Economic Policy Reform and Competitiveness Project

On 25 June the Economic Journalism Club hosted a business lunch to introduce thirteen journalists from daily newspapers and TV stations to current issues and project work in the energy sector. Mr. Amgalan Nordov and Mr. Khishigt Tamir, EPRC Energy Specialists, acted as facilitators and answered questions from participants. These questions ranged from the controversial “Mogoi River” Power Plant, for which construction began without a license, to the potential for building a nuclear power plant in Mongolia. Due to environmental and safety concerns, EPRC specialist, Mr. Amgalan, responded that construction of a nuclear power plant in the near future is unlikely, despite the country’s large uranium deposits.

EPRC’s work in the energy sector aims to improve coordination of national energy sector policies; make the energy sector regulatory environment more transparent, market-oriented, and efficient; and improve the commercial orientation and practices of energy sector state-owned enterprises. The project recently completed and submitted to the Energy Regulatory Authority a draft report on the revised two-part generation tariff methodology for the Central Energy System (CES) power plants and a financial model simulator to estimate government subsidies needed to meet CES revenue requirements under different assumptions of tariff increases.

Officially launched on 16 April with support from EPRC, The Press Institute, and other organizations, the Economic Journalism Club aims to support public education through building the capacity of investigative journalists to report on economic issues and strengthening the role of media in the economic development of Mongolia.