Ulaanbaatar
Rio Tinto offers to work with the government to generate MNT 1 trillion of additional revenue for Mongolia
Politics
Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Following the Cabinet meeting today,
August 31, Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs Kh. Nyambaatar held a press
briefing to introduce a letter from Rio Tinto’s management team addressed to the Prime
Minister of Mongolia.
In the letter, as head of the Oyu Tolgoi mine project
management team, Rio Tinto expressed its apology for the schedule delays of the Oyu Tolgoi underground development. The letter also reads that Rio Tinto
offers to work with the government to generate MNT 1 trillion (USD 350 million)
of additional revenue for Mongolia over the next three years, which is an
addition to existing taxes and royalty payments generated by an existing open
pit mine at Oyu Tolgoi.
To speed up returns that the
Mongolian government will benefit from the Oyu Tolgoi project, the investor side expressed its willingness to work for rescheduling the date of dividend payment to Erdenes Oyu
Tolgoi LLC and reducing the amount of debt that would have accrued on
the investment of Mongolian side.
Mr. Nyambaatar said that Rio Tinto has officially expressed
its readiness to negotiate on reducing the current debt of USD 2.3 billion
accrued on the Mongolian share of 34 percent. “Moreover, Rio Tinto expressed
readiness to continue talks in all aspects and the project must be successfully
proceeded, thus asking to adjourn the counterclaim raised by the Mongolian side
at the London Court of International Arbitration and freeze the dispute temporarily.
The government’s working group will convene this week and announce a date of meeting
with a Rio Tinto representative headed by B. Bold, a head of Rio’s copper
division.”
The letter also reads that the Rio
Tinto wants a long-term agreement on a sustainable energy supply for the Oyu
Tolgoi mine as it seeks to complete the development of underground mine.
