MOSCOW, Dec 8 Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia Khishgeegiin Nyambaatara said that the stolen coal, which is causing protests in the country, may have been exported not only to China, but also to other countries.
«It was found that from April to May 2022, when comparing records from surveillance cameras, customs declarations, registration of citizens and vehicles, a large amount of coal was exported. This information differs from the information given by the Chinese customs service. There is a possibility that the stolen coal, exported from our country, was exported not only to China, but further, to third countries,» he said during a speech on the theft of coal.
The Minister added that in the period from 2013 to 2017, the border of China about 17 thousand cars crossed, while 268 thousand tons of coal were exported across the state border without paying taxes and fees.
At the same time, from 2021, that is, for a year and seven months, across the border 379 tons of hard coal were exported without customs registration.
According to the Ministry of Justice, coal was exported through several checkpoints, namely the Gashuunsukhayt, Khangi-Mandal, Zamyn-Uud checkpoints and the points of Sukhbaatar and Kobdo aimags.
Nyambaatara also complained during his speech about some forgetfulness after he contracted COVID-19.
A rally involving several thousand protesters has been taking place in front of the Government Palace in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar over the past few days amid reports of a major theft of coal. According to various reports from the Mongolian media, the amount of embezzlement varies from 1.8 to 13 billion dollars. According to the Minister of Justice of the country, the Mongolian government through diplomatic channels asked the Chinese authorities to join the investigation of the coal case, since Mongolia sends about 86% of its exports to China and more than half of this volume is coal. As reported, protesters were also observed on the square on Tuesday, but there were much fewer of them than the day before.