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Petro Matad's last Davsan Tolgoi well in 2011 shows fair and good oil shows; releases interims
September 30 (Proactive Investors) Mongolia-focused oil explorer Petro Matad (LON:MATD) said DT-11 - its last well of 2011 at Davsan Tolgoi - has shown fair and good oil shows and has been completed for testing.
The company, which also released its interim results today, said that analysis of the replacement well showed a total of 14.5 meters of net pay.
The pay zones at the well are divided into three test intervals - 1,076m-1,084m, 1,100m -1,102m, and 1,127m -1,134 metres, said the company.
Chief executive Douglas McGay said: "We are pleased that the efficient drilling and sound mechanical condition of the DT-11 replacement well will permit us to fully test the same Uppermost Tsagaantsav reservoir encountered in DT-1. We expect testing to commence in the near future."
The firm has now drilled 11 wells on the Davsan Tolgoi prospect with the first three in 2010. The contractor's rig has been stacked on site for an early re-commencement of drilling in 2012.
Of the eight wells drilled during this year, all but one showed hydrocarbons, the firm said today.
For the six months to June 30, the firm posted a net loss of $15.1 million compared to a net loss of $2.8 million. The cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period stood at $41.3 million (2010:$8.6 million).
Summarising operations, the firm said the period had seen further growth and it had achieved many of its goals with the 2011 drilling programme at Davsan Tolgoi running smoothly.
However, McGay said it had been a "somewhat sobering" time for the advancement of Davsan Tolgoi. "The company believes that the Davsan Tolgoi Prospect will prove to be a viable oilfield, but the drilling and testing results to date have demonstrated that the geological settings are complex and will require further work before a more complete understanding can be attained and the resource more definitively outlined," he said.
He said the firm was confident about its future and had sufficient cash reserves going forward to maximise the "immense" exploration prospects in its Mongolian portfolio.
Looking beyond Davsan Tolgoi, in Block V, the firm said it had completed 946 km of seismic on two basins there and analysis had shown that the Tugrug basin contained an active hydrocarbon system.
Oil shale occurrences have also been found.
On Block IV, 896km of seismic has been acquired over several basins while field examination confirmed continued source and reservoir sequences.
The newly identified Argalant area has about 700 metres of Cretaceous section, including thick sequences of visually rich oil shale and analytical results are pending, said the firm.
The Khoid Ulaan Bulag oil shale occurrence on the Block may have commercial potential for an unconventional play, it added. Core drilling is scheduled for the Biger basin in western Block IV.
McGay concluded that the months ahead promise to build upon the firm's achievements, with a constant flow of news and results from the many programmes we have highlighted herein.
Link to MATD Interim Results Report
Guildford: MONGOLIAN EXPLORATION UPDATE - SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN MONGOLIAN COAL PROJECT EXPLORATION TARGETS
September 30, Guildford Coal Limited (ASX:GUF) --
HIGHLIGHTS
Ø Following further drilling, independent consulting geologists have increased the South Gobi Coal Project Exploration Target# to 0 to 700Mt
Ø The South Gobi Project is progressing to a maiden JORC resource in October 2011 and a Mining Licence application is being prepared for the project
Ø The South Gobi Project preliminary quality demonstrates potential for high quality low sulphur coking coal
Ø Following further drilling, independent consulting geologists have increased the Middle Gobi Exploration Target# to 30Mt to 680Mt
Ø The Middle Gobi Coal Project is also progressing to a maiden JORC resource in October 2011
Ø Total Exploration Target# range estimated by independent consulting geologists for Guildford's Mongolian Projects is 30Mt to 1.38Bt (up from 29Mt to 0.731Bt)
Ø In parallel to this excellent exploration progress in Mongolia, Guildford is on track to deliver a maiden JORC resource at the Hughenden Project in Queensland's Galilee Basin in the coming weeks
…
Deutsche Bank Increases Hunnu Stake to 7.42% from 6.35%
September 30, Hunnu Coal Limited (ASX:HUN) --
Allmine Group scores $4.6m engineering contract for gold project (QGX Golden Hills) in Mongolia
September 29 (Proactive Investors) Allmine Group (ASX:AZG) subsidiary Arccon has entered into a contract valued at $A4.6 million with QGX Golden Hills to provide engineering, design and procurement services for the Golden Hills gold heap leach project in northwestern Mongolia.
With interest in Mongolia's resources fast increasing, this contract could herald a bigger move into the mining hot spot for Allmine.
Based in Hong Kong, privately owned QGX is involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of resource properties in Mongolia.
Completion of the scope of the contract services is expected to occur within 12 months.
The contract win follows a non-binding agreement struck by an Allmine subsidiary, with Ironbark Zinc (ASX:IBG) in early September. This would provide engineering and construction services for the development of the Ironbark's Citronen Zinc Project in Greenland.
Aspire: Annual Financial Report, 30 June 2011
September 30, Aspire Mining Limited (ASX:AKM) --
Rio's copper monster rises from the desert
October 1 (The Australian) IN the Gobi desert, a copper mine that is expected to change the face of Mongolia's economy, and whose ability, or lack of it, to hit targeted production will swing global copper prices for decades, is taking shape at speed.
On 8500ha where herders once tended camels and goats, giant blue sheds are being erected to house ore and a concentrator so mining can continue through the freezing winter, an extensive web of power cables criss-crosses the plain, and 100m towers are being erected above planned mine shafts.
The project is the $US10 billion ($10.26bn) Oyu Tolgoi mine project, being built by an uneasy union of mining giant Rio Tinto, Canada's entrepreneurial Ivanhoe Mines and a Mongolian government that is threatening to take a bigger stake.
If all goes to plan, Oyu Tolgoi will begin producing copper in 2013 and by 2020 will be turning out 800,000 tonnes a year, making it the world's third-biggest copper mine, based on current output.
Along with 1.2 million ounces of gold by-product, this sort of output would bring in about $US8bn a year in revenue.
In an unusual owner-operator arrangement, Rio is building and will operate Oyu Tolgoi (which means Turquoise Hill), despite having no direct interest in it.
Instead, Rio owns 49 per cent of Ivanhoe, which in turn owns 66 per cent of the project. Mongolia owns the rest.
Construction of the first stage, begun in April last year, is already having an immense impact on landlocked Mongolia, where 2.7 million people live between the giant developing powers of China and Russia in an area twice the size of NSW.
"This place is growing phenomenally," Rio Mongolia and Oyu Tolgi chief executive Cameron McRae says.
Speaking in the capital, Ulan Bator, he pointed to the large number of cranes on construction sites around the city, countless new restaurants and a boom in manufacturing.
"That's not money from Oyu Tolgoi, but it's the indirect benefit of the large investment coming into the country, where you are actually bringing billions in."
Mongolia's annual economic growth was 17 per cent in the second quarter and is expected to average more than 10 per cent for the next decade. For the first time, this year, unemployment has dipped below double digits.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to be responsible for about 5 per cent of Mongolia's annual growth and account for more than a third of gross domestic product in 2019.
"If the copper price stays strong, you will see that make an even greater contribution," Mr McRae said.
Like any country presented with the chance for massive resources income, Mongolia will need to overcome the pitfalls of Dutch Disease -- the situation where resource windfalls make other industries uncompetitive.
The project is halfway through construction. There are 8000 Mongolian workers and about 6000 Chinese workers on the site.
But the path to its target of first production in 2013 is far from smooth. On the operational side, Oyu Tolgoi's sourcing of 450MW of power from China is looking shaky because Mongolia and China have not nailed down a deal. Rio has said this could delay first production but Mr McRae said he was confident a power deal would come.
He would not go further into the source of the disagreement, other than saying deals between governments can be complicated.
James Reichert, a World Bank infrastructure specialist based in Ulan Bator, said it could take three or four years for the mine to build a power station if a deal with China was not possible. "They've got a bit of a dilemma," Mr Reichert said. "They're having trouble with the Inner Mongolian government and the power company . . . I don't know what the issues are, whether it's price, but they're having difficulties."
Mr Reichert said Mongolia, which has said it wanted any big power stations integrated into the national transmission system, was looking at letting Oyu Tolgoi build its own station.
The issue is a touchy one for Ivanhoe, which is trying to raise $US4bn of project finance for Oyu Tolgoi amid turbulent global equity and commodities markets.
Last week, Ivanhoe berated Rio executives for making "unauthorised and incomplete" statements about the power situation, saying it was confident a deal with China would be reached in time and it had been informed the government talks were ongoing.
If Ivanhoe cannot obtain the world's biggest project financing, the development could be funded from Rio's balance sheet.
But that would come at a cost to Ivanhoe, in which Rio would try to take a bigger stake.
Ivanhoe and Rio are in arbitration over a shareholder rights plan that seeks to prevent Rio creeping to a higher stake without making a full take-over offer.
Rio bought into Ivanhoe in October 2006 and has since provided more than $US4bn of funding for the Mongolia project.
There have been moves by members of parliament to increase Mongolia's stake in Oyu Tolgoi. At the mine last week, Mining Minister Zorigt Dashdorj said the government would seek to bring forward the date, now 30 years from start-up, at which Mongolia's stake could move to 50 per cent.
Rio says this is just election noise but has still felt the need to warn the government this sort of talk could jeopardise international investment in the huge Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit, which the government is promoting.
The reporter travelled to Oyu Tolgoi as a guest of Rio Tinto
Related:
What might have been for BHP's WMC takeover – The Australian, October 1
Rio Tinto sends mixed messages on Ivanhoe – Financial Post, September 30
Rio Tinto battles to win over Mongolian public – Reuters, September 30
Lot of politics lies behind Mongolian mining – Financial Times, September 30
Ivanhoe's Oyu Tolgoi: High Stakes Poker In Mongolia – National Bank of Canada, September 29
Oyu Tolgoi Corrects the Record on Unfounded Allegations
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. September 29 (ot.mn) Oyu Tolgoi staged a press conference today in order to refute incorrect and unwarranted allegations made against the company and its CEO by several MPs on Wednesday, September 29.
MPs said that the Oyu Tolgoi CEO had characterized the Mongolian government as 'greedy'. The MPs made this allegation despite being well aware that the CEO never made any such comment. An Australian newspaper used the word in a headline, but later admitted it used the word in error and corrected the article.
Munkhbat Ania, Oyu Tolgoi Senior Vice President, said the facts about this story had been made clear repeatedly. He added that some MPs had claimed to have read the 'interview' with the CEO, despite no interview ever having taken place.
"OT is committed to fulfilling our promise to Mongolia," said Munkhbat. "In building the future of Mongolia, it is important to have open and honest discussion. Repeating allegations already known to be false simply distracts from the important discussion we must have to work together to build Mongolia's economy."
Munkhbat said that a video of the CEO's speech to 'Discover Mongolia', including the passage that led to the original story in the Australian newspaper, was available for everyone to see on the Oyu Tolgoi website -http://www.facebook.com/oyutolgoi. "The public can see for themselves that our CEO never said these things, we could not be more open and transparent," he said.
