During its plenary session on January 22, Parliament adopted the parliamentary resolution on approval of the guidelines for improving the legislation of Mongolia through 2024 with an approval of 66.1 percent.

It includes 149 bills and 12 draft parliamentary resolutions. Out of the 149 bills included in the draft, 34 were submitted in 2020, 82 will be submitted in 2021, 21 in 2022 and 12 in 2023. Three of the 12 draft resolutions will be submitted to Parliament in 2020, three in 2021, four in 2022 and two in 2023, respectively. There are 54 drafts revisions, 43 bills, 42 amendments and 10 bills on ratification of international agreements.

During the session, Parliament discussed the bill on reimbursement of pension insurance premiums for herders and the self-employed.

The relevant law expired on December 31, 2020. Within a single year, the law allowed around 18,000 herders and the self-employed were covered nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents 62 percent of eligible citizens. Therefore, herders and the self-employed submitted numerous requests to Parliament for an extension.

Lawmaker L.Enkh-Amgalan said, “In accordance with the law, a citizen is required to pay 500,000 MNT for one-year compensation of premiums, 1.5 million MNT for three-year compensation and 3 million MNT for six-year compensation. It was proposed to calculate and pay the pension insurance premiums based on the minimum annual wage. Under this law, more than 260,000 herders and more than 160,000 self-employed people will be able to reimburse their pension insurance premiums. It is necessary to disseminate information to citizens and promote it through all levels of government.”

Lawmakers supported to transfer the bill to the Standing Committee on Budget for preparation.

In addition, the draft amendment to the Law on Tax Excise was discussed.

Lawmaker B.Purevdorj said that oil extraction and sales companies continue to produce counterfeit fuel, supply it to gas stations, and cause losses to citizens.

“Imports of products such as kerosene and naphtha, whose international consumption is decreasing, has increased in Mongolia. From 2017 to 2018, a total of 202,000 tons of the raw materials for the production of counterfeit fuel were imported across the Mongolian border,” he added.

The bill was drafted to impose an excise tax on imported by-products of oil production, protect the interests of consumers, and increase the ability to generate revenue for the state budget.

During the session, Parliament discussed the bill on support for oil refinery and transferred the matter over to the Standing Committee on Economy.

Executive Director of Mongolian Oil Refinery JGC D.Altantsetseg said, “For the first time in Mongolia, a complete oil refinery is being built. Therefore, a large number of foreign engineers and technicians are expected to participate in the construction of the refinery. The first phase of construction will create at least 150 jobs and will be able to employ local people. The construction of the refinery began last week and the company currently has about 30 employees. More than 30 experts will arrive from India. It is estimated that the total investment cost wil be recouped in nine years.”

Lawmaker M.Oyunchimeg said that during the construction, it is necessary to pay attention to training personnel and employing Mongolian engineers and specialists in the future.