Zagdjav Deleg, Deputy Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry, held a press conference and demanded the Rio Tinto to contribute to the socio-economic development of Mongolia.
He said at the conference, “There is a limit to one’s patience. I am speaking on behalf of Mongolian people. Since the establishment of the investment agreement, Oyu Tolgoi has not fulfilled some of its objectives and ignored the interest of Mongolian people. They were supposed to build the infrastructure; but instead, the company is using the road we barely managed to build. The long queue at the border is also the result of that. Furthermore, one of their obligations was to build a power station, which also never realized.
Another project was a copper smelting plant; however, around 3 million tons of copper is being exported as concentrates. No major works are done in Khanbogd soum. Although the company is raising multi billion US Dollars with our natural resources, we saw no benefits from it. One of the facts is that the company raised USD 5-6 billion and only USD 1 billion was brought into Mongolia.
The Dubai Agreement, which was supposed to be a development pathway for Mongolia, has become useless and benefited only foreign countries. The copper price, which was at USD 4400, has jumped to USD 7200. The price is expected to reach USD 8000 this year. Chances for Mongolians to benefit from this price increase is seemingly low. It is regrettable that only debt, unemployment and poverty is increasing in Mongolia.
Therefore, I officially announce that we are in dire need of registering Oyu Tolgoi as a legal entity of Mongolia, increasing its benefits and improving policies for the longer-term.”
Bilig.B
Zagdjav Deleg, Deputy Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry, held a press conference and demanded the Rio Tinto to contribute to the socio-economic development of Mongolia.
He said at the conference, “There is a limit to one’s patience. I am speaking on behalf of Mongolian people. Since the establishment of the investment agreement, Oyu Tolgoi has not fulfilled some of its objectives and ignored the interest of Mongolian people. They were supposed to build the infrastructure; but instead, the company is using the road we barely managed to build. The long queue at the border is also the result of that. Furthermore, one of their obligations was to build a power station, which also never realized.
Another project was a copper smelting plant; however, around 3 million tons of copper is being exported as concentrates. No major works are done in Khanbogd soum. Although the company is raising multi billion US Dollars with our natural resources, we saw no benefits from it. One of the facts is that the company raised USD 5-6 billion and only USD 1 billion was brought into Mongolia.
The Dubai Agreement, which was supposed to be a development pathway for Mongolia, has become useless and benefited only foreign countries. The copper price, which was at USD 4400, has jumped to USD 7200. The price is expected to reach USD 8000 this year. Chances for Mongolians to benefit from this price increase is seemingly low. It is regrettable that only debt, unemployment and poverty is increasing in Mongolia.
Therefore, I officially announce that we are in dire need of registering Oyu Tolgoi as a legal entity of Mongolia, increasing its benefits and improving policies for the longer-term.”
Bilig.B