"At Oyu Tolgoi we employ 10,000 of our fellow Mongolians, we are putting in place world class technology and we are building a community that will be part of Mongolia's future for generations to come," he said. "That is what is important."
Road from Ukhaa-khudag to Gashuunsukhait opens
September 29 (news.mn) Energy Resource LLC recently completed 245 km of new road between Ukhaa-Khudag and Gashuunsukhait, and the state commission has officially opened the road. Heavy trucks transporting coal can now travel on a paved road where before they went over dirt roads.
Officials say the new road will reduce dust, accidents, and breakdowns. The road's capacity for annual coal transportation is 15 million tons.
Erdenes Tavantolgoi LC has made an agreement with Energy Resource LLC to transport coal on new road.
MSE resumes trading shares of Tavantolgoi
September 30 (news.mn) The Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) resumed trading shares of Tavantolgoi LC (MSE:TTL) on Thursday.
The MSE had stopped trading shares of the stock on July 5, partly due to its high price.
There had been 526,652 shares of Tavantolgoi LC, but each share has now been split into 100 shares. Now there are 52,665,200 shares to sell. Share prices rose by 15 percent on the first day of resumed selling.
STOCK EXCHANGE NEWS
September 30, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ At the Stock Exchange trades on September 30, a total of 292.7 thousand shares of 32 JSCs were traded costing MNT 80.5 million. Of them, rates of 15 shares were increased, eight shares were decreased, and nine shares were stable. The total market capitalization was set at MNT two trillion and 3.0 billion.
The Index of top-20 was 19757,96 units increasing 129.81 units or 0.66 per cent against the previous day. Rates of shares of the "Tav" and "Khereglee impex" JSCs were increased by 15.0% respectively, whereas "Boonii khudaldaa" JSC was down by 7.35%.
Mongolian Stock Exchange: getting there slowly
September 30 (FT Blog) Mongolia may be one of the most popular investment destinations for resources funds and miners today. But this year the Mongolian Stock Exchange index has tanked – plummeting 40 per cent from a high in February – even as investors continue to bet on the growth of this largely nomadic, resource-rich country.
So what's going on? Last year Mongolia was touted as the best-performing stock exchange in the world, after a run-up of 121 per cent in 12 months.
It's worth keeping in mind that the exchange, housed in a cheerful pink building on the central Sukhbaatar Square, is still tiny by global standards: open only two hours a day, it has not had an IPO in five years. During the last full trading day on Thursday, turnover was just $46,500 and only 25 stocked traded, although more than 300 are technically listed.
That means the index can easily be pushed around by movement in only a few stocks. Moreover, investors have become more risk-averse in recent months given the global macroeconomic climate, prompting falling prices for Mongolia-linked companies that are listed overseas, too.
So, there is much hanging on the Mongolian Stock Exchange's ambitious plans to modernize through its partnership with the London Stock Exchange. The MSE hired the LSE last year to revamp its regulatory framework, hardware and software, a process that has been fraught with delays but is still under way.
This summer, hardware for a new trading system was shipped into Ulan Bator and new trading software is currently being installed. The system is supposed to be up and running by the end of November or early December – although the dates keep getting pushed back – and when the process is complete the Mongolian Stock Exchange will be running on the same trading system as the LSE. Broker training is underway, and remote trading will also be possible with the new software.
But there remain big challenges for Ulan Bator to make itself into a modern financial hub. As acting CEO Altai Khangai put it in an interview earlier this year, one challenge for the exchange is the quality of the companies that are traded there. At some point, the hundreds of companies that are listed but not actively traded will also have to be removed, an unappetizing prospect in such a small and close-knit business community.
The exchange hopes that once it has new trading systems in place – as well as a new securities law – it will attract new listings from Mongolian companies and secondary listings from global companies working in Mongolia. Those days are still some way off however. The securities law could take months or longer to be passed: it has been under consideration for six years but not been formally presented to parliament yet. It would lay out a clearer legal framework for settling trades and for dual listings, among other things.
Ulan Bator is on its way to financial modernity. But it won't happen overnight.
Mistah Khurts, he free
A murky Mongolian saga
September 30 (The Economist (Blog)) TO THE surprise of many, Bat Khurts, the head of Mongolia's National Security Council, is back at his desk in Ulaanbaatar, and not sitting in a German prison, awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in a kidnapping in 2003. The charges that allowed his detention have been dropped. Among those surprised was, apparently, the Foreign Office in Britain, where Mr Khurts was arrested last year in controversial circumstances. He was extradited to Germany in August, and his trial was due to begin on October 24th. Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel is due in Mongolia on a planned visit on October 12th.
Besides affecting Mongolia's relations with Britain, which are now tetchy, and with Germany, which is in its good books, the case has cast depressing light on the thuggery of Mongolia's security services. It has also been a constant reminder of a grisly political assassination with long-lasting effects.
Mr Khurts faced charges related to a kidnapping in May 2003 in the French port of Le Havre. Damiran Enkhbat, a Mongolian who had gone into exile after being freed early from a jail sentence for assault, was duped into going to a McDonald's for what was supposed to be a meeting with a compatriot. Instead, he was set upon by four men, drugged, bundled unconscious into a car and driven across Europe for four days, before being put on a Mongolian Airlines flight from Berlin to Ulaanbaatar. Mr Khurts, who at the time ran Mongolia's main spy agency, was accused of being one of Mr Enkhbat's assailants, and the driver of the car.
On return, Mr Enkhbat was detained as a suspect in the brutal murder in 1998 of Sanjasuuren Zorig, who had been the most prominent leader of the country's democratic revolution in 1989-90, and was at that time in government as the infrastructure minister. Some of his supporters believe that, at the age of just 36, he was about to become prime minister, and was assassinated on the order of corrupt politicians who saw their interests threatened. His murder remains unsolved.
Despite alleged torture, Mr Enkhbat never admitted any involvement. Amnesty International, a human-rights lobby, campaigned for him when he was denied access both to a lawyer and to medical care for a life-threatening condition. He died shortly after his release from prison in 2006, as a result, believe his family, of his maltreatment in detention. His children, who are German citizens, brought charges against Mr Khurts.
Mongolian officials do not bother to deny that the kidnapping happened. As if it were an unfortunate but rather trifling oversight, they say they have accepted it was wrong, apologised and everybody should move on. Clearly it did not affect Mr Khurts's climb up the ladder of Mongolia's security establishment. So it was natural that he should be the man designated last year to take part in talks with Britain on closer security co-operation.
He was given a visa, in response to an application accompanied by a diplomatic note verbale, and his trip was discussed in advance by the countries' respective ambassadors and their host governments. But instead of chewing the cud over an important partnership, he found himself locked up: arrested on arrival at Heathrow airport.
Tsogtbaatar Damdin, state secretary at Mongolia's foreign ministry, says Mongolia remains baffled by what he describes as the British "entrapment" of Mr Khurts. Like Germany, he insists that his release is purely the result of a judicial decision, unrelated to political considerations such as Mrs Merkel's imminent visit.
That is still scheduled, though there must be a risk it will be derailed by unrelenting turmoil in the euro zone. But, says Mr Tsogbaatar, Mongolia is "grateful" to the Germans, and most Mongolians seem to take it for granted that the release is a goodwill gesture intended to smooth Mrs Merkel's way. Mr Khurts arrived back, if not quite to a hero's welcome, than at least to the handshake of a deputy foreign minister (who was at the airport by coincidence, says Mr Tsogtbaatar).
A spokesman at the German embassy in Ulaanbaatar says that Mr Khurts was freed after his country's second-highest court (after the constitutional court) ruled that charges of "Verschleppung", a specific form of abduction covered under article 234(a) of Germany's criminal code, should be dropped. This was the count which justified his detention. Charges of "deprivation of freedom" and "causing bodily harm" still stand, but Mr Khurts seems unlikely ever to face them.
The German spokesman says there were contacts with Britain before Mr Khurts arrived back in Mongolia on September 27th. But two days later, a foreign-office spokesman contacted by The Economist was unaware that he was free. Indeed, Germany seems to have managed the release very quietly. Few if any German and British newspapers have mentioned it.
Britain denies Mr Khurts was entrapped, and also emphasises the separation of its judicial and political processes. Indeed, having managed to antagonise Mongolia, a small but booming economy, with what turned out to be a fool's errand of an extradition action, some officials may be wishing they were more co-ordinated than they are.
S. ZORIG'S MONUMENT TO BE RESPECTED BY MONGOLIANS
September 30 (InfoMongolia.com) It has been 13 years since the death of a prominent Mongolian politician and leader of the country's 1990 democratic revolution Zorig Sanjaasuren.
He was called the "Golden Swallow of Democracy". He was brutally murdered in his apartment on Friday, October 2, 1998.
Every year on this day Mongolian people pay respect and lay wreaths at his monument which was erected in Ulaanbaatar, across the street from the Central Post Office. This coming Sunday (October 2nd) at 11am, sister S. Oyun, the leader of Civic Will Party and Green Party, and other official representatives will be paying respect to S. Zorig's monument.
On December 10, 1989, S. Zorig led hundreds of activists and organized first public protest demanding a free market economy and free elections.
His death still remains an unsolved case.
Senior U.S. Official Denies Talk of Foreign Nuclear Waste Site in Mongolia
WASHINGTON, September 30 (Global Security Newswire) -- A senior U.S. Energy Department official on Wednesday disputed reports that the Obama administration has sought Mongolian support for construction of a storage site for international spent nuclear fuel in the Central Asian nation (see GSN, March 30).
The assertion -- made by a high-ranking official who asked not to be named in addressing a diplomatically sensitive issue -- directly countered remarks offered last spring by a veteran State Department official who leads U.S. nuclear trade pact negotiations.
The diplomat, Richard Stratford, told a Washington audience in March that Energy Department leaders had made initial contacts with their counterparts in Ulaanbaatar about potential cooperation on a range of nuclear fuel services that Mongolia would like to develop for international buyers.
Among the possible features of a joint project, Stratford said, could be the creation of a repository for U.S.-origin fuel that has been used by Washington's partners in the region, potentially including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
If brought to fruition, the proposal would be "a very positive step forward," he said at the time, because no nation around the globe thus far has successfully built a long-term storage facility for dangerous nuclear waste.
The Obama administration in 2009 shuttered plans for a U.S. storage site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada -- which would have been the world's only permanent repository -- after prolonged debate over potential environmental and health hazards (see GSN, Sept. 13).
In an interview this week with Global Security Newswire, the high-level Energy Department official said that discussions have focused on an array of potential nuclear energy market roles for Mongolia, from mining its substantial uranium reserves to fabricating fuel and more.
However, the unofficial talks have not broached the idea of Mongolia becoming a recipient of foreign-origin spent fuel, the senior figure said.
"I never thought about U.S. spent fuel. Never," the Energy official said. "I never even thought about it, much less discussed it."
The Obama administration generally supports the idea of creating international operations for waste storage and other fuel-cycle functions that might help stem global nuclear proliferation, but "what the Mongolian government and the Mongolian people end up deciding they want to do is completely their decision and I would not dream of imposing our views on that," the senior official said.
