The state of Mongolia’s corruption is overwhelming. Giving and receiving bribes has deeply permeated our daily lives and social consciousness. It has become unimaginable to accomplish anything without corruption. The places where corruption breeds and multiplies are organisations involving public property, the owner of which is theoretically the public.
In reality, it belongs to no one. Instead, there remains a portion of naïve citizens who believe in its’ existence and our state-ruling political parties who try to convince us that such phenomenon exists. Today, in Mongolia state property is synonymous with the financial sources of the ruling political party.
Wolves
To govern in Mongolia means to control the spending powers of Erdenet Co., MIAT, Mongolian Railways, power plants III and IV, Baganuur mine and other state owned companies, plus pension and social security and other state funds and to appoint a person of choice to all decision-making levels of these organisations.
Appointing their own people is the first and foremost action of the parties after winning the parliamentary elections. Only then, do they really gain power over the state in the full sense of the term. Moreover, because they inherit the control over every public service in the city of Ulaanbaatar, the ruling party hastily assigns a mayor too.
When new governance takes control, tasks emerge by the thousands: selecting their own CEOs for the state-named factories and enterprises, selling the products and services of these organisations domestically as well as abroad, appointing their own people in representative offices, placing high prices on products in demand, rewarding with big and small positions those who worked for them during elections, not forgetting profiting from saving their finances in various commercial banks etc. As a result billionaires germ from our government, bribery continues to flower and ordinary mortals sink deeper into poverty.
Because almost all infrastructure companies do belong to the government, there is no competition and their over-priced services reach the final consumers directly or indirectly through augmented subsidies. Conversely, the service fails altogether and the next round of politicians goes on “duty”. Privatizing state owned enterprises is the only optimal step. Politicians know this very well. Every political party promises to take this step only during election terms. Once in power, however, they do not follow up because state-owned property is easier to exploit at will. The biggest example is MIAT. The story about MIAT as run by the Board of Directors is a well-staged dramatic act. The company is at a constant loss on the same line where other international aviation companies are making profit the most.
Property Owners’ demand
Today, citizens demand the following simple measures from the government to impose on state-owned companies. It is to clear of political affiliations the executive positions of big-size state-owned companies, which de facto are the most powerful and most influential “government positions” today; To require of all companies involving state-owned property to select chief executive officers through fair competition, and to publicly give high salaries and rewards to the best performing executive officer from private companies (or a similar foreign company) in a chosen sector. The job description, as well as the job classification of an executive officer should be clearly described and announced to the public and chosen through open competition.
If we do this, ineffective operation costs would decrease and earnings would increase by the same amount. Implementation of good governance in a company should be stressed through agreements, and should be revoked immediately in the first occurrence of ethical or managerial fault.
If we can do only this, almost half of Mongolia’s corruption would be eliminated. The urge to work for the government would dissipate in many individuals. It is time for our citizens to demand changes through this method in the executive positions of Erdenet Co., Mongolian Railways and all other state-owned companies. Today, the rulers of the Mongolian People’s Party are fighting in teams to appoint a director of their own for the executive position in Baganuur Minery. In the editorial published in “Unoodor,” past Monday, Sh. Altai writes in detail about the aggressive extent to which the groups of this MPP city fraction are prepared to go after in order to assign their own vice president at Erdenet Co.
Erdenet Co.’s hopeless account receivables have reached 100 million US dollars. Excluding the four-times-overpriced steel grinders and hundreds of other products and raw materials, this means that 130 billion tugrugs worth has vanished. Yet the only woman deputy director who attempted to stop this fraud is now expected to be replaced. This deficit does not seem to relate to the Chief Executive Officer. This is our politicians’ method of solving an issue to their personal advantage.
Chief Executive Officer
This position is for a professional, competent, knowledgeable individual and not for a nobody who obediently works at another’s will. The latter types of executives only serve for their personal interests and the interests of their political parties but never for the real public. Next year when the executive power over the state budget in our provinces is passed, public properties in provinces, labeled as “state-owned” property, will be attacked again. That most of our economy consists of private sectors is not a reflection of our reality. We must guard our properties away from politicians!
We must find a new plan or a system to keep public property under close watch because clearly all of our current schemes do not work. Today, our political party leaders in power present empty laws with elaborate names to disguise their swindle conspiracies that they define as looking after state property. It is time to stop letting wolves guard our sheep.
Translated by J.Ariunaa
UB Post
2011.06.23