B.Altsukh, senior specialist at the Fuel Policy Department in the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, thinks it was a good decision to have one ministry for both mineral resources and energy, but it was anomalous to have a fuel policy department which does not have anything do with either mining or energy. He also regrets that people with professional qualifications have been largely marginalized in recent days, with important posts going to those with active party affiliation. “They have little interest in developing long-term policy, as political appointees know they will stay in the job only as long as the Minister who appointed them remains one,” he says in The Mongolian Mining Journal, adding, “This has had a very bad impact on both efficiency and morale.”

 
Altsukh blames the present predicament of the State-run coal sector on the Government’s refusal to raise coal prices for fear of becoming unpopular. The two mines that supply most of the coal to the power stations, Baganuur and Shivee Ovoo, are forced to work with old and outdated machinery because they have no money for new ones. After paying employees’ wages they have just enough left to cover running costs. After repeated remonstrations, some money has recently been allotted for such use, but this is much less than what is necessary.

He finds it “unusual” that the Energy Coordination Department, instead of exercising its legal authority to decide on mines’ pleas for a price rise, involved the Government. He argues, “Perhaps there was politics involved or perhaps one was afraid of taking an unpopular decision. Why is Government approval being sought for what should be purely administrative decisions? The Government cannot take a quick decision as it is burdened with political considerations.”

Revealing that the Cabinet asked the Ministry of Finance to review the issue and the Ministry “just cut MNT1,000 from each request without any proper calculation”, Altsukh said, “Every individual case should have been reviewed separately, for different mines work under different conditions.” Saying that “such serious matters cannot be left pending indefinitely”, the official said the mines are being punished for no fault of theirs.  No one wants to bell the cat and the buck keeps being passed around. The mines’ woes are compounded by the fact that the power and heating plants, even as they receive coal at less than the cost of production, allow debts to pile up, knowing the Government will never allow the mines to cut off supply.