"There's no discussion of an international spent-fuel repository," added a second Energy Department official who participated in the same interview. "What has been included as part of the comprehensive fuel services discussions are potential long-term storage of Mongolian-origin used fuel that has Mongolian uranium [in it]."
Adding Value
An evolving concept of nuclear fuel "leasing" would have the Mongolians build on their existing uranium ore resources to ultimately provide reactor-ready fuel to foreign nations and, additionally, stand ready to take back used uranium fuel rods once they are depleted, according to reports.
The idea, said the more junior Energy official, is that Mongolia could "potentially add long-term storage as part of the value of that uranium resource to potential buyers."
Even if foreign-origin spent fuel cannot be stored in Mongolia, the nation's talks with its international partners might yet allow for U.S., Japanese or other companies to build facilities in the Central Asian nation to produce Mongolian fuel for sale abroad, which could later be returned to Ulaanbaatar for storage after it is used.
The Mongolian Embassy in Washington on Thursday declined comment.
The senior official chalked up the seeming disconnect between Energy and State to a simple misunderstanding, noting that the U.S. Embassy in Mongolia also initially denied Stratford's assertions about a potential international repository in an April statement.
The Mongolian foreign minister went a step further the following month, denying that talks with the United States and Japan had touched on the disposition of atomic waste of any national origin, according to areport by China's Xinhua News Agency.
As a developing nation, Mongolia might derive substantial economic benefit if it agreed to accept foreign spent fuel. However, the idea has become a political lightning rod, with the opposition Green Party charging that a waste facility could become an environmental and safety nightmare.
A number of quiet steps toward international collaboration, though, have already taken place.
Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in September 2010 signed a memorandum of understanding with Mongolian Foreign Minister Gombojav Zandanshatar, pledging future cooperation on civil nuclear power. Japan was also a party to the draft agreement, which has not been released but reportedly included a passage referring to Mongolia as a future destination for spent fuel.
In Ulaanbaatar to ink the document, Poneman is said to have participated in a long discussion about Mongolia's nuclear trade aspirations with Undraa Agvaanluvsan, an ambassador-at-large at the nation's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry.
In that conversation, the notion of Mongolia potentially accepting foreign-origin spent fuel "didn't come up," and "Dick Stratford wasn't there," the senior Energy Department official said in the interview.
The official acknowledged, though, that in the course of these bilateral discussions, the U.S. side raised a number of ideas with the Mongolians, but some were quickly dismissed.
"We were brainstorming these ideas, but they were just ideas that we were brainstorming," the Energy official said. "And it was not anything that, frankly, got beyond that."
A State Department spokeswoman this week directed a reporter to the Energy Department for any comment.
Changing Landscape
"I happen to think the Mongolians are just teasing a very excitable bureaucracy, until the U.S. is too committed to a '123' agreement to back out even without the waste dump," nuclear expert Jeffrey Lewis, referring to the possibility of a bilateral nuclear trade pact, wrote in an April blog post.
"Certain people at the Department of Energy do believe Mongolia will agree to host a waste repository and are having relevant discussions," he stated in another post the following month. Lewis directs the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
Mongolian officials traveled to Washington for Energy Department meetings in February and again in August, U.S. government sources confirmed. Just prior to arriving in Washington for the August meetings, a group of working-level Mongolian officials visited the Idaho National Laboratory, where the Energy Department maintains wet and dry spent-fuel storage facilities.
"The discussions began a year ago and the whole scene looked a little bit different from [how] it looks now," the senior U.S. Energy official noted.
The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility in Japan, triggered March 11 by a major earthquake and tsunami, heightened concern about the safety of civil nuclear power facilities worldwide.
The crisis in Japan was mounting just as word began to leak in the news media that Ulaanbaatar was in the midst of closed-door discussions about jumping headlong into the nuclear energy market, a prospect that took many Mongolians by surprise. Revelations that the nation might construct a storage site somewhere in its expansive territory for foreign nuclear fuel further stoked public anxiety there.
In July, Kyodo News reported that the head of Toshiba -- the Japanese parent company to U.S. nuclear energy firm Westinghouse -- had written to Poneman to voice his company's continued support for the largely secret "Comprehensive Fuel Supply" or "CFS" effort in Mongolia, despite industry setbacks posed by the Fukushima disaster.
"We must recognize that the CFS project has now been publicized around the world," Norio Sasaki, Toshiba's president and chief executive officer, wrote in the letter, obtained by GSN. "As anti-CFS opposition can be anticipated, it is essential for the parties to the project to promote closer coordination in order to secure continued progress."
This disclosure and others prompted some in the public to "doubt the integrity of the Mongolian state," Dangaasuren Enkhbat, a Green Party member of parliament, said earlier this month at a government meeting on the matter.
"I think these external talks were no mere talks," he said. "In order to stop these talks, the people who participated in these external talks must be called to responsibility."
"Mongolia is not an awfully democratic state," said one U.S. expert who asked not to be named, citing controversy over the issue. "The ways in which they are engaging in this [discussion] shows how they are not fully democratic."
Growing political outcry and public protests forced the Mongolian president, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, to address in greater detail exactly what Ulaanbaatar was discussing with foreign capitals.
On Sept. 9 he issued a decree prohibiting formal talks about "cooperation on nuclear disposal with any country or international organization," unless such negotiations are authorized by the country's national security council, Kyodo News reported.
Speaking at the government meeting four days later, Elbegdorj said the new presidential order "clearly" dictates that public officials "refrain from participation on behalf of Mongolia in any talks or negotiations held under pressure of a foreign country."
Several issue experts interpreted his released remarks as a signal that Ulaanbaatar was effectively ruling out -- at least for now -- the creation of a repository for foreign spent fuel, regardless of whether the option had been earlier left open in private discussions with his U.S. or Japanese interlocutors.
In Mongolia, there is a search for "political cover and some amount of political consensus" on the issue, Mark Hibbs, a Berlin-based senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment's Nuclear Policy Program, said in an interview.
Limits on Mongolia's Nuclear Activities?
Meanwhile, it remains uncertain whether Mongolian leaders plan to develop a capability to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium as part of their fuel-services menu. These capabilities can be useful for either civil atomic energy needs or for the development of nuclear weapons.
"I've heard zero interest expressed by any Mongolian in any fuel-cycle activity like enrichment or reprocessing," the senior Energy official said on Wednesday.
By the same token, though, the official could not offer assurances that Mongolia has ruled out the notion of enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium on its own soil, as its capabilities to handle nuclear materials develop.
"Unless I were with them 24 hours a day, I have never heard them say a thing about it. I've never heard anything about it," the Obama administration official said. "But I don't know what anybody has said to third parties."
A bipartisan bill pending in the House would potentially make it more difficult for the White House to gain congressional approval for any pending nuclear cooperation agreement unless the trading partner has, among other things, relinquished a right to enrich or reprocess nuclear fuel on its territory (see GSN, March 25).
The Obama administration included this so-called "gold standard" provision in a 2009 nuclear trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, but has not yet said publicly whether or how it might apply the policy to other nations (see GSN, Jan. 25).
A so-called "123" agreement -- a type of trade accord governed by the 1954 Atomic Energy Act -- would be required before Washington could assist Mongolia with nuclear technologies or know-how, even if U.S.-fabricated fuel never enters that nation for storage.
Depending on the level of U.S. assistance permitted by a trade pact, Washington could conceivably exert a great amount of leverage over how Mongolia proceeds in entering the nuclear energy market.
Mongolian-origin fuel could actually become regarded as U.S.-origin material "if it is enriched or fabricated into fuel on U.S. soil," said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist in the Global Security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Another way it could occur is if the fuel is irradiated in a reactor that has used any U.S. technologies or equipment."
That designation could allow Washington a so-called "right of return" of its atomic materials or equipment if it determines that Ulaanbaatar has exceeded its rights under any future nuclear trade pact -- for example, by opting to domestically enrich or reprocess nuclear fuel contrary to the accord.
Leading up to possible negotiations on a nuclear trade agreement with Mongolia, Hibbs said a future pact could encounter some political opposition in Washington if Ulaanbaatar insists on keeping its enrichment and reprocessing options open.
"Some people in Washington have been a little apprehensive about whether Mongolia would want to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel, especially if the U.S. at some point agreed to support a multilateral fuel-cycle project in that country," he told GSN.
The senior Energy official would not speculate about how the Obama administration would react if Mongolia at some point refuses to renounce this type of nuclear processing, noting that the Asian nation has a long way to go before its atomic energy plans solidify.
"The U.S. holds all the cards really," Lyman said. "A '123' agreement with Mongolia should be seen as a privilege to Mongolia and not something in which they can dictate all the terms."
Calling nuclear trade pacts "one of the most potent tools the U.S. has" in helping restrict global proliferation, he added, "The administration should not lose sight of the original goal, which is to stop the spread of fuel-cycle facilities to countries that don't have them."
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE: HARVEST WORKS APPROACHING END
September 30, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ As of present, the harvesting of grain is being done with 77.1 per cent, potatoes--with 92.8 per cent, and vegetables--with 95.5 per cent nationwide, according to a report given by J.Saule, the Vice Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry. In other words, as of present, the country has harvested 346.5 thousand tons grain, 178.8 thousand tons potatoes, 89.9 thousand tons vegetables, and 25.8 thousand tons fodder plants.
Branches of the foundation of supporting agrarians has received 28.7 thousand tons wheat from 147 enterprisers and citizens, of which the "Selenge" branch--10.6 thousand tons, "Khotol" branch--12.3 thousand tons, "Bulgan"--4.5 thousand tons, "Kharkhorin"--941 tons, and "Khentii"--400 tons.
The Deputy Premier M.Enkhbold has obliged the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry and authorities of the related bodies to pay special attention to quality of wheat, to make contracts with entities for selling wheat and grain and to tackle fuel for transport.
Government to deliver 2012 budget proposal to MPs
September 30 (news.mn) The Government will deliver the proposed 2012 budget to MPs after an unofficial meeting on Friday. By law, a budget must be delivered annually to MPs before October 1. Parliament is responsible for passing a budget before the end of December.
During the autumn session, MPs will also discuss a draft law on the 2012 election, and proposed changes to the 2011 budget. They will also debate state monetary policy.
Mogi: Press release from an irregular session of Cabinet on 30 September. Matters discussed: 2012 budget, raising import duty on wheat products
Засгийн газрын ээлжит бус хуралдаан 2011 оны 9 дүгээр сарын 30-ны өдөр болов
September 30 (Government Press Office) --
Засгийн газрын ээлжит бус хуралдаан 2011 оны 9 дүгээр сарын 30-ны өдөр болж 2012 оны төсвийн төсөл болон бусад асуудлыг хэлэлцэн шийдвэрлэлээ. Мөн өдөр Монгол Улсын Ерөнхий сайд С.Батболд ирэх оны төсөв, "Нийгмийн даатгалын сан" болон "Хүний хөгжил сан"-гийн төсвийн төслийг Улсын Их Хурлын дарга Д.Дэмбэрэлд өргөн барилаа.
