PARTS OF SPEECH

“I find the Oyu Tolgoi agreement quite balanced and am also optimistic about the Government’s policy on Tavan Tolgoi. However, people’s expectations must be tempered, and not too much hoped for from an entity that has not yet been formed.”

Graeme Hancock, Senior Mining Specialist,
World Bank.

“I am aware of the expectations Mongolians have from me as also of the trust they repose in me. I shall try my best to ensure that the substantial project is piloted properly, with the help of my fellow members on the Board who are thorough professionals and have the specific skills and the commitment to take the project forward. I see myself, as others also might, as a bridge between partners.”

G. Batsukh, Chairman of the Oyu Tolgoi LLC
Executive Board.

“The much-touted trickledown effect does not always work. Mongolia’s future would depend on its Government sticking to a policy of sustainable and equitable growth based on the future rise in mining revenue. Instead of nurturing and encouraging expectations far ahead of reality, the Government and the people should settle for an informed social compact that would accept hard decisions in uneasy times.
I have said this in a poem that ends with the following words: “Do not pity,/or worry,/or shed tears/ or rush in judgment/ for I am Mongolia/ and I have a date with destiny.”

Arshad M. Sayed, outgoing Country Manager and
Resident Representative, World Bank.

“In 2009, the Mongolian Government transferred 50 percent of Ulaanbaatar Railway (UBR) shares to Russian Railways (RZhD) for a five-year trust management, indicating the trust they had in us. Now the Russian companies En+Group and Renova Group are interested in developing the Tavan Tolgoi deposit, together with RZhD. We have passed on the information from the consortium to the Mongolian government.”

Igor Levitin, Russian Transport Minister.

“‘Mongolians have a far better work and safety ethic than Australians. Their philosophy is ingrained based on the premise ‘I have to take care of myself’. No one does anything silly.”

Peter Lindsay, Liberal Member of
Parliament, Australia.

“Khan Resource is a small company compared to Japanese firms such as Marubeni, Mitsui, and Toshiba that have expressed interest to cooperate in the uranium sector. It also violated several laws, refused to mend its ways, and then spread wrong information about the Government, something not expected of any company of stature.”

T.Bayarbayasgalan, Director of the Nuclear Material Department of the
Nuclear Energy Agency.

“I am disappointed that B.Bat-Erdene, head of the Standing Committee on Justice, erred so grievously in interpreting the law in a way that allowed him not to take a decision on the dismissal of Ch.Sangarragchaa, head of the Anti-Corruption Authority, within the stipulated time on the ground that Parliament would be going into recess soon.”

D.Dorligjav, State Prosecutor General. 

“I wonder if those who harp on police violation of human rights during and after the July 1 incidents are not actually protecting the rights of those who committed acts of violence. One cannot judge some incidents in isolation from everything else that happened that night. Was everybody who joined the protest peaceful or were only some pebbles thrown? Criminals certainly have their rights, but how can we forget that law keepers were also badly injured? Politicians who organized the protest must bear the primarily responsibility for the violence that ensued. They took no measures to keep the protest peaceful and when things went out of control, loudly shifted the blame. You cannot be so pathetically irresponsible as to light a fuse and then run away.”

Ts.Nyamdorj, Minister for Internal Affairs.

“The Prosecutor General is mistaken in thinking the Committee had deliberately avoided taking a decision on the issue. We merely want to get more information to help settle the case without politicizing it. The issue, as it stands now, is far from clear, and dismissing officials appointed by Parliament without detailed scrutiny of all available material will adversely affect the morale of those working against corruption.”

B.Bat-Erdene, Head of the Standing Committee on Justice.

“I do not know what happens now. Will the director of the Anti-Corruption Authority retain any moral authority if he is allowed to continue in his job?  Does he command the respect of those working with him? The Anti-Corruption Authority is not just an agency. It has a special moral standing.”

Ch.Saikhanbileg, leader of the DP group in
 Parliament.

“Peabody is proud to work with the Mongolian people to create a model for best practices in mining and land restoration that leaves a valuable legacy. We continue to extend our hand of friendship to help the Mongolian people unlock the energy and economic benefits of their vast coal reserves in a way that preserves their rich environmental and cultural heritage.”

Gregory H. Boyce, Chairman and CEO, Peabody Energy.

