Oyu Tolgoi Dividend Fight Splits President and Government
On November 4, Finance Minister Zagdjavyn Mendsaikhan said the government would not accept President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh’s proposal to pay the Oyu Tolgoi dividend in cash. A minister refused his own president in public, a day after seeming to agree with him. The expected 3 trillion tugrik (USD 833m) dividend from the government’s 34 percent equity stake is unconfirmed in amount and timing.
Every citizen holds a named account in the Chinggis Khaan National Wealth Fund, standing at 306,000 tugrik (USD 85) at the end of 2025. Dividends from the state’s stakes in all strategic deposits flow there under the 2024 Wealth Fund law, invested until 2030, then spendable on health, education and housing. Citizens can read the balance on a phone. They cannot touch it. The state coal company, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, is to pay 480.3 billion tugrik (USD 133m) into the fund in 2026, about a sixth of the Oyu Tolgoi sum.
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