2012 ОНЫ ТӨСВИЙН ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨРГӨН БАРИВ
2012 оны нэгдсэн төсвийн тэнцвэржүүлсэн орлого 6.4 их наяд төгрөг буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 35.4 хувь, нийт зарлага 7.1 их наяд буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 39.5 хувь, нийт алдагдал 740.9 тэрбум төгрөг буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 4.1 хувь байхаар төсвийн төсөлд тусгажээ.
2012 оны төсөв хөгжлийн шинэ гараан дээр ирсэн манай улсын эдийн засгийн бүтцийг шинэчлэн, урт хугацаанд эдийн засгийн өндөр өсөлтийг хангах замаар монгол хүнээ ажилтай, орлоготой болгоход чиглэж байгааг Монгол Улсын Ерөнхий сайд С.Батболд онцоллоо.
Өөрөөр хэлбэл ирэх жилийн төсөв иргэдийнхээ эрүүл мэндэд, боловсролд, эрхэлж байгаа бизнест, бүтээн байгуулалтад, ажлын байр бий болгоход нь хөрөнгө оруулж өрх гэрийн орлогыг нэмэгдүүлэх, ядуурлыг бууруулахад чиглэж байгаа юм.
2012 он Монгол ардын нам болон Ардчилсан намын сонгуулийн мөрийн хөтөлбөр, УИХ-ын сонгуулийн дараа намууд хооронд байгуулсан хамтын ажиллагааны гэрээнд тусгасан Засгийн газрын үйл ажиллагааны мөрийн хөтөлбөрийг хэрэгжүүлэх сүүлийн жил. Иймээс мөрийн хөтөлбөрт тусгагдсан ажлуудыг гүйцэтгэх зорилт тавин ирэх оны төсөв, "Нийгмийн даатгалын сан", "Хүний хөгжил сан"-гийн төсвийг төслийг боловсруулан өргөн барьж байна.
Ирэх онд :
- Төсвийн орлогын тогтвортой эх үүсвэрийг бүрдүүлэх, орлогын тэгш хуваарилалтыг хангах, уул уурхайн салбарт татварын болон бусад бодлогын зохицуулалтыг оновчтой бүрдүүлэх замаар байгалийн нөөцийг иргэн бүрт үр ашигтай хүртээх
- Хүний хөгжилд суурилсан эдийн засгийн хөгжлийн цогц бодлогыг хэрэгжүүлэх
- Төмөр зам, автозам, цахилгаан станц зэрэг эдийн засгийн суурь дэд бүтцийг өргөжүүлэх, бүтээн байгуулалыг дэмжих
- Хөгжлийн зорилтуудыг хэрэгжүүлэхэд шаардлагатай санхүүгийн боломжит бүх эх үүсвэрийг хамгийн бага зардлаар бүрдүүлэхийг гол зорилтоо болгожээ.
Засгийн газар ирэх онд бүтээн байгуулалтыг дорвитой нэмэгдүүлэхээр төлөвлөн ажлын байр шинээр бий болгох, хөдөлмөр эрхлэлтийг нэмэгдүүлэх, аж ахуйн нэгжүүдийг дэмжиж, хүчин чадлыг нь дээшлүүлэх, эдийн засгийн өсөлтийн дүнд нэмэгдэж байгаа хэрэгцээг хангах, иргэдийнхээ ая тухтай амьдрах, суралцах орчныг сайжруулах, төрөөс үзүүлэх үйлчилгээний чанар, хүртээмжийг дээшлүүлэхэд чиглэсэн томоохон арга хэмжээг хэрэгжүүлнэ.
2012 онд эдийн засгийн бодит өсөлт 25.6 хувь байна гэж Засгийн газар төсөөлж байна. Ингэснээр Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүн оны үнээр 18.0 их наяд, нэг хүнд ногдох Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүн 6.3 сая төгрөгт хүрэх юм. Эдийн засгийн бүтцийн хувьд дийлэнх буюу 45.6 хувийг үйлчилгээ, 43.4 хувийг үйлдвэрлэлийн салбар эзлэхээр байна.
Ирэх онд нэгдсэн төсвийн тэнцвэржүүлсэн орлогыг 6.4 их наяд төгрөг буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 35.4 хувь байхаар тооцлоо. Үүнээс 2 их наяд буюу 31 хувь нь уул уурхайн салбараас, үлдэх 4.4 их наяд төгрөг буюу 69 хувь нь эдийн засгийн бусад салбараас төсөвт орох нь.
Нэгдсэн төсвийн нийт зарлагын гуравны хоёр буюу 4.2 их наяд төгрөгийг урсгал зардалд зарцуулахаар Засгийн газар тооцоолсон байна. Зарцуулах хөрөнгийг 2011 оны төсвийн төлөвлөгөөтэй харьцуулахад 1.7 их наяд төгрөгөөр буюу 55.7 хувиар нэмэгдэж байгаа юм.
Харин төсвөөс 1.5 их наяд төгрөгийн хөрөнгө оруулалт хийхээр төлөвлөсөн нь энэ оны батлагдсан дүнтэй харьцуулахад 2.4 дахин өсчээ. Энэ нь 2000-2007 онд хийж байсан хөрөнгө оруулалтаас 2 дахин өсч, урьд өмнө байгаагүй үзүүлэлт болж байна.
Ирэх жилийн төсвийн хөрөнгө оруулалтын 87.1 хувийг барилга, байгууламж барих, өргөтгөх, шинэчлэхэд, 3.7 хувийг их засварт, 9.2 хувийг тоног төхөөрөмж худалдан авахад зарцуулахаар төлөвлөжээ.
Орон нутгийн бие даасан байдлыг дээшлүүлэх, ялангуяа хүн амын талаас илүү хувь нь оршин сууж байгаа Улаанбаатар хотын дэд бүтэц, агаарын бохирдол, хот төлөвлөлтийг шийдвэрлэх нь хөрөнгө оруулалтын бодлогын нэг онцлог юм. Тухайлбал агаарын бохирдлыг бууруулах зэрэг томоохон арга хэмжээнд 71.2 тэрбум төгрөгийн хөрөнгө оруулалт хийхээр төлөвлөөд байна.
Стратегийн орд газруудаас орох орлогоос иргэн бүрт 1.5 сая төгрөгийн хишиг хүртээх эрх зүйн болон санхүүгийн эх үүсвэрийг бүрдүүлэхээр Засгийн газрын мөрийн хөтөлбөрт тусгаснаа ирэх онд бүрэн хэрэгжүүлнэ.
Үлдэгдэл 1 сая төгрөгийг ахмад настан, хөгжлийн бэрхшээлтэй 334,2 мянган иргэнд бэлнээр буюу нийт 334,2 тэрбум, 170 мянган оюутанд сургалтын төлбөр хэлбэрээр 83,6 тэрбум, эрүүл мэндийн үйлчилгээний төлбөрт 5 мянган иргэнд 5 тэрбум, орон сууц худалдаж авсны төлбөрт 100 мянган иргэнд 100 тэрбум төгрөг олгохоор төсвийн төсөлд тусгажээ.
Ирэх онд иргэд 1.5 сая төгрөгөө бүрэн авах юм. 1 сая төгрөг хүртээхдээ ашигт малтмалын ордын хувьцааг бэлэн мөнгө болгох сонголттойгоор иргэддээ олгохоор Засгийн газар төлөвлөж байна. Өөрөөр хэлбэл мөнгөн хөрөнгөөр баталгаажсан энэ хувьцааг иргэд Засгийн газарт арилжиж бэлэн мөнгө болгох бүрэн боломжтой гэсэн үг хэмээн Засгийн газрын Хэвлэл, мэдээллийн албанаас мэдээллээ.
ГААЛИЙН АЛБАН ТАТВАРЫН ХУВЬ, ХЭМЖЭЭГ ӨӨРЧЛӨХИЙГ ДЭМЖИВ
"Импортын барааны гаалийн албан татварын хувь, хэмжээг батлах тухай" Улсын Их Хурлын 1999 оны тогтоолын 27 дугаар хавсралтад өөрчлөлт оруулах тухай тогтоолын төслийг Засгийн газрын хуралдаанаар хэлэлцэн дэмжиж, гишүүдийн гаргасан саналыг тусган Улсын Их Хуралд өргөн мэдүүлэхээр боллоо.
Төсөл батлагдсанаар хатуу буудай болон улаанбуудайн хөх тарианы холимогонд жилийн турш 20 хувь, зөөлөн буудайнд 15 хувь, ОХУ-аас оруулж ирж байгаа улаан буудайн гаалийн татварын хэмжээг тодорхой хугацаанд 40 хувь болгоно.
Энэ нь ажлын байрыг хадгалах, хүнсний аюулгүй байдлыг хангах, дотоодын үйлдвэрлэл эрхлэгчдийг дэмжих зорилгоор авч байгаа арга хэмжээ юм.
Энэ жил манай улс урьдчилсан байдлаар 427 мянган тонн үр тариа, үүнээс буудай 419.1 мянга, овъёос 3.4 мянга, арвай 2.8 мянга, хөх тариа 0.3 мянган тонныг хураан авах төлөвтэй байна.
Жилдээ 240 мянган тонн гурил хэрэглэдэг манай улс 2011-2012 онд 277.4 мянган тонн гурил үйлдвэрлэж, хэрэгцээт буудай, гурилынхаа хэрэгцээг дотоодоос 100 хувь хангах бүрэн боломж бүрдээд байна гэж Засгийн газрын Хэвлэл, мэдээллийн албанаас мэдээллээ.
- Монгол Улсын Хөгжлийн банкны хувь нийлүүлсэн хөрөнгийг 33 тэрбум төгрөгөөр нэмэгдүүлэхээр Засгийн газрын хуралдаанаас шийдвэрлэлээ. Шаардлагатай хөрөнгийг ирэх оны төсвийн төсөлд тусгахыг Сангийн сайд С.Баярцогтод даалгав. Мөн 2011-2012 оны төсвийн жилд 600 тэрбум төгрөгийн зээлийг гадаад болон дотоодын санхүүгийн байгууллагаас авахыг Хөгжлийн банкны Төлөөлөн Удирдах Зөвлөлд зөвшөөрөв.
- "Үнэт цаас болон Засгийн газрын баталгаа гаргах тухай" Засгийн газрын 2011 оны 3 дугаар сарын 16-ны өдрийн 85 дугаар тогтоолд өөрчлөлт оруулав. Энэ дагуу 1 дүгээр зүйлийн "гадаад валют болон хаалттай хэлбэрээр" гэснийг "гадаад валютаар хаалттай болон нээлттэй хэлбэрээр" гэж, 2 дугаар зүйлийн "үнэт цаасны" гэснийг "үнэт цаас, зээлийн" гэж өөрчиллөө. Ингэснээр манай улсаас гадаад зах зээлд гаргаж байгаа анхны, их хэмжээний өрийн бичгийн хүүгийн түвшинг боломжит хамгийн бага түвшинд тогтоох, өрийн бичиг болон зээлийн хүүгийн зөрүүгээр төсөвт үзүүлэх хүүгийн төлбөрийн дарамтыг бууруулах, зах зээлийн нөхцөл байдлаас хамааруулан өрийн бичгээ уян хатан байдлаар хаалттай болон нээлттэй хэлбэрээр гаргах боломжтой болно гэж Засгийн газар үзлээ.
