Trending on X (2 p.m.): Media contracts, budget amendment, graft cases, Sky Shuttle

Here are the 9 topics Mongolian users discussed most on X between 10:13 and 14:13 (Ulaanbaatar time) on October 16, ranked by the likes, reposts and views of the leading posts. The window was shaped by Parliament’s plenary session, which gave final approval to the 2026 budget amendment and to amendments to the Minerals Law. Topics from this morning’s roundups appear only where there was a genuine new development. There were 9 real topics, so we did not pad the list to 10. Metrics are as of 14:34.

1. State media contracts: MP proposes cutting all publicity spending from the 2027 budget (new development)

The running debate over contracts between state bodies and media outlets reached the political level in this window. MP Ch. Lodoisambuu wrote that he will submit a proposal in principle to remove all media, information and publicity spending from the 2027 consolidated budget, arguing that “there is no such thing as a free press with a cooperation contract with the state.” It was the most widely shared post of the window.

@g_ganbat argued that sites kept alive by taxpayers’ money would simply disappear once that funding stopped, while @bayarkuu said the bigger issue was large contracts reportedly awarded without tenders. @JamtsUsukhbayar criticised some journalists for describing the deals as “cooperation agreements” rather than paid-silence contracts. We have not independently verified the alleged breaches of law, and we left out posts that accused named individuals or outlets.

According to a summary by Uchirtai.mn based on a National Audit Office study, state bodies signed media contracts worth a total of MNT 24.2 billion in 2025. Read more here.

2. 2026 budget amendment approved: pensions and wages rise from November 1 (new)

Parliament gave final approval to the 2026 budget amendment at today’s plenary session. UBN.mn reported that 84 of the 101 members who voted supported it. According to iSee.mn, the amended consolidated budget sets balanced revenue at MNT 31.9 trillion, total expenditure at MNT 34.0 trillion and the deficit at MNT 2 trillion, or 2% of GDP.

Finance Minister Z. Mendsaikhan said that from November 1 the pensions of more than 435,000 older people will rise by MNT 100,000–300,000, health workers’ salaries by 20% and those of other public service employees by 35–50% (ubn.mn). MP S. Tsenguun, however, criticised what he called a practice of spending money first and having Parliament approve it afterwards. Read the full story here.

3. S. Tsenguun: why are cases sent to the anti-corruption agency not resolved? (new)

A statement by MP S. Tsenguun, shared by Newsroom.mn, was the window’s second most widely spread post. He said the failure to resolve cases sent to the Independent Authority Against Corruption is eroding trust in the courts, adding that a theft case announced from the floor of Parliament a year ago is still unresolved and that damage to the state has not been repaid even after officials left their posts. This is the MP’s position; we have not independently verified the status of any specific case.

4. “New Cooperative” herder loans: repayment figures by province (new development)

@margadism listed repayment figures for loans issued to herders under the “New Cooperative” (Shine Khorshoo) movement, saying for example that MNT 3.2 billion of MNT 80.5 billion had been repaid in Bulgan and MNT 1.5 billion of MNT 43 billion in Zavkhan, and linked this to rising meat prices. News.mn had earlier reported the Bulgan figures. @THEJAALQ quoted lawyer O. Baasankhuu as saying most of the roughly MNT 900 billion in loans had not been repaid.

Officials have said that 7,784 cooperatives received loans totalling MNT 894 billion, that scheduled repayments stand at 99%, and that total repayments had reached MNT 218.8 billion as of July 31, according to the Bank of Mongolia. Because the loans are long-term, repayment schedules matter when judging whether they are “unpaid.” The 2 a.m. roundup covered loan limits; this window brought the repayment figures to the fore.

5. “Sky Shuttle”: construction targeted for March 2027 (new)

Capital City Governor and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar B. Purevdagva met a delegation led by Nicola Jan, director of BYD Group’s Sky Shuttle project, on October 15. The two sides preliminarily agreed to complete the project’s feasibility study by December and to start construction next March (amlalt.mn, 24tsag.mn, mpress.mn). The work follows a memorandum of understanding signed with BYD during the COP17 conference. Read more here.

6. Egiin Gol hydropower plant: talk of a “no negative impact on Baikal” response (new)

@LTsogtbayar wrote that Speaker S. Byambatsogt told the plenary that a team from Russia had responded that the Egiin Gol hydropower plant would have no negative impact on Lake Baikal, while Elch.mn shared Byambatsogt’s remark that construction of the plant had “moved a step forward.” A joint working group of scientists from both countries’ academies of sciences has been officially reported to be studying the project’s impact (mecc.gov.mn). We could not locate an official source for a final Russian conclusion, so this report rests on the Speaker’s statement.

7. Minerals Law amendments approved; debate over the tobacco bill (new)

On Geologists’ Day, Parliament gave final approval to amendments to the Minerals Law. According to Mongolian Mining Journal, 9 of the 11 accompanying bills were passed, including provisions to double the share of mineral royalties allocated to local areas and to bring copper royalties in line with international practice, while bills amending the Law on Special Protected Areas and the so-called “Long-Named Law” were withdrawn. @batt1972 wrote that the changes should stimulate exploration and attract investment.

Amendments to the Tobacco Control Law were also on today’s agenda (ubn.mn). Users criticised what they saw as the two bills being “bundled” together, and MPress.mn ran a poll on whether readers support banning e-cigarettes indoors. We had not confirmed the final outcome of the tobacco vote at the time of writing.

8. An AliExpress parcel that arrived months late (new)

@LutochirT wrote that spare parts he ordered on AliExpress before Naadam never arrived, so he got his money back in September, only for the parcel to turn up just now. He said the platform still has not sorted out deliveries to Mongolia. The post was among the most viewed in the window. His suggestion that a competitor might be holding goods at the Zamyn-Uud border should be treated as speculation.

9. Heavy snow in Malchin soum, Uvs (new development)

This morning’s roundups focused on snow in Ulaanbaatar; in this window attention shifted to the western provinces. @ChinzillaMon shared a resident’s video of heavy snow in Malchin soum, Uvs province, and iSee.mn reported that snow had been falling there continuously since yesterday. The weather agency had warned of heavy snow, snowstorms and poor visibility in the western provinces.

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.