On April 9, based on Articles 33.1.3 and 34.1 of the Constitution and Articles 9.1 and 12.12 of the Law on President, President Kh.Battulga submitted a draft decree on giving direction to the government.

“The government of Mongolia is instructed to immediately file a counter-claim against the government of Mongolia in the arbitration dispute filed by Oyu Tolgoi LLC with the London Court of International Arbitration, to give a specific task to the relevant working group to issue a counterclaim without delay, and to ensure its implementation,” the decree states.

During the parliamentary plenary session on April 9, President Kh.Battulga said, “A week ago, a representative of the President’s Office received information that the government of Mongolia was scheduled to respond to the lawsuit filed by Oyu Tolgoi against the government of Mongolia by April 30, 2021.”

    “Bringing the Oyu Tolgoi mining agreements to justice will help strengthen Mongolia’s economic security, ensure a fair and favorable environment for foreign investment, and ensure Mongolia’s reputation and cooperation in the international arena,” he added.

In accordance with Article 33.1.3 of the Constitution, the decree of the president shall enter into force upon signing by the prime minister.

PRESIDENT ASKS TO COOPERATE IN PROVIDING 1 MILLION MNT SUPPORT

Last week, President Kh.Battulga sent an official letter to Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene following the government’s decision to provide a one-time cash grant of 300,000 MNT to each of Mongolia’s around 3.3 million people.

In his letter, the president emphasized that he had put forward his initiative of distributing support of 1 million MNT for each household to Parliament and the government of Mongolia several times since November 2020 with a view to promoting livelihoods, national manufacturers, and businesses, and to keeping workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures.

The proposal of the president sets out to allocate 1 million MNT to each household of Mongolia, of which 200,000 MNT was to be distributed in cash and the remaining 800,000 MNT in the form of vouchers for purchasing goods and products, except for alcohol and tobacco, only from national producers.

The president’s letter also praises the government’s decision to provide 300,000 MNT aid to each citizen ahead of another nationwide strict lockdown in order to maintain the livelihood of the population whose financial and employment opportunities are restricted by the pandemic.

“However, taking under consideration the ongoing vaccination drive, which is expected to continue until August this year, it appears that the one-time 300,000 MNT cash grant cannot serve as a support sufficient to overcome the financial problems and other difficulties caused by the pandemic and resetting the stable operations of businesses,” he noted in the letter.

“The law enforcement and judiciary have identified and revealed certain officials’ illegal assets worth around 4 trillion MNT hidden in offshore accounts and the grounds for recovering those assets have been prepared. Using this money, 1 million MNT of monthly allowance can be granted to each household until the end of August and with the help of this allowance, domestic manufacturers and businesses receive the support they need as well. Therefore, I ask you to cooperate with me to expose illegal actions and corruption, claim the illegal assets to the state budget and to curb the pandemic by supporting the population’s livelihoods and maintain employment.”