Russian Presidential Adviser Anton Kobyakov has met with Mongolia’s Ambassador to Russia Ulzihaihana Enkhtuvshin in Moscow. The parties discussed the participation of the Mongolian delegation in the Eastern Economic Forum.
As EastRussia was informed by the organizing committee of the EEF, the main theme of this year’s forum is “Towards a multipolar world”. The parties noted the great potential in increasing exports from Mongolia (especially traditional livestock products) to Siberia and the Far East. The business program of the forum will discuss cooperation between the countries in agriculture, tourism and medicine.
As Anton Kobyakov recalled, the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Russia and Mongolia was concluded in 2019.
“Relations between Russia and Mongolia are of a strategic nature. The trade turnover between the countries is growing, and we hope that by the end of 2022, it will exceed two billion dollars, and the Russia-Mongolia business dialogue at the forum will be an excellent accelerator,” he added.
For example, the Mongolian delegation plans to discuss the construction of a hydropower plant on the Egyin-Gol River. The implementation of this project will help take the country’s energy sector out of crisis: at present energy costs (taking into account the coronavirus pandemic and the special military operation in Ukraine) have increased by more than 30%.
Construction work on the Egyin Gol hydropower project has been suspended because Russia has filed a complaint with UNESCO, due to the fact that the river is a tributary of the transboundary Selenga River, which itself is the largest tributary of Lake Baikal. 67% of this river is in Mongolia and the remaining 33% in Russia’s Buryatia. Mongolia is now working with a French company to study the biological impact of the future hydropower plant.
According to the new Minister of Energy, Battogtokhin Chojilsuren, the construction of the hydropower plant on Egijin Gol may be discussed by Mongolia’s prime minister at the forthcoming Eastern Economic Forum which opens in Vladivostok on 5 September.
And it seems to us that the issue of the hydropower plant will be resolved positively. Whatever the geopolitical situation in the world, the Russians will always remember the help that the Mongolians gave to the people of Russia during the Great Patriotic War.
“The year 2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia, and a joint plan to celebrate this historic date has been successfully implemented. I am sure that participation in the Eastern Economic Forum will be of practical importance for the expansion of bilateral cooperation,” Ulziysaikhan Enkhtuvshin stressed.
The EEF will be held from 5 to 8 September in Vladivostok.
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