3 more agencies get new Director

The Directors of three implementing Government agencies were appointed on Friday. Bavuu Lhagvasuren will head the Agency of Culture, Tsend Badrakh that of Water, and Majig Tungalag that of Forests.
Lhagvasuren was born in 1944 in Tuv province and attended the Trade Institute here and later the Movie Institute of the Soviet Union. He was an MP in 1992-1996 and then director of the State Puppet Theatre.
Badrakh was born in 1965 in Arkhangai and attended the Mountain Institute in the Soviet Union and then the University of Technology. He is a geo-physicist and has been working as director of the Water Administration Office since 2005.
Tungalag was born in 1965 in Dundgobi province and graduated from the National University of Mongolia in 1989 in mathematics. He was Head of the Government Office in 2006-2008 and has been Director of the Forest Office after that.

3 more agencies get new Director

The Directors of three implementing Government agencies were appointed on Friday. Bavuu Lhagvasuren will head the Agency of Culture, Tsend Badrakh that of Water, and Majig Tungalag that of Forests.
Lhagvasuren was born in 1944 in Tuv province and attended the Trade Institute here and later the Movie Institute of the Soviet Union. He was an MP in 1992-1996 and then director of the State Puppet Theatre.
Badrakh was born in 1965 in Arkhangai and attended the Mountain Institute in the Soviet Union and then the University of Technology. He is a geo-physicist and has been working as director of the Water Administration Office since 2005.
Tungalag was born in 1965 in Dundgobi province and graduated from the National University of Mongolia in 1989 in mathematics. He was Head of the Government Office in 2006-2008 and has been Director of the Forest Office after that.

No changes in bank interest rates

It was widely feared that commercial banks would raise their interest rates after Mongolbank had increased its rate to 14 percent from 9.5 percent on March 10. This has not happened, presumably because banks want all the borrowers they can get, as they resume lending money after months of a holdup.

Bad weather forecast until Sunday

Forecasts ask the entire country to be prepared for some very bad weather until Sunday. Strong sand and snow storms will be common, and the wind speed will reach 34 meters per second.

The State Special Commission has decided to urgently replenish the grass and animal feed reserves in provinces. Fodder will continue to be sold at a 50 percent discount as the calving season approaches.

Japanese company wants to make spacecraft parts in Mongolia

The Japanese Sanco-Seiki Company has told the University of Science and Technology of its interest in manufacturing spacecraft parts in Mongolia. A small unit of the company has been working with the University for three years to produce spare parts of Konica Minolta printing machines. The new work could be handled by this unit. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry has promised support for the idea as part of its plans to develop small and medium enterprises.

Russian company ready to produce vegetable oil in Mongolia, asks for funds

Mongolia depends on imports to meet all its vegetable oil demand. A total of 26 brands from 18 countries are sold across the country. Recent checks by the State Professional Monitoring Agency have revealed that 10.8 percent of the oil was being sold beyond its shelf life. Some samples even had very harmful bacteria. This is not unexpected as some imports take more than 90 days to reach Mongolia from their place of production and then sending them to stores may take another month.

The agency then suggested to the Health and the Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Ministries to explore the possibility of producing vegetable oil in Mongolia. Initial talks have been held with the Russian-owned Mongol Altan Tos in Darkhan city which is ready to produce six types of vegetable oil, mayonnaise, margarine and ketchup. The company has the capacity to supply 100 percent of the domestic demand and still export 60 percent of its products.

Altan Tos was set up without any help from the Mongolian Government but it has said it will need money to buy the raw material. USD 6 million of the USD300 million loan from Russia could be made available to the company but nothing is final as yet.

Special Parliament session passed 20 laws

Parliament Speaker D.Demberel, the head of the Standing Committee on the Budget, Ch.Khurelbaatar, and the head of the Standing Committee on the Economy, Ts.Bayarsaikhan, held a press conference yesterday, as is customary after the end of a session of Parliament. The last session that started on February 12 was a special one, called to discuss problems in banking, finance and the economy.
The session approved nearly 20 laws including one on the revised Budget, another guaranteeing bank deposits, and another on use of money in the Mongolia Development Fund.
Demberel said Parliament had approved measures to save MNT300 billion by imposing cuts on various expenses, but had decided not to touch salaries of Government employees, nor to curtail expenses on the health and education sectors, and on programs to create jobs. Reductions were made in order to meet the IMF suggestion to keep the budget deficit at less than six percent of the GDP.
An agreement has also been reached whereby Mongolian travelers to South Korea would get a 90-day visa.