Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi representatives held its weekly press conference on Monday to update on the preparations for paying out dividends.
The company announced that it will begin distribution of over 199.7 billion MNT in dividends to 2.5 million shareholders on May 1. Mongolian citizens hold 18.5 percent of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi.
Dividends will be transferred to shareholders’ accounts via their registered brokers and dealers. To date, 2.36 million shareholders have opened securities accounts, but only 300,000 of them have connected their securities accounts to bank accounts, reported M.Amarbayar, head of the communications and public relations of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi. As a solution, the company has decided to transfer dividends of those who haven’t connected their bank account to accounts they receive VAT refund with.
Representatives advised shareholders to check if they have a securities account before opening a new one as it could cause difficulties in the payout.
The Mongolian National Audit Office announced that it didn’t find any violation in the mining company’s 2019 operations report.
Chinese TTGVCo, a subcontractor of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi’s sister company Erdenes Mining, dismissed 10 employees and refused to hire nine workers of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi after joining a trade union. As a result, miners working at the Tavan Tolgoi mine held a demonstration and some shaved off their head earlier this month.
Regarding this issue, M.Amarbayar said, “The two demands made by miners have been basically fulfilled. The company and minister of mining and heavy industry are paying attention to resolving this issue. Last week, State Secretary of the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry G.Nandinjargal and CEO of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi B.Gankhuyag went to the mining site and accepted their demands. For instance, the first demand related to employment has been settled. The company is offering to hire the 10 employees dismissed by TTGVCo. However, they refused saying that they will file a lawsuit against their former company.”
He continued, “Secondly, TTGVCo declined to allow nine Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi’s employees to operate on their technical works. Their posts have been transfered to the Western Tsankhi. Now, miners are demanding Erdenes Mining to shut down. This issue is outside of the company’s authority and will be resolved by the authorities. Last week, Cabinet discussed this matter and a taskforce led by Head of Cabinet Secretariat L.Oyun-Erdene was assigned.”
Last week, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi mined 45,200 tons of coal and exported 49,500 tons according to the company. In the last four months, the company mined a total of 2.5 million tons of coal and exported 902,000 tons.
