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Good Morning! 🇲🇳 A Mongolian couple’s touching journey is now featured on Apple’s official YouTube channel. Using spatial video on iPhone, they captured their newborn’s first year, and surprised Mom with a 3D home movie on Apple Vision Pro. Watch how memories come to life like never before. 🎥

Today’s highlights in 3 sentences…

• 🚕 UBCab IPO

• 🤑 State Ownership Talks

• 🦅 Dividend Season

Ready to Dive in?

MARKET

FRC: UBCab, Mongolia’s leading ride-hailing platform, has secured approval from the Financial Regulatory Commission to proceed with its IPO. 

MNG: The balance of payments recorded a surplus of $373.2 million in the first 4 months of 2024, shifting to a deficit of $613.9 million in the same period of 2025.

BOM: Foreign exchange reserves rose to $5.1 billion in April.

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Mongolia Moves on Strategic Mine Stake

SouthGobi Resources announces that its mining arm, SouthGobi Sands, is facing negotiations with the Mongolian government over a potential stake in the company’s strategic mining deposits.

• 🗞️ Brief: Mongolia currently has 16 officially registered strategic deposits. However, 39 more deposits with confirmed reserves remain unregistered. The government has decided to submit a draft resolution to Parliament to increase the number of strategic deposits to 55. The list has not been updated since 2007.

⚠️ Strategically Important

On April 2, SouthGobi’s wholly owned subsidiary, SouthGobi Sands (SGS), received a formal notice from a plenipotentiary representative of the Mongolian government. The letter invited SGS to join talks on determining either the state’s potential ownership interest in SGS, which holds the company’s coal mining licenses, or replacing it with a royalty arrangement.

• SouthGobi confirmed it began preliminary discussions with the government on April 24. The company stated it intends to fully cooperate and aims to reach a constructive, mutually beneficial agreement.

☝🏻 Stake or Royalty

This follows the implementation of Mongolia's National Wealth Fund Law, passed in April 2024, which allows the government to negotiate equity stakes or royalty agreements for deposits designated as strategically important. SGS’s Ovoot Tolgoi Mine and the Soumber Deposit fall under this designation. The company emphasized it will protect its lawful interests while complying with Mongolia’s evolving legal framework.

In summary… SouthGobi now enters a pivotal negotiation process that could reshape its ownership structure in Mongolia. As the government pushes for greater involvement in strategic assets, other companies with similar deposits may soon face the same path, signaling a new phase in Mongolia’s resource governance.

⭐ Selected for you

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

• Canadian Tin Explorer T1N Mining Corp Has Partnered with a Subsidiary of China Minmetals to Develop Mongolia's Oorsog Ovoo Tin-Polymetallic Project. (TiN)

• The National University of Mongolia Opens an IELTS Centre with Global Standards. (NUM) 

• EBC Financial Group Seals Joint Cooperation Agreement with the International University of Ulaanbaatar. (EBCFinancialGroup)

• TMK Energy Nears Critical Desorption Milestone at Gurvantes XXXV. (TMKEnergy) 

POLITICS

• Mongolia and Canada to Cooperate on Micro-Mining Rescue Operations. (AKIpress) 

• Kazakhstan and Mongolia Seek to Enhance Trade and Investment Cooperation. (Kazinform)

• The CAMCA (Central Asia-Mongolia-Caucasus-Afghanistan) Regional Forum is Scheduled to Take Place in Ulaanbaatar on June 19–20. (CamcaForum)

• Putin Meets with the Mongolian President in Kremlin. (TASS)

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

• The First Naadam Festival of the World Mongols to Take Place in Belgium. (Montsame)

• He Turned a Mongolian BBQ Joint into a Baja-Style Seafood Spot While Battling Cancer. (LosAngelesTimes)

🤑 Dividend Season Yields ₮401.9 Billion

Mongolia is in the midst of its annual dividend distribution cycle. A total of 44 public companies have announced plans to distribute ₮1.1 trillion in dividends this year, according to a joint survey. While regulations require dividends to be paid by April 30, some companies have begun distributing later.

🧮 Total 44, Number 29

So far, 29 joint-stock companies have paid out ₮401.9 billion to shareholders through the Central Securities Depository. Around 217,000 shareholders have received dividends, with the average payout reaching ₮155.1 per share. The number of companies distributing dividends has increased by 6 compared to the same period last year, while the total amount paid has grown by ₮100 billion.

🌽 Belated Harvest

Although the regulatory deadline has passed, 12 companies began dividend distribution in early May. The remaining 15 companies are expected to complete payments in the coming weeks.

• The financial sector continues to dominate: Of the 29 companies that paid dividends, 14 are from the financial sector, accounting for 97% of the total amount distributed, ₮389.7 billion. The banking sector alone contributed ₮363.4 billion, led by Khan Bank (KHAN), which paid out ₮326.9 billion. Khan Bank was also the largest dividend payer last year.

Small shareholders receive dividends through the Central Securities Depository, while strategic investors are paid directly by companies. For example, the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) allocated ₮16.4 billion in dividends from its 2024 net profit, with ₮5.3 billion disbursed to small shareholders.

Finally… Dividend distribution remains a key indicator of investor confidence. The steady increase in both the number of paying companies and total dividends reflects a maturing capital market.

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Publisher: Ts.Ankhbayar
Writer: M.Khulan
Graphics by: Ts.Tselmeg

Disclaimer: The information Inside Mongolia provides is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be or constitute financial advice, trading advice, or any other advice. The decision whether to consider the information we provide is solely our readers' independent decision.