MEETING WITH ALEXEY GORDEYEV, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
The Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and Co-Chairman of the Mongolia-Russia Intergovernmental Commission, Mr. Alexey Gordeyev, is visiting Mongolia on May 28-30.
In this regard, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga received Mr. Gordeyev today.
At the beginning of the meeting, President Battulga welcomed the Russian delegation to Mongolia and appreciated the fact that Mr. Gordeyev, who is very knowledgeable about Mongolia, is co-chairing the Mongolia-Russia Intergovernmental Commission.
President Battulga spoke about his discussion with President Vladimir Putin regarding the joint celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol this year and the continuing construction works in Dornod Aimag on the redevelopment of the Khalkhgol Soum with an investment of EUR 8 million. President Battulga assured the Russian delegation of the completion of the inter-soum construction works, covering an area of six hectares, before the joint celebration of the anniversary and the visit of the Russian President to Mongolia.
President Battulga presented the findings of a relevant study predicting an estimated increase in the freight transport of Ulaanbaatar Railway Joint Venture by 20-30 million tonnes, in connection to the recent launch of the construction works of 414.6 km long railway along the route Tavantolgoi-Zuunbayan in Mongolia. As the new developments would necessarily bring the matter of railway capacity increase into consideration, the sides discussed the source of finance in this regard.
In particular, President Battulga reminded that the matter had been discussed at his meeting with President Putin in Vladivostok in 2018, during which they had reached an understanding on the issuance of RUB 100 billion from the Russian side, and the feasibility study for modernization of the railway sector has been formulated, asking the Russian Deputy Prime Minister to pay close attention to this matter.
For his part, Mr. Gordeyev expressed his pleasure with meeting President Battulga again and congratulated Mongolia on the launch of the construction works of Tavantolgoi-Zuunbayan railway, saying that it was an infrastructure development work of the century. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his willingness to work towards the modernization of the Ulaanbaatar Railway by means of specific dialogues at the intergovernmental level.
Moreover, Mr. Gordeyev reported that the Russian side had reached an understanding on providing the RUB 100 billion loan and that it was possible to spend the loan on railway reform, as suggested by President Battulga, although no consensus has been reached on what form it will be granted in and how it will be spent.
At the end of the meeting, President Battulga expressed his confidence that the meeting of the Mongolia-Russia Intergovernmental Commission will be productive and many issues will be resolved, while wishing the Russian delegation success.
