Source: News.mn                     Date: 09 July, 2010

Parliament approved on Wednesday the Government proposal on Tavan Tolgoi without almost any debate after the Standing Committee on the Economy had finished with it. There some MPs had expressed their reservations about the proposal to distribute 10 percent of the deposit’s shares to companies registered prior to June 30, 2010.   There are 35,000 such companies, and if all of them own shares, “it might weaken the economy”, they felt. Their demand for deletion of the provision was, however, rejected by the head of the Committee on the ground that no change was possible at this late stage.

What Parliament approved is not any final agreement. It is more correct to say that it has given formal permission to the Government to hold talks and reach a consensus on preliminary conditions with investors interested in certain parts of the Tavan Tolgoi deposit. There is no indication as yet of what the final agreement would contain, or which company or companies will be selected to sign it.