Enkhsaikhan: Nothing good about Oyu Tolgoi agreement

Former Prime Minister and founder of the National New Party M. Enkhsaikhan claims there is nothing good in the Oyu Tolgoi agreement.

He said in an interview that there are strong reasons to believe that corruption surrounds the Oyutolgoi agreement since it is full of holes and there is no clearly visible big benefit for Mongolia. The former PM raised questions on Mongolia’s control over international companies and the certainty that the bribing of Mongolian officials who have exalted corruption to a culture does not take place, especially in such big projects as Oyutolgoi and with the current Rio Tinto case taking place in China.

The former Prime Minister exposes three points which, acording to him, invalidate the agreement. Firstly, he says, the agreement violates Mongolian laws and Parliament decisions, and signing it before approving the feasibility study was patently wrong.

Secondly, the so-called advance payment is actually a loan with high interest.

Thirdly, Mongolia has to buy its 34% ownership with a loan.

And fourthly, Mongolian interests will suffer by yielding to the investors’ decision to mine only the best parts of the deposit.

M. Enkhsaikhan deplores that all powers of discernment have been surrounded to foreigners under illusory threats such as the “curse of wealth”, “theory of economic competency”, or the “theory about good governance”, all, he says, aiming at facilitating the appropriation and control of Mongolia’s wealth.

According to Enkhsaikhan, bad governance means bad government and bad Ministers with foreigners implementing projects which trap countries into debt, leaving them with no option but to surrender their treasures. The bottom line, he added, is the signing of an agreement that will leave the country in great debt.

 He recalled Ivanhoe Energy Inc’s Executive Co-Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Friedland has been nicked named “toxic bob” after a spectacular cyanide spill from his gold mine in Summitville, Colorado in 1993.Former Prime Minister and founder of the National New Party M. Enkhsaikhan claims there is nothing good in the Oyu Tolgoi agreement.

He said in an interview that there are strong reasons to believe that corruption surrounds the Oyutolgoi agreement since it is full of holes and there is no clearly visible big benefit for Mongolia. The former PM raised questions on Mongolia’s control over international companies and the certainty that the bribing of Mongolian officials who have exalted corruption to a culture does not take place, especially in such big projects as Oyutolgoi and with the current Rio Tinto case taking place in China.

The former Prime Minister exposes three points which, acording to him, invalidate the agreement. Firstly, he says, the agreement violates Mongolian laws and Parliament decisions, and signing it before approving the feasibility study was patently wrong.

Secondly, the so-called advance payment is actually a loan with high interest.

Thirdly, Mongolia has to buy its 34% ownership with a loan.

And fourthly, Mongolian interests will suffer by yielding to the investors’ decision to mine only the best parts of the deposit.

M. Enkhsaikhan deplores that all powers of discernment have been surrounded to foreigners under illusory threats such as the “curse of wealth”, “theory of economic competency”, or the “theory about good governance”, all, he says, aiming at facilitating the appropriation and control of Mongolia’s wealth.

According to Enkhsaikhan, bad governance means bad government and bad Ministers with foreigners implementing projects which trap countries into debt, leaving them with no option but to surrender their treasures. The bottom line, he added, is the signing of an agreement that will leave the country in great debt.

 He recalled Ivanhoe Energy Inc’s Executive Co-Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Friedland has been nicked named “toxic bob” after a spectacular cyanide spill from his gold mine in Summitville, Colorado in 1993.