Mongolia evacuates 261 nationals from Europe over COVID-19 pandemic

ULAN BATOR, May 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 261 Mongolian nationals have been evacuated on a chartered flight from COVID-19-hit European countries, the country's State Emergency Commission (SEC) said Sunday.

The flight landed in the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in the capital city of Ulan Bator on Sunday morning, with 261 passengers onboard, the SEC said in a statement.

The 261 passengers belonging to at-risk groups, including pregnant women, the elderly, children and sick people, will be isolated at designated facilities for 21 days, it added.

The passengers arrived in the western German city of Frankfurt from 13 European countries before boarding the flight, according to the Mongolian Foreign Ministry.

The Asian country has evacuated more than 2,600 nationals from abroad on chartered flights since mid-March.

Mongolia reported 39 cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday. All confirmed cases, including four foreign nationals, are imported.

There have been no local transmissions reported in Mongolia so far. Enditem

Mongolia receives anti-virus supplies from China

ULAN BATOR, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia received medical supplies from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The medical materials included 100,000 masks, 1,000 protective suits and 200 boxes of testing kits.

"As a result of the Mongolian government's optimal measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Mongolia has become one of the few countries where no cases of the coronavirus from local transmission has been reported. This is a great achievement," Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui said in a speech during the handover ceremony of the donation.

"In addition, no cases of COVID-19 infection imported from China has been reported in Mongolia. We are ready to cooperate with the Mongolian side to maintain the situation," Chai said.

Mongolian Health Minister Davaajantsan Sarangerel expressed her deep gratitude to the Chinese government and people for the donation.

As of Tuesday, a total of 38 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Mongolia.

All confirmed cases, including four non-nationals, are imported, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Disease. Enditem

Mongolia cancels Tavan Tolgoi’s $1 billion IPO plan

Mongolia has cancelled an executive order to fund its giant Tavan Tolgoi coal project through an international initial public offering (IPO), citing “political distortions” and the current dire state of global financial markets.

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT), the state-owned company that holds the license to the deposit, had been working with an adviser for preparations of the planned IPO, which included a listing in the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX).

The stock market launch, which could have raised more than $1 billion, was meant to help fund the massive project and related transportation infrastructure to deliver 30 million tonnes of coking coal a year to markets in China and beyond.

The cancelled plan was at least the third effort to raise money to develop the Tavan Tolgoi mine after international partnerships failed in 2011 and 2015. Mongolian lawmakers in 2018 approved a plan to sell up to 30% of Tavan, which is the country’s second-largest mining investment after Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver operation.

Tavan Tolgoi, which means “five hills” is located near Mongolia’s southern border with China. It has estimated reserves of more than 7 billion tonnes of coal, more than one-third of which is high-grade hard coking coal, according to its website.