"Төвийн бүсийн цахилгаан дамжуулах сүлжээ" компанийн Дархан-Сэлэнгийн салбарт үүссэн аваарийн хор уршгийг арилгах, цахилгаан дамжуулах агаарын шугамыг сэргээх босгоход шаардагдах 860 сая төгрөг, "Дархан-Сэлэнгийн цахилгаан түгээх сүлжээ" компанид учирсан хохирлыг арилгах, сэргээн засварлахад шаардлагатай 16 сая төгрөг, нийт 876 сая төгрөгийг Засгийн газрын нөөц сангаас гаргахаар болов. Цахилгаан дамжуулах агаарын шугамын сэргээн босголтын ажлыг шуурхай зохион байгуулж, системийн хэвийн, найдвартай ажиллагааг хангах, хэрэглэгчдийг эрчим хүчээр тасралтгүй хангахыг салбарын сайдад үүрэг болголоо. Нөөц сангаас олгосон хөрөнгийг зориулалтын дагуу зарцуулж, тайлангаа энэ оны 4 дүгээр улиралд багтаан Онцгой байдлын Ерөнхий газарт ирүүлэхийг мөн даалгалаа.
PM Batbold's media statement after presenting 2012 budget to parliament
МОНГОЛ УЛСЫН ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙД С.БАТБОЛД МЭДЭЭЛЭЛ ХИЙВ
September 30 (Government Press Office) --
2012 оны төсвийн төсөл, "Нийгмийн даатгалын сан" болон "Хүний хөгжил сан"-гийн төсвийн төслийг Улсын Их Хуралд өргөн барьсантай холбогдуулан Монгол Улсын Ерөнхий сайд С.Батболд хэвлэл, мэдээллийнхэнд мэдээлэл хийлээ.
Ирэх жилийн төсөв Засгийн газрын үйл ажиллагааны мөрийн хөтөлбөрийг бүрэн биелүүлэхэд чиглэсэн, нөөц боломжоо шахуу дайчилсан төсөв гэж Ерөнхий сайд тэмдэглэлээ.
2012 оны эцэст нэг хүнд ногдох Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүн 6.3сая төгрөг буюу 5362 ам.долларт хүрэх нь. Ирэх онд нэгдсэн төсвийн тэнцвэржүүлсэн орлого 6.4 их наяд төгрөг буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 36хувь, нийт зарлага 7.1 их наяд төгрөг буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 39.5 хувь байхаар төсөлд тусгажээ.
Нэгдсэн төсвийн нийт зарлага 7.1 их наяд төгрөг буюу Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 39.5 хувь, нийт алдагдал Дотоодын нийт бүтээгдэхүүний 4.1 хувьд хүрэх нь. 2011 оны төсвийн алдагдал 9.9 хувиар батлагдсан. Үүнтэй зэрэгцүүлж үзвэл ирэх оны төсвийн алдагдал 2.4 дахин буурахаар байна.
Ирэх жил "Эрүүл хүүхэд" үндэсний хөтөлбөрийг хэрэгжүүлэхээс гадна байгаль орчныг хамгаалах хөрөнгийг эрс нэмэгдүүлнэ. Мөн нийслэлийн агаарын бохирдлыг бууруулахад зориулж 71,2 тэрбум төгрөгийг төсөвт тусгажээ. "Таван-Эрдэнэ" арга хэмжээг хэрэгжүүлж, мал аж ахуйг эдийн засгийн идэвхтэй эргэлтэнд оруулан, жижиг, дунд бизнес эрхлэгчдийг дэмжиж, ажлын байр олноор бий болгоход Засгийн газар анхаарч байна.
2012 онд улсын төсвөөс 1.5 их наяд төгрөгийн хөрөнгө оруулалт, бүтээн байгуулалтын ажил хийхээр төлөвлөж байна. Энэ нь 2011 оны батлагдсан хөрөнгө оруулалтын хэмжээнээс 2.4 дахин нэмэгдсэн гэсэн үг бөгөөд урьд өмнө байгаагүй үзүүлэлт болж байна.
Төсвийн төслөөс харахад ирэх онд :
- Төсвийн орлогын тогтвортой эх үүсвэрийг бүрдүүлэх, орлогын тэгш хуваарилалтыг хангах, уул уурхайн салбарт татварын болон бусад бодлогын зохицуулалтыг оновчтой бүрдүүлэх замаар байгалийн нөөцийг иргэн бүрт үр ашигтай хүртээх
- Хүний хөгжилд суурилсан эдийн засгийн хөгжлийн цогц бодлогыг хэрэгжүүлэх
- Төмөр зам, автозам, цахилгаан станц зэрэг эдийн засгийн суурь дэд бүтцийг өргөжүүлэх, бүтээн байгуулалыг дэмжих
- Хөгжлийн зорилтуудыг хэрэгжүүлэхэд шаардлагатай санхүүгийн боломжит бүх эх үүсвэрийг хамгийн бага зардлаар бүрдүүлэхийг гол зорилтоо болгожээ.
Монгол Улсын Ерөнхий сайдын хийсэн мэдээллээс үзвэл ирэх онд :
Нэг. Цалин, тэтгэвэр, тэтгэмжийг нэмэгдүүлэх талаар.
- Цалин, тэтгэвэр, тэтгэмжийг 2012 онд нийтдээ 53 хувиар нэмэх бөгөөд үүний дүнд цалин 2008 оны түвшингээс 2 дахин нэмэгдэнэ. Ингэснээр төрийн албан хаагчдын дундаж цалин 200.0 мянган төгрөгөөр нэмэгдэж 600.0 мянган төгрөгт хүрнэ.
- Цалин нэмэхдээ хүн бүрийн цалинг жигд хувиар биш ялгавартай нэмэгдүүлэх зарчим баримтална. Иймд төрийн албан хаагчдын цалинг эхний ээлжинд ижил мөнгөн дүнгээр буюу /80000 төгрөгөөр/,дараагийн ээлжинд ижил хувиар /23 хувиар/ нэмэгдүүлэхээр тооцжээ.
- Ингэснээр төрийн албан хаагчдын доод цалин 2008 оны түвшингээс 2.3 дахин, үндсэн мэргэжилтэн багш, эмч нарын цалин 2.0 дахин, дээд цалин 1.8 дахин нэмэгдэнэ.
- Цалин нэмэх асуудлыг Хөдөлмөр, нийгмийн зөвшилцлийн 3 талт үндэсний хороогоор хэлэлцүүлж, талууд нэгдсэн зөвшилцөлд хүрчээ.
- Энэ удаад тэтгэвэр нэмэгдүүлэхийг тэтгэврийн шинэчлэлтэй хамтад нь шийдэж, суурь тэтгэврийн тогтолцоонд шилжүүлнэ. Эхний шатанд бүх хүний тэтгэврийг ижил мөнгөн дүнгээр, дараагийн шатанд тэтгэврийн хэмжээг харгалзан ялгаатай нэмэгдүүлэхээр тусгажээ. Тэтгэврийг дунджаар 53 хувиар нэмэгдүүлж, 2008 оны түвшингээс 2 дахин өсгөнө.
Хоёр. "Хүний хөгжил сан"-гаас 1,500,000 төгрөг олгох талаар :
- Стратегийн орд газруудаас орох орлогоос иргэн бүрт 1.5 сая төгрөгийн хишиг хүртээх эрх зүйн болон санхүүгийн эх үүсвэрийг бүрдүүлэхээр Засгийн газрын мөрийн хөтөлбөрт тусгаснаа ирэх онд бүрэн хэрэгжүүлнэ.
- Үлдэгдэл 1 сая төгрөгийг ахмад настан, хөгжлийн бэрхшээлтэй 334,2 мянган иргэнд бэлнээр буюу нийт 334,2 тэрбум, 170 мянган оюутанд сургалтын төлбөр хэлбэрээр 83,6 тэрбум, эрүүл мэндийн үйлчилгээний төлбөрт 5 мянган иргэнд 5 тэрбум, орон сууц худалдаж авсны төлбөрт 100 мянган иргэнд 100 тэрбум төгрөг олгохоор төсвийн төсөлд тусгажээ.
- Ирэх онд иргэд 1.5 сая төгрөгөө бүрэн авна. 1 сая төгрөг хүртээхдээ ашигт малтмалын ордын хувьцааг бэлэн мөнгө болгох сонголттойгоор иргэддээ олгохоор Засгийн газар төлөвлөж байна. Өөрөөр хэлбэл мөнгөн хөрөнгөөр баталгаажсан энэ хувьцааг иргэд Засгийн газарт арилжиж бэлэн мөнгө болгох бүрэн боломжтой юм.
ENERGY SUPPLY TO BE NORMALIZED BY OCTOBER
September 30. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ On Thursday, September 29, the State Emergency Commission considered matters on breakdown of energy supply in Darkhan-Uul and Selenge aimags, on present situation of the harvesting and on weather forecast.
As of today, electricity cut off in Saikhan, Yoroo, Khuder, Orkhon, Orkhontuul, Tsagaantolgoi soums of Selenge aimag, and Darkhan and Khongor soums of Darkhan-Uul aimag. Thus, a measure is being taken by a working group at the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy to repair the electric lines and it is expected the electricity supply will be normalized by 1st of October. Money of MNT 876 million will be allotted from the state budget for the repair.
MP questions PM about Development Bank
September 30 (news.mn) On Thursday, MP R.Amarjargal sent an official note to Prime Minister S.Batbold about plans by the Development Bank (DB) to issue bonds.
Amarjargal raised questions about the bonds' interest rate. He also asked the PM to explain the criteria for projects and programs that will be financed by the DB; what guarantees the Government will make to back the bonds; and the need for the bonds to be issued in the first place.
Amarjargal also asked if the bond issue will be accounted for in the state budget; if the DB has officially registered with state financial authorities; and what kind of effect the bonds might have on the state debt.
By law, such queries must be responded to within two weeks or they will be forwarded to Parliament.
Officials convicted of corruption, sentenced to four years
September 30 (news.mn) A Khan-Uul district court convicted two former state officials of corruption on September 29, and sentenced each to four years in prison. P.Dash, the former head of the National Emergency General Board, and L.Altangerel, the former head of the State Reserve Completion Office, were found guilty of misusing their positions for personal gain.
The two men arranged for repairs to be made to the offices of the National Emergency General Board without calling issuing a call for bids and without the permission of the State Property Committee. The repairs were found to be below standard. The pair also bought cars for their organizations without permission. A court official told our correspondent that the court showed the men mercy by sentencing them to just four years.
