Ulaanbaatar, August 17, 2023 /MONTSAME/. Today the Vice-Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia L. Munkhbaatar received the delegation headed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Mongolia M.P. Singh.  

At the beginning of the meeting, the Vice-Chairman of the State Great Khural L. Munkhbaatar noted that major projects and programs significantly contribute to the enrichment of the Strategic Partnership between Mongolia and India with new content, and development is taking place intensively, and congratulated the Indian partners on the occasion of the 76th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of India. At the meeting, the parties discussed the progress of the Oil Refinery Construction Project and exchanged opinions.

Considering the time to spend on the engineering work of each oil refinery facility, the construction work is divided into 4 parts: ЕРС-01, ЕРС-02, ЕРС-03, and ЕРС-04 (ЕРС: Engineering-Procurement-Construction). ЕРС-01 package work or construction of non-technological buildings started in 2021. They are working to hand it over within this year. The contractor for EPC-02 and 03 package works and construction of crude oil pipeline was selected in 2022 and the contract was signed. Currently, the design work is in the final stage, and the construction work at the factory site officially started in April of this year. H.E. Ambassador M.P. Singh presented the announcement of the tender for the selection of the EPC-04 package construction contractor. He noted that the Minister of Finance of Mongolia and Exim Bank of the Republic of India signed a new loan agreement on the ЕРС-01, ЕРС-02, ЕРС-03 projects for the construction of the oil refinery in Mongolia, and postponed the loan repayment until 2030.

CEO of Engineers India Limited Vartika Shukla said that due to the pandemic and international geopolitical situation, increase of the price of materials, machinery and equipment on the world market affects the total investment expenses of the project. As it is necessary to solve the problem of additional funding for the implementation of the EPC-04 set of works, she asked the Parliament to support their endeavors.

With the completion of the oil refinery, Mongolia will get rid of dependence on fuel imports, and a new branch of the petrochemical industry will be created in the country reducing foreign trade deficit. The Vice-Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia L. Munkhbaatar underscored that the Parliament will fully support and pay attention to the creation of a favorable legal environment and the coordination of relevant institutions in order to successfully implement the project, a symbol of cooperation between the two countries.

Executive Director of "Mongolian Oil Refinery" LLC D. Altantsetseg, Project Management Consultant for Oil Refinery, Chairman and Managing Director of Engineers India Limited Vartika Shukla, General Manager of EXIM Bank of India Nirmit Ved, and other officials took part in the meeting.