“Bulgan province has always been a pioneer.  We had the first Mongolian Olympic medallist from Bulgan, and now we have the first Mongolian coal mine reclamation. This project is the benchmark for responsible mining.  It means a lot to us.”

B.Altsukh, an official at the Ministry for
Mineral Resources and Energy.

“We are extremely pleased that the Mongolian Capital City Administrative Court has ruled in favor of Central Asian Uranium Company (CAUC), in which Khan owns 58%, and declared that the previous purported decision by the Mongolian Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) to invalidate CAUC’s mining license 237A is itself invalid and illegal.”

Grant Edey, CEO, Khan Resources.

“There is need to be careful about the ongoing global macro risks and the current structural difficulties in the global economy. A volatile environment within the uplifted demand circumstance will mean that we’ll see very, very nice highs, but pretty scary lows, and it will not be a normal business cycle, at least for the next ten years. I’ve told each of our managers, ‘Be ready’. Each of them has to recognise that while markets may be strong today, they are not necessarily guaranteed to be smooth sailing forever, and that they must not let up on creating very competitive operations.”

Tom Albanese, CEO, Rio Tinto.

“Ulaanbaatar is almost exclusively devoid of Chinese characters on display. This holding back on advertising a geographically close presence to China is a sign that the Mongolians are not particularly keen to allow a strong Chinese culture develop in their nation. Holding China back by denying use of Chinese characters may seem odd when China is such mainstream international news and its currency reserves are feted over by many a government globally, but for Mongolia, containment, and a more subtle arm’s length approach to doing business with the Chinese, is emerging after decades of experience. China has a recent history of assimilating nations, and nowhere is this more apparent than along its remaining independent border neighbours.”

Chris Devonshire-Ellis, in China Briefing

“It is gratifying that Parliament adopted the State Policy on Railway as proposed by the Government, without any major change. It was a historic event as the decision to set up the existing Ulaanbaatar Railway had been taken in Moscow, while this time Mongolians in Mongolia formulated and adopted a policy aimed at establishing a railway network that will allow Mongolia to export its minerals directly through several points, create many workplaces, and help develop processing industries.”

Kh.Battulga, Minister for Roads, Transport, Construction and
Urban Development.

“The government is still negotiating with overseas mining companies over whether they will help develop Tavan Tolgoi on a contract basis. The government will report back to Parliament on the issue later this year. Our priority is to develop Tavan Tolgoi as fast as we can so that it can go into production in one or two years.”

D. Zorigt, Minister for Minerals and Energy.

“The free shares Mongolians will get in the proposed Erdenes-Tavantolgoi Company will not be just pieces of paper, but will gain more and more value as mining expands. I give my word that everything to do with the company will be open and transparent.”

S.Batbold, Prime Minister.

“I want the Gillard government to clear the air on the government’s role on behalf of Rio Tinto in Mongolia and also on if it influenced the Mongolian authorities to legislate to overturn the super-profits (or windfall profits) tax. There was a domestic campaign against the Oyu Tolgoi mine agreement. Clearly the Australian government lobbied for Rio Tinto against those Mongolians -- a number of whom were arrested and jailed after peaceful protests.”

Bob Brown, Greens Senator in Australia.

“Ultimately Oyu Tolgoi is just such a fantastic asset, and [Rio Tinto chief executive] Tom Albanese has openly stated that they want to own more of Ivanhoe.”

Paul Young, a mining analyst in Sydney.

“The five financial institutions have indicated that they are prepared to consider providing limited recourse loans that would total more than USD2 billion, demonstrating the high level of interest in international financial circles in participating in the Oyu Tolgoi project and awareness of its game-changing significance to copper and gold markets.”

Robert Friedland, President, Ivanhoe Mines.

“Parliament cannot take independent decisions uninfluenced by extraneous factors when many MPs from both parties are in the Government. Their priorities are too powerful for Parliament to dispute or ignore. This concentration of power in the hands of the Government does not bode well for the country. A strong opposition is essential for Parliament to work with a purpose, to debate issues fairly and to monitor the performance of the Government. If any of the principal parties needed input from beyond its ranks, it could seek help from a smaller party, but the two parties working in tandem renders Parliament irrelevant.”

D.Demberel, Speaker of Parliament.