Former Anod bank officials released from prison
September 30 (news.mn) Three former Anod Bank officials convicted of swindling shareholders have been released on bail. N.Davaa, E.Gur-Aranz, and U.Enkhtur released on September 29, after a Bayanzurkh district court hearing.
Since his arrest last May, N.Davaa's health has deteriorated and he is currently hospitalized.
The three men were convicted of stealing money from shareholders of the bank, and of misappropriating money deposited in savings accounts. The men were bailed out once before, but subsequently incarcerated again.
The investigation into the case is ongoing, and other officials may still face changes.
Director General of NATO International Military Staff meets senior officials in Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), 29 Sep 2011 (NATO) - Lieutenant General Juergen Bornemann, Director General International Military Staff (DG IMS), concluded a three-day visit to Mongolia's capital today at the invitation of the Mongolian Minister of Defence.
During the visit, Lt Gen Bornemann and the delegation from NATO HQ had the opportunity to meet with the Presidency and the Security Council of Mongolia, as well to visit the Mongolian Institute of Strategic Studies.
The programme included meetings with H.E. Luvsanvandan Bold, Minister of Defence, Mr Surenkhuui Baasankhuu, Vice Minister of Defence, and Lt.Gen. Tserendejid Byambajav, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Mongolia and Mr. Ulziisaikhan Enktushvin, Secretary of the National Security Council.
This visit reinforced NATO's ongoing engagement with Mongolia. In particular, LtGen Bornemann took the opportunity to discuss NATO-Mongolian cooperation at the strategic level and Mongolia's current and future involvement in international crisis management.
Mongolia's contribution to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan was also discussed and Mongolia's intention to increase its contingent was welcomed by DGIMS.
Current threats and security challenges were also covered, including cyber attacks and terrorism as well as the current global financial crisis and its effects on defence planning.
LtGen Bornemann also met with Brigadier General Boldbaatar Zagdsuren, the Director of the Defense University of Mongolia, where DGIMS was invited to a deliver a speech to the directing staff, in which he gave an overview on the current NATO agenda.
Finding growth far off the grid
Don't let recent market machinations make you miss out on growth opportunities -- wherever you find them. Right now, Mongolia has the makings of a success story.
September 30 (MSN Money) Given the mayhem in the markets recently -- or a few weeks ago, or a few months ago; take your pick -- I wouldn't blame anyone for feeling like they just wanted to crawl off into a cave and put a big "Wake me when it's over" sign on the entrance.
Thanks, I believe, in large part to the ascendance of computerized trading, volatility is off the charts. That's true even in the notoriously volatile precious-metals sector, which saw a stomach-churning decline a little over a week ago after a particularly strong showing of late. In times like these, the general feeling is that no matter what you do, it will be wrong.
Certainly the world is full of problems, and I have spilled more than my share of virtual ink discussing them: from our own economic and fiscal woes and relentlessly bad policy (monetary, political, you name it), to concerns about sovereign debt and the stability of various banking systems in Europe -- particularly Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. And those are just the issues that have to do with money.
Believe it or not, however, investment opportunities are still out there. Exciting ones. Good ones. Possibly great ones. And while it may be tempting to bury one's head in the sand, I would encourage such behavior only if the sand in question is located somewhere in particular: namely, Mongolia (a country Sam Zell recently said was on its way to becoming a massive "sovereign wealth fund").
Not just deserts
For those who don't know, I am a director of Mongolia Growth Group, a Canada-based company with operations in Mongolia, which currently trades on the Canadian National Stock Exchange (YAK, American Depository Receipt symbol: MNGGF).
Founded last February, the company is focused primarily on real-estate investment and insurance.
The investment case for Mongolia relies on a number of key factors:
· It is new to capitalism (which essentially began there in 1991).
· The country has huge amounts of untapped natural resources, particularly minerals.
· Gross domestic product in 2010 was more than $5 billion spread over 2.7 million people.
· Just one large mining project there, Oyu Tolgoi, will require $6 billion and generate $7 billion a year in revenue at current metals prices.
· There are enough new mines and other projects that GDP could grow at double-digit rates for the next decade.
(For those who would like to know more about the country, see the current issue of National Geographic.)
Trying to invest from abroad, however, presents several obstacles, including:
· Only a few dozen companies trade on the country's stock exchange, and they do so infrequently. None trade in the U.S.
· Financial disclosure is not adequate in most cases.
Poised for growth
So while the Mongolian economy is poised for growth, and the country's unique history and characteristics serve to insulate it from many of the problems currently facing many "advanced" nations, it is almost impossible to seize the opportunity from afar. You have to be there, in person, on the ground, which is why Mongolia Growth Group was created and why I am involved in it.
A couple of weeks ago I was able to visit the country for the first time, and I was very favorably impressed. From what I could see and the people I met, Mongolia has a very hard-working, energetic population (the median age is about 27). I guess when you are descendents of nomads, you tend to be pretty self-sufficient and not inclined to look for handouts. I think the opportunities there are going to be open-ended, though challenges will certainly be part of the equation.
Unfortunately, the air quality is often poor, but I expect as citizens there become wealthier, that problem will be tackled. Transportation is also an issue. The way the capital, Ulan Bator, is laid out, horrible traffic congestion is going to be a feature for quite some time, though that does present other opportunities from a real-estate investment standpoint.
More than just talking their book
As for the sociopolitical realm, it seems that capitalism is already pretty well rooted there. Since it is formerly a socialist country, folks have seen what that failed experiment looks like. Along that line, Harris Kupperman (the CEO of MGG and a longtime friend) told me that Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" was the No. 1 English-language book translated into Mongolian, which tells you something about how the people view capitalism versus socialism.
Perhaps the highlight of the trip was meeting the deputy governor of the Mongolian central bank. He was a breath of fresh air, common sense-oriented and not a believer in central planning at all. He stated that he thought Mongolia would be "heaven" for investors, and that if "China's growth rate dropped to zero, Mongolia would still be fantastic."
While I was there I opened a bank account, which must be done in person and for business reasons, as they are trying to keep hot-money inflows to a minimum.
Where I'm invested
Lastly, as it pertains to MGG, as a director and a shareholder I am biased. But I will say that I think the team of people that Harris and Chief Operating Officer Jordan Calonego have put together is extraordinarily talented. I was very impressed with how intelligent and industrious they were. Though I am sure there will be mistakes made along the way and problems to deal with in the investments they choose, I could not be happier with the quality of the people I met who are associated with MGG.
To be sure, MGG is a new venture in a foreign land, so it is no doubt far riskier than the average U.S. blue chip. But for the portion of my capital dedicated to such ideas, particularly given the state of the rest of the world, I have not found anything I like better.
Folks should definitely be on the lookout for ways to try to capture the opportunities that exist in Mongolia. For a country that is the size of Iran but with one-thirtieth the population, sitting on China's northern border, chock full of all the things China needs, I think the rewards will ultimately prove to be well worth the risk.
On the air
In my latest interview with Eric King, we discuss the recent metals correction, the miners, Europe and my recent trip to Mongolia.
Mongolia hands it to a cast of neighbors
ULAN BATOR, 1 October (Asia Times) - Before embarking for the United States, Mongolia's President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj sat down with the Washington Post for a charm offensive, at least in terms that Mongolians understand: dispensing comparisons to Genghis Khan that they, at least deem flattering.
Elbegdorj has lessons for USA from Mongolia's past
As the leader of a diminished land that was once an invincible superpower, President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has some advice for Americans fatigued by the burdens of global power: Remember Genghis Khan, and stick with your friends. "It is tough, but Mongolia was the biggest power in the world, and we had the same responsibility," Mr Elbegdorj said ... Genghis Khan's warriors killed lots of people, to be sure, but according to the president ... it was done in a good cause.
"Do you think we just went to places and killed?" Mr Elbegdorj said. "No." Mongolia, he said, used its muscle to keep trade along the Silk Road flowing and to enforce a written law. And "when there was a killer, or in today's expression, a terrorist nation," he said, "we were God's will to make them peaceful ... When there was a poor nation, we helped them."
Perhaps President Barack Obama did not appreciate being compared either to Genghis Khan, or having the United States regarded in terms similar to the currently impoverished, land-locked nation of Mongolia.
During the obligatory group photo of world leaders attending the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, Obama chose to wave at somebody behind the camera as the picture was snapped, thereby obscuring the face of the supremo standing next to him.
The face behind the hand? Mongolia's President Elbegdorj.
Talk to the hand, President Elbegdorj.
America's faux news comedy program The Colbert Report had a hearty laugh at Mongolia's expense, warning that the affront endangered America's access to Mongolian pony races, fermented mare's milk and throat singing. [1]
Maybe Mongolia will have the last laugh, instead.
As the United States lumbers into a decade of economic stagnation and political gridlock, Mongolia is poised to double the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of its citizens at a single stroke and grow its economy at a rate of almost 10% over the next few years.
Key to Mongolia's economic future - and its primary political challenge - is development of its immense mineral resources of copper, gold, coal and uranium.
The Scylla and Charybdis of Mongolian economic policy are the twin threats of resource nationalism and resource diplomacy. The vital indicator that Mongolia is open for business is the Oyu Tolgai copper and gold mine in the Gobi Desert.
After years of negotiation (and repeal of a windfall profits tax that foreign resource companies deemed onerous), in 2009 the Mongolian government struck a deal for a joint venture between its state-owned resource giant, Erdenes MGL LLC, and a foreign partner, Ivanhoe Mines (minority owned by Rio Tinto, which will be the actual mine operator).
The mine will take about US$6.3 billion to develop, so the government agreed to limit the Mongolian share of the profits to 34% for 30 years, to allow the foreign partners to recoup their investment.
This was seen as too sweet a deal by certain members of the Mongolian legislature, who recently demanded that the national share be bumped up to 50% immediately.
Elbegdorj, who had indicated during his presidential campaign in 2009 that he favored a 50% deal, acted quickly and favorably to the request. On September 25, his Mining Minister, D Zorigt, announced that the government wanted to get to the 50% level sooner aka not immediately. [2]
The stage is set for the inevitable horse-trading - and threats from the foreign side that pushing too hard on Oyu Tolgoi will damage the perception of Mongolia as a hospitable environment for foreign investors on other, equally critical projects.
Upon receipt of Zorigt's letter requesting negotiations on the time frame, Ivanhoe (which has already sunk $3 billion of its own and Rio Tinto's money in the project) responded:
"The investment agreement has been fundamental in building Mongolia's reputation as an increasingly reliable and stable destination for foreign investment," Ivanhoe said. "With many significant resources projects still to be financed and developed - including the proposed overseas listing of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi - Ivanhoe Mines is confident that Mongolia's leadership understands the fundamental importance of Oyu Tolgoi's contractual commitments and stabilized investment agreement that were formalized less than two years ago. [3]
Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi is Mongolia's other major near-term resource play.
It is also Elbegdorj's chance to demonstrate that his brand of enlightened resource nationalism can get a mega-project off the drawing board and into production more quickly and equitably than his political rivals.
So far, the results appear rather mixed.
