https://themongoltimes.com/ Mongolia's week in five minutes, every Sunday. en https://themongoltimes.com/en/brief/2026-10-28-numrug/https://themongoltimes.com/en/brief/2026-10-28-numrug/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTOn October 26, Prime Minister N. Uchral reviewed the response to the fire in the Numrug Strictly Protected Area. He told J. Byambasuren, head of the General Border Protection Agency, to hold Colonel B. Gantugs, commander of Border Troops Unit 0198, accountable and remove him from his post. Finance… https://themongoltimes.com/en/brief/2026-10-23-oyutolgoi/https://themongoltimes.com/en/brief/2026-10-23-oyutolgoi/Fri, 23 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTAt an extraordinary meeting on October 23, the government decided to pull the bill it had sent to parliament with the 2027 budget. The bill would have put MNT2 trillion (US$556 million) of the MNT3 trillion (US$834 million) expected in 2027 into energy and education reform first. The government… https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-11-05-seize/https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-11-05-seize/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTIt asked for the illegally gained assets of public officials involved in corruption to be confiscated, with life sentences when the sum tops MNT100 million (US$28,000). From November 3 it drew 11,000 to 20,000 signatures a day and had 100,208 when signing closed on the night of November 8. https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-10-31-localparty/https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-10-31-localparty/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTIt asks for a law barring political parties from nominating candidates in soum and district council elections, so that only citizens who nominate themselves can run. Just over 1,700 people have signed in a month, far short of the 100,000 a bill needs. https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-10-29-mortgage/https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-10-29-mortgage/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTIt asks for the annual mortgage rate to be cut to 4% and for a look at moving people now paying 6% onto the lower rate. Just over 6,000 people have signed in a month, far short of the 100,000 a bill needs. https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-10-29-oyutolgoi/https://themongoltimes.com/en/petition/2026-10-29-oyutolgoi/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTIt asks for a bill paying every citizen MNT857,000 from the MNT3 trillion dividend. More than 84,000 people signed in four days, after the government pulled its own spending bill on October 23. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/chinggis-820/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/chinggis-820/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTBy 67 votes of the 90 members present, parliament on November 6 adopted a resolution for the 820th anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire. It tells the government to draft rules on the use of Chinggis Khaan's name and portrait, the "Secret History of the Mongols" and other imperial symbols. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/fuel-probe/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/fuel-probe/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTPresident U. Khurelsukh met cabinet members and the heads of law enforcement agencies on November 6 and ordered an urgent investigation into whether fuel distribution is being deliberately disrupted for narrow political or business ends, with constant monitoring to follow. Russia, he said, has… https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/dp-dividend/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/dp-dividend/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTTwo days after the president's proposal, Democratic Party chairman O. Tsogtgerel told the party's regular press briefing on November 5 that it must first be established whether the MNT3 trillion (US$833 million) from Oyu Tolgoi is really a dividend. He also said the president should answer… https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/budget-2027/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/budget-2027/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTParliament held the fourth reading of the 2027 budget bills on November 6 and sent them back to the budget committee to prepare the fifth. The consolidated budget plans a structural deficit of MNT2.3 trillion (US$640 million), equal to 2.0% of GDP. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/garage-tax/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/garage-tax/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTA call to exempt household garages and parking spaces from property tax became the first petition on the government's E-Zasag platform to pass 100,000 signatures. Prime Minister N. Uchral received it on November 3 and told the finance minister to draft the legal changes. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/homes-2030/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/homes-2030/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTUnder its "100,000 Homes" programme for 2027–2030, the government plans to raise the number of mortgages issued each year from 9,000 to 25,000 and to raise MNT1.8 trillion (US$500 million) with the private sector, Montsame reported on November 6. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/border-trucks/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/border-trucks/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTAfter a government working group visited the border crossings on November 2–3, copper exports were back to normal and the number of trucks leaving each day rose from about 14 to 134, the road ministry said. Oyu Tolgoi also said its concentrate exports were back at normal levels. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/numrug-feed/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/numrug-feed/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTAnimals are crowding into the parts that did not burn. At its November 4 meeting the cabinet set aside MNT629 million (US$175,000) from its reserve fund to deliver hay and fodder to wildlife wintering in the Numrug Strictly Protected Area. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/night-power/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/night-power/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTSince November 2, ger district households in Ulaanbaatar, aimag (province) centres and soum (district) centres of more than 10,000 people pay less for electricity used overnight, on up to 1,500 kWh. The discount runs until March 31, 2027. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/tpp5/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/tpp5/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTThe new Thermal Power Plant No. 5 in Ulaanbaatar is 44% complete overall, with construction 35% done, the capital governor's office said on November 2. Due to start in 2028, it will supply 270 MW to the national grid. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/snow-winter/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/snow-winter/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTAbout 20% of Mongolia was snow-covered as of October 31, with more than 21 cm in the Altai, Khangai and Khuvsgul mountains, the weather agency said. Forecasters expected up to 2 mm of snow and drifting snow in southern Khentii, northern Dornogobi and parts of Sukhbaatar on November 7. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/korea-visa/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/korea-visa/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTAt the 10th meeting of the Mongolia–South Korea intergovernmental joint committee in Seoul on October 30, the two sides discussed the difficulties Mongolians face applying for Korean visas and setting up a dialogue mechanism on immigration this year, Montsame reported on November 4. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/australia-visa/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/australia-visa/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTSince October 26, Australia has been recording biometric data from people applying for its visas in Mongolia, Montsame reported on November 5. