'Eliminate corruption': Mongolia to take mining firm public after protests over graft

Record ID: 1702874

  • Title: 'Eliminate corruption': Mongolia to take mining firm public after protests over graft
  • Date: 13th December 2022
  • Summary: ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA (DECEMBER 12, 2022) (REUTERS) JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER NYAMBAATAR KHISHGEE IN HIS OFFICE SEATED WITH STAFF MEMBER NYAMBAATAR LOOKING ON NYAMBAATAR SPEAKING TO STAFF (SOUNDBITE) (Mongolian) MONGOLIA’S MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND INTERNAL AFFAIRS, NYAMBAATAR KHISHGEE, SAYING: "The Prime Minister is suggesting making the government-owned companies
  • Embargoed: 27th December 2022 10:59
  • Keywords: Asia Mongolia coal corruption investigation justice minister protest
  • Location: ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA
  • City: ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA
  • Country: Mongolia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001606012122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Mongolia will push ahead with plans to list a state mining firm embroiled in a corruption scandal that has sparked protests in the capital Ulaanbaatar, with new ownership likely to help drive out graft, the country's justice minister told Reuters.
    "The Prime Minister is suggesting making the government-owned companies public so the mining sector will be made open to citizens, and therefore eliminate corruption," Nyambaatar Khishgee, Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, said on Monday (December 12), after thousands gathered in recent days to protest government corruption.
    The government is working hard to ensure exports from the project are not disrupted by the probe, Nyambaatar said, and it will also steer clear of an inspection of Chinese coal buyers, who account for about 85% of sales. The state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC (ETT) owns a large chunk of a sprawling 6-billion tonne coking coal deposit near the Chinese border that has been at the heart of Mongolia's plans to grow its small and mining-dependent economy for more than a decade.
    Protesters clashed with police in the capital Ulaanbaatar last week, as recent allegations of so-called "coal theft" at Tavan Tolgoi brought many to the streets demanding action against those responsible.
    Mongolia earns about 50% of its export revenues from coal, mostly mined by ETT. However, around 400,000 tonnes of coal produced by the company in recent years is unaccounted for, the government said in October. Earlier allegations suggest almost 1 million tonnes of coal were exported but not registered between 2011 and 2017.
    (Production: Bilguun Chadraabal, Josh D. Arslan)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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