Last week, Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg made a statement to the public, announcing that the Cabinet has decided to purchase 30 percent of public shares of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (Erdenes TT) distributed to citizens, at a purchase price of 300,000 MNT per 323 shares, starting from June 13. Under the Good Shares program, the Cabinet says it plans to purchase the remaining 70 percent of shares distributed through the Mongolian Stock Exchange. The government has already purchased some of the company’s shares from pensioners, people living with disabilities, single mothers, and students. The Cabinet said it has purchased 464,800 billion MNT in shares from over 1.2 million citizens. The Cabinet reported that around 2.8 million people currently own 1,072 public shares of Erdenes TT. The government has purchased shares from 278,000 students for 138 billion MNT, and issued 4.8 billion MNT in health insurance contributions to 615,000 people in 2011, and also purchased shares from 322,000 pensioners and people living with disabilities for 322 billion MNT. The remaining 1.6 million Mongolian citizens who own Erdenes TT public shares are now eligible to sell their shares to the government. People interested in selling their shares should submit a request to commercial banks. They will receive payment for their shares after their bank and government authorities have reviewed their request. The Cabinet says it will distribute money in three stages. In his statement, Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg underlined that only the Cabinet has the right to purchase the company’s shares. The PM emphasized that the Cabinet’s decision wasn’t made with any goals ahead of the elections, and the purchase of Erdenes TT’s public shares will continue after the elections without any obstacles. Some economists believe that the Cabinet’s decision was poorly made, and believe that the government doesn’t have the financial resources to purchase the public's shares.