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/ganbayar/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/ganbayar/Sun, 08 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTNanzadyn Ganbayar, Mongolia's Prosecutor General from 1993 to 1999 and one of the lawmakers of the 1992 democratic Constitution, has passed away. The Judicial General Council and its veterans' committee announced his death and offered condolences. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/peacekeepers/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/peacekeepers/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTThe last personnel of the Mongolian Armed Forces' 15th Motorized Rifle Battalion, which served a one-year tour with the UN Mission in South Sudan, are back home, the defence ministry said, as reported by Montsame on November 1. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/india-refinery/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/india-refinery/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTMeeting MP J. Chinburen, head of the Mongolia–India parliamentary friendship group, on November 2, Indian Ambassador Atul Malhari Gotsurve gave an update on the oil refinery being built with an Indian soft loan. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/russia-105/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/russia-105/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTA ceremony marking the anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia was held at Moscow's Hotel Metropol, where the founding documents were signed in 1921, Montsame reported on November 7. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/purevdagva/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/purevdagva/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTThe 36th conference of the ruling Mongolian People's Party's capital city committee, held on November 7 at the Independence Palace, elected Ulaanbaatar mayor B. Purevdagva as the committee's chair with 97.5% of the vote. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/education-reform/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/education-reform/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTEducation Minister L. Enkh-Amgalan on November 2 presented a specialised high school model in which students go deeper into subjects linked to their future careers and can carry credits earned into university. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/unesco-buddha/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/unesco-buddha/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTUNESCO's Memory of the World committee for Asia and the Pacific, meeting in Jakarta, on November 5 added to its regional register an illustrated biography of the Buddha kept at the Fine Arts Zanabazar Museum in Ulaanbaatar. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/sport-youth/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/sport-youth/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTJudoka T. Tugskhuslen won bronze in the boys' 55 kg at the 4th Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, Mongolia's first medal there. At the world youth and junior 100-square draughts championships in China, Mongolia won four golds, three silvers and three bronzes to top the team standings for a… https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/wanderlust/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/wanderlust/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTMongolia ranked seventh in the "Most Desirable Emerging Destination" category of the Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards 2026, presented in London on November 4. About 930,000 tourists had visited by October. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/ot-dividend-call/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/ot-dividend-call/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTOn November 3 President U. Khurelsukh called in Prime Minister N. Uchral and Finance Minister Z. Mendsaikhan and told them the Oyu Tolgoi dividend due in 2027, MNT3 trillion (US$833 million), should be paid into citizens' accounts as it arrives, gogo.mn reported. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/number-npl/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/number-npl/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMTIn September, 9.1% of consumer loans covered by the debt-to-income cap were non-performing, up 2.7 percentage points on a year earlier, the Bank of Mongolia says. Its Monetary Policy Committee now lets struggling borrowers restructure such loans over up to 48 months, without new borrowing. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/zandanbat/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/zandanbat/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTA worker on the outside wall of an apartment block in Dangjin, South Korea, was left hanging from a 14th-floor balcony railing when his safety belt snapped on November 14, 2025, Yonhap reported on October 29. B. Zandanbat, a Mongolian man carrying furniture for a moving company in the block… https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/paragames-1101/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/paragames-1101/Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTFour golds, four silvers and two bronzes. Mongolia finished 14th of 45 nations at the 5th Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, its best result ever. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/fuel-1101/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/fuel-1101/Fri, 30 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTThe government's fuel task force decided on October 30 to post state inspectors at petrol stations, keep stations open around the clock where needed and look into fuel being handed out by coupon. Montsame reported that 92,500 tonnes of fuel have been ordered from four countries for November. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/davaanasan/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/davaanasan/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTDavaanasan Enkh-Amar won bronze in the women's 76 kg at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is her second world medal, after an earlier silver at 72 kg. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/health-law/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/health-law/Fri, 30 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTFour MPs submitted a rewritten Health Law to Speaker S. Byambatsogt on October 30. The bill aims to move Mongolia's health system step by step from a hospital-centred model to one built around public health and prevention. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/nwfz/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/nwfz/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTThe First Committee of the 81st UN General Assembly adopted Mongolia's draft resolution "Mongolia's international security and nuclear-weapon-free status" by consensus on October 27, with 34 countries as co-sponsors. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/numrug-1031/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/numrug-1031/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTThe environment ministry confirmed on October 28 that 448,993.6 hectares, or 76.4% of the Numrug Strictly Protected Area, burned in the fire that started on October 8. Animals that fled have crowded into the unburned remainder, and getting them through winter will take an estimated 25,000–30,000… https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/vatican/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/vatican/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTGüyük Khan's letter to Pope Innocent IV is among them. Mongolia's ambassador to the Holy See, D. Gerelmaa, formally received copies of 38 rare 13th- and 14th-century documents from the heads of the Vatican Apostolic Archives and Library on October 26. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/births/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/births/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTMongolia recorded 39,149 births in the first nine months of 2026, 3.9% fewer than a year earlier, the National Statistics Office said. Deaths rose 1.3% to 13,331. https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/payrise/https://themongoltimes.com/en/story/payrise/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTRises of MNT233,000–328,000 (US$65–91) a month. The cabinet has set new minimum pay levels for public service staff, lifting pay for doctors, health workers and staff in science, sports and culture from November 1. Welfare pensions for people with disabilities, older people and some other groups…