The government has given instructions to monitor whether the procurements made in the framework of public transport fleet renovation of Ulaanbaatar city are in accordance with the law. In this context, a thorough examination and review of archival documents pertaining to the procurement of public transport revealed a potential criminal situation. Governor of the Capital city and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar Kh.Nyambaatar gave information about this and announced that the request to examine the documents will be submitted to the Independent Authority Against Corruption.

Since 2009, a total of 10 procurements have been made as part of public transport fleet renovation. All of these procurements were made under direct contracts. In other words, open tender selection has not been conducted. For example, in 2009, 400 buses were procured with state budget funds. On December 20, 2008, the then Minister of Road Transport, Construction and Urban Development signed a trade agreement with South Korea's "Daewoo Global" corporation. The agreement stipulated the procurement of 400 buses for a total amount of 25,161,000 USD. The 400 buses, procured using state budget resources, were allocated to 10 enterprises without being formally registered as properties of either the state or the capital.

During that period, Kh.Battulga served as the Minister of Road Transport, S.Bayartsogt held the position of Minister of Finance, and G.Munkhbayar was the Mayor. A total of 35.6 billion MNT buses were given directly to enterprises without collecting money in the state budget. As a result, the state budget has suffered losses of the above amount. Throughout this timeframe, the Property Relations Department of the Capital city made multiple attempts to seek restitution for the damages through legal channels. However, since the buses were officially registered using state budget resources and subsequently allocated to the enterprises, the Property Relations Department of the Capital city is currently unable to pursue a legal claim.

Mayor Kh.Nyambaatar said, "On November 23, 2010, in accordance with Resolution No. 303 issued by the Government of Mongolia, the then Minister of Finance S.Bayartsogt, instructed the retrieval of the payments stipulated in the contract from the companies that purchased buses, and the establishment of a fund for the renovation of the public transport fleet. This responsibility was delegated to the Chairman of the State Property Committee D.Sugar, and the Mayor G.Munkhbayar. However, as of today, only 23 percent of the repayments from these companies have been received, and the operational lifespan of the buses provided during that period has expired."

Since 2015, 560 buses have been renovated. Unfortunately, most of these buses have been certified without going to the public transport service during the contractual waiting period.

Mayor Kh.Nyambaatar continued, "Buses that will be purchased in the future will not be given to bus companies that are indebted to the state. In addition, about 300 billion MNT is provided to bus companies every year. Subsidies given without real calculations should be made performance-based. The efforts towards fleet renovation are unlikely to succeed if organized groups within the public transport sector remain unregulated. The involvement of both government and private sector entities in illicit activities within the public transport sector will be subject to investigation by legal and supervisory authorities."

MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF THE CAPITAL CITY