Tavan Tolgoi is called the second-largest coal deposit in the world: 7 billion tons of thermal coal (for power plants) and coking coal (for blast furnace operations in steel mills) near the Chinese border in the Gobi Desert (and quite close to Oyu Tolgoi).
Remarkably, China is interested in Tavan Tolgoi, because it represents a source of supply superior to many of its own mines.
Mongolia currently lacks the financial, technological, and logistical wherewithal to develop Tavan Tolgoi itself, a project that would require well over $10 billion in investment.
Crude business logic would seem to dictate opening Tavan Tolgoi to Chinese development.
However, allowing the Chinese to swarm into the Gobi Desert, dig up a big chunk of the motherland, and ship it off to China is a non-starter.
Beyond a generic affront to the resource nationalist sensibilities of the Mongolian electorate, a Chinese monopoly on Tavan Tolgoi is impossible.
China's extensive economic penetration of Mongolia is widely resented, and hostility to China is the default setting of Mongolian politics.
On the popular level, it is not quite safe for Chinese to walk the streets of Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator. Mongolia's democratic miracle does not encompass anything approaching full employment, so any plan for economic development that permits Chinese workers relatively free access to a Mongolian megaproject is political suicide.
On the elite level, Mongolia cannot be excessively cavalier in its relations with China, which accounts for over half of its international economic activity.
The attempt to keep China at arm's length is expressed diplomatically and discreetly as Mongolia's "third neighbor" policy. The first two neighbors are China and Russia.
The "third neighbor" is pretty much any nation that Mongolia can entice into a political and diplomatic alliance to counter China. The list of "third neighbors" is theoretically infinite, but for practical purposes consists of the United States, South Korea and Japan and, to a lesser extent, India.
Tavan Tolgoi looks like an attempt to gratify all the neighbors that ends up satisfying on one. As the plan stands today:
· Erdenes MGL has set up a subsidiary company, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, which holds the mining licenses.
· Erdenes TT has divided the coal reserves into two fields: East Tsankhi and West Tsankhi.
· West Tsankhi is Mongolia's exclusive slice of coal heaven, containing a majority of the coal reserves, primarily thermal coal, which will be exported largely to China.
· East Tsankhi - the coking coal - is to be awarded to a foreign group that is expected to pay handsomely for the privilege of developing the mine. High quality coking coal of the sort available at Tavan Tolgoi is a valuable international commodity attractive to steel mills in "third neighbors" in South Korea and Japan, as well as China.
In the first iteration, the Mongolian government announced that East Tsankhi would be developed by a consortium consisting of China's Shenhua (40%), America's Peabody Coal (24%) and the Russian Railway Corporation (18%) and the Mongolian Railway Corporation (18%).
After an outcry from South Korea and Japan - who are, after all, Mongolia's largest aid donors - the government backtracked and announced that the percentages would be juggled to make room for representatives of the two nations.
Further complexity is pitched into the situation by the most exciting element of Mongolia's resource play: the plan to list Erdenes TT simultaneously on the Hong Kong, London, and Ulan Bator stock exchanges.
Thirty percent of Erdenes TT stock will be sold in an initial public offering (IPO) to international investors through the good offices of Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, with an assist from BNP Paribas SA and Australia's Macquarie Group.
Estimates for the value of the IPO careen from $1.5 to $10 billion, making Erdenes TT the 2012 wet dream for the international investment banking community. Avidity for underwriting the IPO apparently inspired a mass migration of competing financiers to Ulan Bator in the dead of the Mongolian winter, and provoked a shoving match between competing bankers in one of Ulan Bator's premier drinking establishments.
Ten percent of the stock will be given away to every citizen of Mongolia, giving ever Mongolian title to 538 shares of stock.
Mongolian national companies (with no foreign ownership) will be given the opportunity to buy another 10% "at face value".
The mechanism to credit each Mongolian, including its itinerant population of nomadic herders, is apparently not yet finalized.
In distributing the shares, hopefully the debacle of privatization in the 1990s - when a predatory and well-informed minority duped many Mongolians into giving up their shares in privatized state corporations for a pittance - can be avoided this time.
The Elbegdorj government is anxious to follow through on a campaign promise to demonstrate the concrete economic benefits of its strategy to ordinary Mongolians.
It is desirable, therefore, that the IPO go through per schedule at the beginning of next year.
It is even more important to nail down the East Tsankhi consortium, because finalizing the deal will hopefully result in the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in pre-paid taxes in time to give Mongolians some walking-around money prior to the upcoming elections.
As Mining Minister D. Zorigt put it in an April 2010 interview:
Q: Sources confirm that the pre-payment will be higher than Oyu Tolgoi. How much will it be?
D. Zorigt: We will work to gain more than Oyu Tolgoi. [4]
China already obligingly signed a $250 million contract for Mongolian coal to be delivered over the next five years. "Obligingly" may be stretching it, because it appears that China is getting the coal at below-market price. The fire-sale price was apparently necessary so that the Mongolian government could move coal out to China this summer and rustle up some much-needed cash for its Human Development Fund. [5]
However, Mongolia's pursuit of third-neighborliness will put its ambitious Tavan Tolgoi timetable to the test.
The key problem is the railroad.
Russian involvement in the Tavan Tolgoi East Tsankhi is important to the Mongolian government since it would enable construction of a rail line connecting the mine to the Russian rail system and onward to Pacific markets such as Japan and South Korea, thereby eliminating sole (and risky) reliance on the good offices of China in moving the coal to market.
China cuts transportation links to Mongolia whenever Mongolia commits a Dalai Lama-related offense. It also stands accused of unilaterally fiddling with freight rates for Mongolia-related cargo, so a second rail line is a logical piece of geopolitical insurance.
In some quarters, the Russian rail line is touted as the economic and geopolitical salvation for Mongolia, as it will shift the country's center of gravity away from China and toward Russia and Japan and South Korea.
The rail line is an expensive precaution, however.
Tavan Tolgoi is only 200 km from the Chinese border and not much further from a linkup with the Chinese rail system. The Russian line will require 600 to 900 km of new construction costing up to $3 billion on the Mongolian side of the border and perhaps another $2 billion on the Russian side, depending on the route chosen.
Operating costs are another problem.
By the time a Russian port is reached 5,000 km away, freight costs may have tripled (and profits reduced profits by 90%) compared to a China export channel, according to the World Bank. [6]
Private investment was already available to build the line to China.
But the Mongolian government blocked the project in favor of the Russian line - which has already attracted the skepticism of the World Bank and is unlikely to be greeted enthusiastically by other international lenders, let alone the private sector.
Originally, the Russians laid down a marker that they expected 25% of Tavan Tolgoi in return for building the railroad. It seems the Mongolian government hoped to offer less.
To ensure its participation in the Tavan Tolgoi project on appropriate terms, Russia allegedly cut off deliveries of diesel fuel to Mongolia over the summer of 2010, when the Mongolian government was debating its strategy. [7]
At face value, the Russians may be getting more than 25% of the pie. Russian National Railways is slated for 18% and Mongolian National Railways - in which RNR holds a half-interest - is reportedly getting another 18%. [8]
The Russian demand highlights the shaky economic underpinnings of the project - and Russian doubts that the gold-plated insurance policy will pay off.
If economic logic reasserts itself after the mine is set up, the China rail line gets built, and the operators decide to ship coking coal out through Qinghuangdao for $55 per ton instead of through Russia for $84 per ton or more, the Russian tracks will be idle and the investment will have to be recovered by claiming a 25% share of profits from the China-routed exports. [9]
For good measure, the Mongolian government brought in another "third neighbor" to Tavan Tolgoi. Peabody Coal is valued for its technical and environmental good offices, for giving America - missing in action in Mongolia - some skin in the game, and, presumably, further diluting the Chinese stake in the enterprise.
China's Shenhua Energy is already saddled with two unwanted partners and an effective 25% tax on profits in order to subsidize a Russo-Mongolian strategic rail link.
Now, the word is out that its share may be trimmed further to accommodate Japan and South Korea.
And if the Mongolian government decides to block the China rail line in order to keep the Russian rail line humming, shipping coal to China by truck will become a logistical impossibility as production grows to a projected 30 million tons per year.
China is undoubtedly feeling the love by now.
It also probably feels it has the leverage as well.
The spat between the Mongolian government and Ivanhoe/Rio Tinto revealed that an important source of anxiety is the possibility that China might not provide the access to its electric power grid needed to make the Oyu Tolgai copper project and its US$ 6 billion investment feasible.
Electricity for Oyu Tolgai in exchange for a rail line to China for Tavan Tolgai? Maybe.
West Tsankhi's premium coking coal might be salable through Russia, albeit with negligible profits; but if East Tsankhi doesn't get a rail line to China, Tavan Tolgoi's millions of tons of commodity thermal coal can't be delivered competitively to Chinese power plants.
And it's not going to go anywhere else.
If Oyu Tolgai blows up, the Mongolian government can't get the lions and lambs lay down together in Tavan Tolgoi West Tsankhi, and it looks like the government is unwilling to do what needs to be done to ensure East Tsankhi's competitiveness, then international finance's enthusiasm for the Erdenes Tavan Tolgai IPO is likely to evaporate.
That IPO is a bonanza that the Mongolian government is really counting on to kickstart Mongolia's economic growth, catapult Mongolia in the first rank of resource economies, and line the pockets of deserving and undeserving Mongolian citizens alike.
Under these circumstances, it is probably best that Mongolia's mining negotiations are conducted in secret and the Mongolian public isn't exposed to the contortions needed to simultaneously keep the Chinese on board and the "third neighbor" policy moving forward.
CNNGo: Ulaanbaatar
Unexpected Mongolia
Genghis Khan fashions, monasteries and black markets -- this booming capital is our most unique stop thus far.
Undiscovered Ulaanbaatar
Genghis Khan fashions, monasteries and black markets -- this booming capital is our most unique stop thus far.
What do you make of Mongolia?
Genghis Khan fashions, monasteries and black markets -- this booming capital is our most unique stop thus far.
<Mogi & Friends Fund A/C>
-9.2%
Mogi & Friends Fund is a tiny fund of A$23K I created in late September with a few friends to put my own (and a few friends') money where my mouth (just mine) is.
