G. Uyanga says state bodies paid ₮1.408 billion to the companies behind four news sites, citing Glass Account data

The dispute over state contracts with Mongolian media outlets entered a new phase on Monday. Civic activist G. Uyanga, coordinator of the “Save the Tuul” movement, posted on Facebook on the evening of October 19 that ₮1.408 billion of taxpayers’ money had gone to the companies that run four news sites: Zarig.mn, Eguur.mn, Tovch.mn and Urug.mn. Earlier in the day she presented the figures to reporters on Sukhbaatar Square.

Source: G. Uyanga’s (Hariad Uyanga) Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/ganuyanga/posts/pfbid02fqDnZWscpR2S2yjky36DNJwHdRxU5fm6AoC6Wysq9vCbSA2jM8DYvxL9jtMkVkjCl

What the post says

Ms Uyanga addresses the post to N. Unurtsetseg, a journalist and editor of Zarig.mn. She writes that she compiled the data from Mongolia’s Glass Account transparency portal (shilendans.gov.mn) using the companies’ registration numbers, and lists the operators of the four sites as follows:

• Eguur.mn — Logoo LLC
• Zarig.mn — Gan Uzegten LLC
• Tovch.mn — Tovch Report LLC
• Urug.mn — Word Media LLC

“This is money we taxpayers scrimped from our own children to pay,” she writes. The post includes several images of payment tables. One of them lists payments to Logoo LLC between February 2023 and September 2024 from bodies including Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi, Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh LLC, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Communications, the Ministry of Road and Transport and the Khentii provincial governor’s office, with single payments of ₮5 million to ₮16.4 million. The post does not say what period the ₮1.408 billion total covers.

According to Sonin.mn, at her Sukhbaatar Square briefing Ms Uyanga broke the total down as ₮379 million for Zarig.mn, ₮341 million for Eguur.mn and ₮473 million for Urug.mn, without giving a separate figure for Tovch.mn (Sonin.mn, in Mongolian). She accused the sites of disparaging outlets that covered the “Save the Tuul” movement and linked the payments to public money spent under former Ulaanbaatar mayor Kh. Nyambaatar. These are her own allegations; no court or law-enforcement body has upheld them.

The other side

J. Myadagbadam, editor-in-chief of Eguur.mn, said on Monday that she is taking Ms Uyanga to the Bayanzurkh, Sukhbaatar and Chingeltei district civil court of first instance to restore her honour and professional reputation. She argues that what Ms Uyanga said outside the Anti-Corruption Agency on October 14 about her name, work and land was “false and not based on facts” (Eguur.mn, in Mongolian). She said she acquired the eight land plots registered in her name from their previous holders for about ₮100 million in total, without using any political influence.

Ms Myadagbadam did not deny having state contracts. “In terms of contract income, the state accounts for 50% and private organisations for 50%,” she said, adding that her contracts state that the site will not sign “closing contracts” (deals to keep critical coverage out) or simply follow officials’ lines. She said Eguur.mn had not produced or published material against the “Save the Tuul” movement and had received no favours from the mayor’s office, and that she would seek an apology rather than money. On October 12 she had already stated: “I am not a civil servant or a public official. I am the director of a private company” (polit.mn, in Mongolian).

Ms Unurtsetseg has reportedly said in the past that her assets and income were lawfully earned. At the time of writing we could not find responses from Zarig.mn, Tovch.mn or Urug.mn to Monday’s ₮1.408 billion claim. We will update this story if they respond.

How the dispute has unfolded

• October 14. Ms Uyanga called for law-enforcement agencies to investigate the property of named journalists.
• October 15. She demanded an Interpol search for Kh. Nyambaatar, while a violation case involving her is under investigation (egov.mn).
• Meanwhile, veteran journalist G. Zoljargal called for a clean-up of the profession (egov.mn), and journalist B. Bat-Amgalan wrote that the media are paying the price for selling public trust (egov.mn).

What official figures show

A National Audit Office study found that state bodies signed media contracts worth a combined ₮24.2 billion in 2025 and that planning and reporting of such spending was “incompletely implemented” (egov.mn). The government’s draft 2027 budget sets information and publicity spending at ₮26.4 billion, ₮8.9 billion more than in 2026 (egov.mn, in Mongolian). MP Ch. Lodoisambuu has said he will propose cutting all media and publicity spending from the 2027 budget (iSee.mn, October 16).

egov.mn was unable to independently check the ₮1.408 billion total, or the site-by-site breakdown, against the Glass Account portal, so they are presented here only as Ms Uyanga’s claims. The tables in her post show payments from state bodies and state-owned companies to these firms, but they do not, on their own, show that any contract was unlawful or that work was not delivered.

Editor’s note

• Transparency is the right direction. It is good that the public can see from open data how much state bodies and state-owned companies pay the media. The key questions remain what work the money paid for, whether contracts were openly tendered, and whether they influenced editorial policy.
• Budget money versus state-company money. Besides ministries and local authorities, the tables include state-owned firms such as Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh. Their spending comes from company revenue rather than the state budget, so the label “taxpayers’ money” needs more precision.
• Allegations are not proof. No court or law-enforcement body has upheld Ms Uyanga’s claims linking named people to Kh. Nyambaatar, and Ms Myadagbadam has gone to court against her. Courts and bodies such as the Anti-Corruption Agency and the National Audit Office are better placed to settle these questions on the evidence than social media exchanges.
• A systemic fix. The 2027 budget debate is a chance to set rules that make state publicity spending transparent, competitive and properly reported.

Sources: G. Uyanga’s (Hariad Uyanga) Facebook post (October 19, 2026); Sonin.mn; Eguur.mn; polit.mn; iSee.mn; earlier egov.mn reports.