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Mongolia Sets December Oyu Tolgoi Hearing, Summons 300 Witnesses as Parliament Reshuffles Leadership

Lawmakers say the review will test 16 years of decisions to gauge whether Mongolia has secured a fair share of the copper project’s benefits.

Overview

  • Parliament’s temporary oversight committee scheduled an open, evidentiary hearing on Oyu Tolgoi for December 8–12 and approved calling roughly 300 witnesses.
  • The witness list includes three former presidents, seven former prime ministers, current and former ministers and MPs, state agencies, and representatives of Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi LLC.
  • Committee leaders said about 60,000 pages of materials have been gathered and sought declassification of some documents to ensure a thorough public review.
  • Lawmakers elected J. Bat-Erdene as deputy speaker with 78% support, and MP Kh. Gankhuyag was appointed and sworn in as deputy prime minister.
  • Health-sector unions postponed a planned strike after late-day talks and a cited proposal to raise pay by 75%, while authorities opened new small schools in Uvs and Khovd, rolled out a monthlong ‘Yellow Flag’ child road-safety drive as police reported 917 child injuries this year, ran a firearms audit through December 4, and issued storm and cold warnings for November 13–16.