-
Recent Posts
- Khurelsukh and Pax Mongolica at the UN
- 2026 Budget Proposal: With Failing Infrastructure, Can Mongolia Pivot From Coal to Copper?
- On Egg Cartons In Mongolia
- Origins of Wooden Fences
- Guest Post: Back in Mongolia: Buzz, Ambition, and a Bold Vision at MEF 2025
- Guest Post: Visit to Mongolia by Japanese Emperor and Empress and Public Response in Japan
- Guest Post: “Mongolian tie demokratiaan” Photo Exhibition in Helsinki
- Acting Powerful
- Zandanshatar Cabinet
-
Categories
-
See all of our content categories on the Categories page.
Canada China Corruption Countryside Curios Democracy Democratic Party Development Elections Foreign Policy Governance Ikh Khural 2012 International Relations JD Democratization Mining Mining Governance Mongolia and ... Mongolian People's Party Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Party Politics Policy Politics Presidential 2017 Research on Mongolia Social Issues Social Media Ulaanbaatar
Category Archives: Mining Governance
Guest Post: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Investor-State Arbitration and Mongolia’s Rapidly Shrinking Policy Space
By Jennifer Lander On the 20th of February, Rio Tinto initiated arbitration proceedings against the Government of Mongolia at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) through Oyu Tolgoi LLC. The escalation of the dispute over the alleged … Continue reading
Making News in November 2019
By Mendee Jargalsaikhan Constitutional Revision Just days before the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the abolition of the monarchy, the MPP-ruled parliament and DP president reached a compromise on a set of amendments to the 1992 constitution. Today, at … Continue reading
Constitutional Amendments Adopted
By Julian Dierkes While some details remain curiously unclear (as is so frustratingly often the case with Mongolian legislation and reporting on it, the Ikh Khural approved a number of constitutional amendments on Nov 15. While these are subject to … Continue reading
The Likelihood of Political Renewal
By Julian Dierkes Why I am generally optimistic about Mongolian developments, Mongolian politics presents a lot of challenges and the current state of affairs causes more despair than it has in the previous 12+ years that I’ve been paying attention. … Continue reading
Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Nationalism, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Social Movements
Tagged Julian Dierkes
Leave a comment
Getting it right: Preventing Conflicts in Company-Community Relations
By BYAMBAJAV Dalaibuyan Conflict with host communities is a major business risk for mining companies in Mongolia. Though we can cite many specific issues causing local opposition to minerals exploration and mining projects, recent research suggests they all can be … Continue reading
Posted in Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Protest
Tagged BYAMBAJAV Dalaibuyan
Leave a comment
The Tavan Tolgoi Study: Disenfranchised Drivers
By Mendee Jargalsaikhan and Byambajav Dalaibuyan Who Are They? There are about 7000 ~ 9000 drivers – carrying out massive coal transportation from three mines, Ukhaa Khudag (known as Energy Resources LLC), State-Owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, and locally-owned Tavan Tolgoi … Continue reading
Posted in Corruption, Environment, Mining, Mining Governance, Tavan Tolgoi
Tagged BYAMBAJAV Dalaibuyan, MENDEE Jargalsaikhan
Leave a comment
Preliminary Results of Tavan Tolgoi Study: Irresponsible State, Disenfranchised Drivers
By Mendee Jargalsaikhan & Byambajav Dalaibuyan The Mongolian Institute for Innovative Policies conducted a human rights assessment in areas affected by Tavan Tolgoi coal mining and transportation operations in Tsogt-Tsetsii, Bayan-Ovoo, and Khanbogd soums of Umnugobi province in March – … Continue reading
Local Level Agreements in Mongolia: A Need for Government Leadership and Policy Clarity
By Byambajav D Before any mineral exploration and mining can take place in Mongolia, the country’s 2006 Minerals Law requires that the host local government and license holders sign a “local level agreement” (LLA). LLAs typically include commitments and obligations … Continue reading
Posted in Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Public Policy
Tagged BYAMBAJAV Dalaibuyan
Leave a comment
Rio Tinto in Mongolia
By Julian Dierkes Recently, Bulgan B and I pointed out that there have been as many CEOs at Oyu Tolgoi over the past ten years as there have been PMs of Mongolia. I also appeared on a live BBC radio … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Mining, Mining Governance, Nationalism, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy
Tagged Julian Dierkes
Leave a comment
Job Rotation in the Mongolian Cabinet, at Turquoise Hill and at Oyu Tolgoi
By Julian Dierkes and Bulgan B Any observer would agree that the development of Oyu Tolgoi has been a winding and meandering path. In the foreign press and from an international investor perspective, mentions of the frequent turnover of Mongolian … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Government, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi
Tagged Julian Dierkes; Batdorj Bulgan
2 Comments
Implications of Power Politics for OT and Elsewhere “Offshore”
By Marissa Smith About a week ago, Mendee and I agreed to write a pair of blog posts on the question of how OT and the current wave of corruption investigations and arrests, most recently involving former Prime Ministers Ch. … Continue reading
SOMO Report “Mining Taxes”
By Julian Dierkes The Dutch Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) published a report focused on a whole list of issues related to financial and governance structures for the Oyu Tolgoi project. The report was written by SOMO’s Vincent Kiezebrink and … Continue reading
SOMO Report Preamble: Assumptions
By Julian Dierkes It struck me while reading the SOMO report on Oyu Tolgoi governance and tax structures that there are a number of big assumptions and elements in the Mongolian context that are not discussed explicitly, but that are … Continue reading
How Are We To Think About Rio’s Balancing of Political Risk and Taxation in Light of SOMO Report?
By Julian Dierkes Rio Tinto’s response to the SOMO report claims that the convoluted corporate structure that has been created for Oyu Tolgoi is not aimed at saving taxes, but rather at reducing investment risk. For as long as Rio … Continue reading
Posted in International Agreements, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Public Policy, Taxes
Tagged Julian Dierkes
Leave a comment
Mongolia at Davos 2018: Party like it’s 2009?
By Marissa Smith In recent years, Mongolia has regularly sent a delegation to the World Economic Forum at Davos. This year was somewhat less eventful than some years, when President Elbegdorj himself attended and presided over a “Mongolia Night” and … Continue reading