It looked as if the former Mongolian Prime Ministers, S.Bayar and Ch.Saikhanbileg who have been held at Detention Centre No.461 were about to be released, but with a ban on leaving the country. However, earlier today (10 May), the Primary Criminal Courts of Ulaanbaatar’s Bayanzurkh, Sukhbaatar and Chingeltei Districts, following an appeal from the  prosecutors, decided to return them to the detention centre, where they have already been held for a month.

The 25th and 28th prime ministers were accused of an abuse of power while making the 2009 Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement and the 2015 Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan respectively.

Former Finance Minister S.Bayartsogt, former Mining Minister D.Zorigt and L.Gansukh, the ex-Minister of Enviroment and Tourism signed the Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement with Rio Tinto in 2009 when S.Bayar was Prime Minister. Later, in 2015, a Mongolian delegation led by former Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg signed the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Ch.Saikhanbileg is being accused of not raising the important matter of payment in parliament.

The Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine is Mongolia’s most important mining development generating substantial revenue for the national economy. Since the mining development began in the Gobi desert, it has created over 11,000 jobs.