Trending on X, 10 AM: Aqua Garden ruling, People's Petrol Station, Oyu Tolgoi, Abu Dhabi talks, Merab, appointments, money laundering

Below are the seven topics Mongolian users discussed on X between 18:00 on November 11 and 10:30 on November 12. A Supreme Court ruling on the land under the Aqua Garden housing complex, a dispute over donations to the "People's Petrol Station" and the letter on Oyu Tolgoi dividends led the conversation. Topics from earlier roundups are repeated only when there is a new development. Engagement figures are as of 10:30.

1. Supreme Court rules that granting Aqua Garden land inside the Dund River protection zone was partly unlawful

On November 11 the Supreme Court heard, at the supervisory level, the land dispute over the Aqua Garden complex, which many people online call the "corruption complex". According to UBN.mn, the court amended the appeals court ruling to grant the claim by the NGO Onch Shiidel that the overlap between the remaining land parcel of M and G Construction LLC and the Dund River special protection zone was unlawful, and left the rest of the ruling unchanged. The court found that parts of a 2018 decision, which changed the purpose of 11.8 hectares granted in 2013 for green space to services, a water park and a sports complex, violated Article 22.2 of the Law on Water.

Users thanked the young people of Onch Shiidel, and B. Tsogtgerel wrote from the @TsogtgerelB account that it is now possible to demolish buildings put up without permits in the river protection zone. No authority has made an official statement on the future of the buildings. Separately, lawyer @Bazar_Attorney wrote about a different case, saying a building that had narrowed a sidewalk was partly taken down after two years in court and the sidewalk was cleared; it was the most-liked post of the period. Read more in the standalone story.

2. Organiser of the "People's Petrol Station" says donations cannot be returned, drawing criticism (new development)

The 10 AM roundup on November 11 covered the "People's Petrol Station" initiative; this time the donations themselves became the issue. Eguur.mn reported that about 6,000 people have given more than MNT 168 million, and that the organiser, M. Orkhontuul, had earlier promised to return all the money if the project failed. In a newer video, however, she said the money could not be returned if the project fails and proposed building houses for poor families in the countryside instead, which angered many users. Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources G. Damdinnyam said: "Mongolia has laws. Enforcing them is the job of the law enforcement agencies."

The most-viewed post on the subject was shared by @Baagij13310361, while lawyer @AriuntuyaLaw wrote that people should ask what drove citizens to the point of collecting donations to bring in petrol themselves. A video posted by UBN.mn on X, in which Prime Minister N. Uchral says of fuel, "I'm not the one producing petrol, talk about something realistic", was also widely discussed.

3. Minister G. Damdinnyam publishes the full Oyu Tolgoi dividend letter as conditions are debated (new development)

The 6 PM roundup on November 11 included news that Oyu Tolgoi LLC had told the government it would pay dividends in 2027. Afterwards, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources G. Damdinnyam posted on X the full text of the November 9 letter sent to the working group, writing that the government is working to deliver a dividend that has been discussed for 17 years. According to the text published by Ikon.mn, the company is drawing up a plan in line with the government's aim of collecting MNT 3 trillion from Oyu Tolgoi in 2027, an amount on top of taxes and royalties. A working group led by Finance Minister Z. Mendsaikhan will set the schedule and method of payment.

Lawyer @SolongooBayars1 criticised the reading of a letter from two Rio Tinto managers at a cabinet meeting, and wrote in another post that the company had tied the dividend to refinancing the project's loans. Neither the government nor the company has commented officially on that condition.

4. Abu Dhabi talks end with deal on the war's largest prisoner swap; Zelensky arrives in Dublin (new development)

Earlier roundups noted the start of the three-way Abu Dhabi talks on Ukraine; this period was about their outcome. AFP and The Guardian reported that at the November 10–11 talks Russia and Ukraine agreed to what was described as the largest prisoner exchange of the war, but made little progress towards a broader peace deal. Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said "significant differences remain". US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are to meet Putin in Moscow on the 12th and then brief Zelensky in Dublin. Zelensky arrived in Ireland for the European Political Community summit and said 1,000 to 1,200 prisoners could be exchanged.

Users widely shared a video of Zelensky's remarks on Russia's demands for security guarantees and news of his visit to Dublin.

5. UFC fighter Merab Dvalishvili says he was attacked in Abu Dhabi

Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili said Usman Nurmagomedov and his associates attacked him from behind while he was giving an interview for Real American Freestyle in a hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi. CBS Sports and The National reported that former UFC champion Ilia Topuria posted video of the attack, and Dvalishvili and his friend appeared injured in footage. No response from Nurmagomedov had been reported at the time of writing. A Mongolian translation of Dvalishvili's statement spread widely on X. Read more in the standalone story.

6. Civil Service Council annuls appointments of acting heads of two government agencies

iSee.mn reported that the Civil Service Council has annulled, as unlawful, the appointments of P. Bayanbaatar as acting head of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority and G. Batkhuyag as acting head of the Culture and Arts Agency. The council had set a deadline to fix the violations, and acted within its powers when that was not met. Last week Prime Minister N. Uchral dismissed the heads of the tax, veterinary, and investment and trade agencies and ordered that the use of acting agency heads be sorted out.

7. Anti-corruption agency sends prosecutors a case of money laundering using homeless people's data

The Independent Authority Against Corruption has completed its investigation into an alleged organised group that illegally used the personal data of homeless people, people with no fixed address and people with alcohol dependency, broke into online banking records and laundered money, and has sent the case to prosecutors. Tug.mn reported that five people are involved; they are suspected of using data on residents of Chingeltei district's 4th khoroo and hiding the proceeds by buying movable property in the names of people close to them. The agency said some officials at the state registration office and the police allegedly took bribes for supplying personal data. No one is considered guilty until convicted by a court.

Methodology: We ranked posts from about 200 major news and influential accounts found through X search, plus more than 50 keyword searches, by an engagement score (likes + 2× reposts + views/100), and checked the facts against news sites. Posts that could not be verified or that carried a risk of defamation were left out. Views expressed by individuals on X do not represent the position of egov.mn.