A meeting of representatives from the Mongolian Labor Union, the Union of Employers and the Energy Regulation Department discussed the decision to raise electricity and heating prices with effect from January 15, and decided to set up a working group consisting of experts to examine the calculations made by the Energy Regulation Department. The working group will start work at the Energy Department and some factories.

The Labor Union is against the increase, saying the Government is trying to burden the citizens for its mistakes. It thinks energy tariffs must be realistic. R.Myagmar of the Energy Regulation Department said the Government was requested to raise the electricity tariffs by 24 percent and heating tariffs by 20 percent in 2010. The Government decided to provide MNT15 billion as subsidy so that the increase was kept lower.

According to him, there is no other choice but to raise the tariffs. The MNT15 billion works out to only 29 percent of production costs. Asked about the impact on prices, he said, “The energy tariff is being raised according to law. As for the price of other products, it is an issue for the companies concerned.”