introduce a centralized digital portal, reporting procedures and a multi-stakeholder oversight mechanism for natural resource use.

She said the bill is intended to safeguard citizens’ right to information and help prevent corruption and conflicts of interest. The lawmakers have also prepared amendments to 17 related laws, including the General Law on State Registration, the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities, the Minerals Law, the Petroleum Law, the Law on Commonly Occurring Minerals and the Nuclear Energy Law.

Under the proposed framework, information and reports would be required to be publicly accessible, accurate, complete, consistent and integrated, while mechanisms would be established to enable public oversight. The bill would also introduce the principle that government agencies should not request information from individuals or legal entities if the same information is already held by the state. The proposed legislation consists of five chapters and 22 articles. One of its key innovations is the establishment of a unified digital portal for natural resource use, which would receive, register, store, process, verify and publish relevant reports and information and facilitate data exchange.

The portal would be connected to databases covering natural resources, licenses and permits, the state registry of legal entities, taxation and other relevant government information. This would allow information to be submitted and verified electronically through a single platform.

The bill also contains specific provisions concerning confidential information and contract transparency. Information on environmental damage, pollution, degradation, accidents and rehabilitation resulting from natural resource use, as well as resource-use fees, taxes, revenues paid into state and local budgets, payments and dividends to state- and locally owned entities, and donations and other forms of support would not be treated as confidential business information. Contracts and agreements related to natural resource use, including any amendments or additions, would also be published in full on the unified portal.

The lawmakers said that, if adopted, the legislation would consolidate natural resource information in a single source and link data on contracts, licenses, payments, taxes, revenues, ultimate beneficial ownership, environmental impacts, rehabilitation, local agreements, donations and other forms of support. They said the proposed law would strengthen citizens’ right to information, public oversight and local participation, while helping prevent corruption and conflicts of interest and promoting responsible investment, good governance and greater public trust in environmental accountability, according to the parliament.

Published Date:2026-09-14