Source: Undesnii Shuudan                         Date: 18 May, 2011

After an on-site visit, Prime Minister S.Batbold has said Petro China will be asked to stop operations if it did not fulfill its contractual obligations. Mr. Batbold, accompanied by Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry T.Badamjunai, the State Secretary of the Road, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development Ministry, and several Members of Parliament, visited some areas where Petro China operated, and found the roads badly damaged by the oil transportation traffic. Not merely has no reclamation work been done, but industrial waste was being buried underground, against all environmental guidelines. Enquiry following complaints from local citizens revealed that the company did not have an environmental reclamation fund.

The Government has now reminded Petro China that it is expected to build a hard covered road, pay oil exploitation fees, conclude a proper product share agreement, build an oil exploitation plant and set aside money for environmental rehabilitation. The Prime Minister made it clear that the company’s operation in Mongolia will be suspended if sufficient progress is not seen to have been made in all these directions.