On Monday, the Standing Committee on Economics discussed proposed amendments to Parliament’s 39th protocol, which concerns the Tavantolgoi mining project. The amendments were submitted by Ya.Batsuuri and D.Odbayar.

Committee members decided to submit the proposals to Parliament.

The amendments call for 20 percent of Tavantolgoi shares to be distributed to Mongolian citizens for free. Most citizens would receive 1,072 shares. Citizens could also opt to take cash instead, in which case the Government would keep those shares.

Some MPs complained that the Government was not a good manager, and if it ended up with too many shares, it might not be able to sell the remaining shares on international exchanges, which set the rules for IPOs. Some MPs also warned that, by giving away 20 percent of the shares, the shares could lose value.

Erdenes MGL LLC Director B.Enebish said the company plans to issue shares of Erdenes Tavantolgoi LLC on the London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The London exchange could issue as much as 25 percent of the shares.

Batj.Batbayar said that all actions taken to issue the shares on international stock exchanges should be transparent.

MPs also asked how the shares should be allocated to students, who already receive MNT 500,000 to MNT 1 million stipends for tuition fees. A working group said students who receive a MNT 500,000 stipend will be eligible to receive 536 shares. Students who have taken the MNT 1 million stipend will still be eligible for a monthly allowance of MNT 21,000, but will not be eligible to receive shares.