…
Mogi
Table: Mongolia Related Stocks (Source: Bloomberg)
Name | Symbol | $ | Price | Change | +-% | Open | High | Low | Volume | Time | % YTD | % 12 m | |
Indices | ASX 200 | 4,008.60 | 0.30005 | 0.01% | 4,014.10 | 4,035.30 | 3,980.50 | - | 30-Sep | ||||
Nikkei 225 | 17,592.41 | -418.65 | -2.32% | 17,946.24 | 17,946.24 | 17,502.08 | - | 30-Sep | |||||
Hang Seng | 8,700.29 | -0.94043 | -0.01% | 8,713.91 | 8,756.00 | 8,653.62 | - | 30-Sep | |||||
FTSE 100 | 5,128.48 | -68.3599 | -1.32% | 5,196.84 | 5,197.33 | 5,068.63 | - | 30-Sep | |||||
TSX Composite | 11,623.84 | -62.4805 | -0.53% | 11,565.78 | 11,685.08 | 11,535.22 | - | 30-Sep | |||||
S&P 500 | 1,131.42 | -28.98 | -2.50% | 1,159.93 | 1,159.93 | 1,131.34 | - | 30-Sep | |||||
ASX | Aspire Mining | A$ | 0.455 | 0.02 | 4.60% | 0.43 | 0.455 | 0.43 | 108,177 | 30-Sep | -5.21% | 213.79% | |
Blina Minerals | A$ | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0 | 29-Sep | -33.33% | -44.44% | ||
C@ | A$ | 0.056 | -0.002 | -3.45% | 0.058 | 0.058 | 0.056 | 924,500 | 30-Sep | 100.00% | 250.00% | ||
General Mining | A$ | 0.13 | -0.005 | -3.70% | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 52,700 | 30-Sep | 8.33% | -10.34% | ||
Guildford Coal | A$ | 0.98 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.96 | 1.02 | 0.96 | 381,245 | 30-Sep | 34.25% | 154.55% | ||
Haranga Resources | A$ | 0.23 | 0.01 | 4.55% | 0.22 | 0.23 | 0.22 | 160,344 | 30-Sep | -64.06% | |||
Hunnu Coal | A$ | 1.685 | -0.01 | -0.59% | 1.69 | 1.695 | 1.68 | 2,895,873 | 30-Sep | 26.22% | 91.48% | ||
Mongolian Res Corp | A$ | 0.26 | 0.05 | 23.81% | 0.25 | 0.26 | 0.25 | 60,000 | 30-Sep | ||||
TVN Corp. | A$ | 0.044 | -0.001 | -2.22% | 0.045 | 0.045 | 0.044 | 1,117,483 | 30-Sep | 340.00% | |||
Voyager Resources | A$ | 0.08 | 0.007 | 9.59% | 0.075 | 0.08 | 0.075 | 18,271,752 | 30-Sep | 49.18% | 266.18% | ||
Xanadu Mines | A$ | 0.4 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 10,415 | 30-Sep | -29.20% | |||
HKEx | Solartech Int'l | HKD | 0.185 | 0.001 | 0.54% | 0.178 | 0.185 | 0.172 | 2,018,700 | 30-Sep | -80.73% | -66.96% | |
Winsway | HKD | 1.84 | 0.04 | 2.22% | 1.85 | 1.88 | 1.76 | 15,483,000 | 30-Sep | -59.06% | |||
SouthGobi Resources | HKD | 48.9 | -4.1 | -7.74% | 49 | 52 | 48.6 | 144,250 | 30-Sep | -50.85% | -36.98% | ||
China Gold | HKD | 21.5 | -1.2 | -5.29% | 22.25 | 22.15 | 21.2 | 310,700 | 30-Sep | -48.81% | |||
CNNC Int'l | HKD | 1.96 | -0.14 | -6.67% | 2.05 | 2.05 | 1.94 | 480,000 | 30-Sep | -77.47% | -66.50% | ||
Mongolia Energy | HKD | 0.51 | 0.01 | 2.00% | 0.5 | 0.52 | 0.495 | 8,342,376 | 30-Sep | -78.02% | -84.16% | ||
Zijin Mining | HKD | 2.29 | -0.09 | -3.78% | 2.41 | 2.45 | 2.26 | 55,828,054 | 30-Sep | -51.45% | -46.97% | ||
Mongolia Inv Group | HKD | 0.045 | -0.001 | -2.17% | 0.046 | 0.046 | 0.045 | 3,240,000 | 30-Sep | -69.59% | -73.84% | ||
North Asia Resources | HKD | 0.48 | -0.01 | -2.04% | 0.48 | 0.48 | 0.48 | 0 | 30-Sep | -47.25% | -65.47% | ||
Bestway Int'l | HKD | 0.04 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0 | 30-Sep | -71.63% | -76.19% | ||
Asia Coal | HKD | 0.088 | 0.008 | 10.00% | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.088 | 300,000 | 30-Sep | -64.80% | -54.87% | ||
Mongolian Mining | HKD | 6.94 | -0.55 | -7.34% | 7.52 | 7.52 | 6.53 | 5,919,330 | 30-Sep | -23.48% | |||
SGX | LionGold | SGD | 0.87 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.87 | 0.875 | 0.865 | 8,835,000 | 30-Sep | 19.18% | 112.20% | |
LSE | Central Asia Metals | GBp | 69 | 0 | 0.00% | 69 | 69 | 69 | 1,466 | 30-Sep | -23.55% | -28.87% | |
Petro Matad | GBp | 38 | 0.5 | 1.33% | 37.5 | 40 | 37.5 | 143,398 | 30-Sep | -68.85% | -79.57% | ||
Metal-Tech | GBp | 9.75 | 0 | 0.00% | 9.75 | 9.75 | 9.75 | 0 | 30-Sep | -37.10% | -30.36% | ||
Origo Partners | GBp | 33 | 0 | 0.00% | 33 | 33 | 33 | 66,953 | 30-Sep | -19.51% | 12.82% | ||
North America | Aberdeen Int'l | CAD | 0.66 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.64 | 0.7 | 0.63 | 125,052 | 30-Sep | -18.38% | 45.69% | |
Blue Zen Mem. Parks | CAD | 0.15 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0 | 28-Sep | ||||
Centerra Gold | CAD | 19.51 | -0.1 | -0.51% | 19.72 | 20.14 | 18.88 | 636,914 | 30-Sep | 0.44% | 20.55% | ||
China Gold | CAD | 2.87 | 0.04 | 1.41% | 2.75 | 2.88 | 2.75 | 367,544 | 30-Sep | -47.15% | -40.21% | ||
Denison Mines | CAD | 1.12 | 0 | 0.00% | 1.13 | 1.13 | 1.06 | 1,579,856 | 30-Sep | -67.16% | -37.08% | ||
Denison Mines | $ | 1.06 | -0.02 | -1.85% | 1.07 | 1.07 | 1.0199 | 1,183,720 | 30-Sep | -69.01% | -39.77% | ||
East Asia Minerals | CAD | 0.51 | -0.04 | -7.27% | 0.55 | 0.55 | 0.51 | 74,800 | 30-Sep | -93.71% | -90.86% | ||
Entree Gold | $ | 1.39 | 0 | 0.00% | 1.48 | 1.48 | 1.34 | 109,059 | 30-Sep | -59.83% | -52.07% | ||
Erdene Resource | CAD | 0.4 | -0.025 | -5.88% | 0.42 | 0.42 | 0.36 | 114,493 | 30-Sep | -67.74% | -14.89% | ||
Entree Gold | CAD | 1.42 | -0.03 | -2.07% | 1.45 | 1.49 | 1.39 | 44,079 | 30-Sep | -59.08% | -51.70% | ||
Fortress Minerals | CAD | 5.21 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 8-Jun | |||||||
Garrison Int'l | CAD | 0.03 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0 | 26-Sep | -62.50% | |||
Gulfside Minerals | CAD | 0.07 | -0.03 | -30.00% | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 500 | 30-Sep | ||||
Green Tech Solutions | $ | 0.125 | 0.015 | 13.64% | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.1 | 58,920 | 30-Sep | -96.88% | |||
Ivanhoe Energy | CAD | 1.13 | 0.02 | 1.80% | 1.1 | 1.13 | 1.07 | 1,148,413 | 30-Sep | -58.46% | -48.64% | ||
Ivanhoe Energy | $ | 1.07 | -0.01 | -0.93% | 1.05 | 1.08 | 1.03 | 588,816 | 30-Sep | -60.66% | -50.69% | ||
Ivanhoe Mines | CAD | 14.45 | -1.26 | -8.02% | 15.23 | 15.49 | 14.33 | 1,599,235 | 30-Sep | -37.17% | -37.64% | ||
Ivanhoe Mines | $ | 13.7 | -1.42 | -9.39% | 14.51 | 14.82 | 13.67 | 4,646,160 | 30-Sep | -40.23% | -39.87% | ||
Kincora Copper | CAD | 0.315 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.315 | 0.315 | 0.315 | 0 | 29-Sep | ||||
Khan Resources | CAD | 0.23 | -0.03 | -11.54% | 0.255 | 0.255 | 0.23 | 25,000 | 30-Sep | -52.08% | -39.47% | ||
Long Harbour | CAD | 0.35 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 10-Mar | |||||||
Lucky Strike | CAD | 0.68 | 0.03 | 4.62% | 0.69 | 0.69 | 0.68 | 11,000 | 30-Sep | ||||
Meritus Minerals | CAD | 0.03 | -0.005 | -14.29% | 0.035 | 0.035 | 0.03 | 47,000 | 30-Sep | -90.00% | |||
Manas Petroleum | $ | 0.209 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.209 | 0.209 | 0.2 | 24,175 | 30-Sep | -65.17% | -61.93% | ||
Blue Wolf Mongolia | $ | 9.58 | 0 | 0.00% | 9.65 | 9.65 | 9.58 | 0 | 13-Sep | ||||
Blue Wolf Mongolia | $ | 10.15 | 0 | 0.00% | 10.3 | 10.3 | 10.15 | 0 | 26-Sep | ||||
Manas Petroleum | CAD | 0.43 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 10-May | |||||||
Prophecy Coal | CAD | 0.46 | -0.02 | -4.17% | 0.48 | 0.49 | 0.46 | 73,500 | 30-Sep | -47.32% | 10.84% | ||
Puget Ventures | CAD | 0.36 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 6-Aug | |||||||
SouthGobi Resources | CAD | 6.65 | 0.36 | 5.72% | 6.26 | 6.67 | 6.25 | 121,003 | 30-Sep | -45.40% | -37.32% | ||
Solomon Resources | CAD | 0.095 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.095 | 0.095 | 0.095 | 0 | 29-Sep | -72.86% | |||
Wedge Energy | CAD | 0.015 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 3-Aug | |||||||
Mongolia Growth Group | CAD | 4.81 | -0.01 | -0.21% | 4.82 | 4.82 | 4.74 | 25,100 | 30-Sep |
---
"Mogi" Munkhdul Badral
Senior Client Manager / Executive Director
CPS International LLC
Telephone/Fax: +976-11-321326
Mobile: +976-99996779
Email: mogi@cpsinternational.mn
P Please consider the environment before printing a copy of this email.
Central Tower · 12th Floor · Left Wing · 2 Sukhbaatar Square
Sukhbaatar District 8 · Ulaanbaatar 14200 · Mongolia
CPS International is a marketing arm of CPS Securities in Mongolia. CPS Securities is a Perth, Western Australia based AFSL License Holder. To trade ASX and international stocks, feel free to contact me at mogi@cpsinternational.mn or +976-99996779.
Disclosure/Disclaimer
CPS Securities, its directors and employees advise that they may hold securities, may have an interest in and/or earn brokerage and other benefits or advantages, either directly or indirectly from client transactions mentioned in correspondence from CPS International.
CPS International advise this email contains general information only and does not include advice. In preparing this communication, CPS International did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of any person. As with any speculative mining company there are significant risks.
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