Source: The Wall Street Journal                   Date: 15 June, 2011

Prime Minister S. Batbold has said that his government hopes to finalize the first round of negotiations with bidders to pick the operator of the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine project by the end of June, although the timeline could be stretched. "This, however, could be carried out for a longer period of time if required. The final decision of the process hasn't been made," Mr. Batbold told reporters at a press conference on Sunday in Jakarta where the World Economic Forum on East Asia was being held.

The Prime Minister also said the government could select three to four major parties to create a consortium to operate Tavan Tolgoi. "Ownership will be retained [by the government] completely," Mr. Batbold said, adding that the companies will have to commit to a long-term agreement. Negotiations with various governments for creating an infrastructure network was under way and this had an indirect impact on the process to select the mine's operator. "The government has to make sure that we have access to connectivity," he said.

On the initial public offering for Tavan Tolgoi, Mr. Batbold said the aim was to go to the market soon, but launching an IPO will require "certain processess" to be followed. "We'd like to lift up the quality of our stock exchange and also plan to list major assets in international stock exchanges," Mr. Batbold said.