Thousands protest corruption, inflation in Mongolia
Thousands braved freezing temperatures in Mongolia's capital to protest alleged corruption in the country's coal industry and soaring inflation.
Protesters, many of them young people, rallied in Ulaanbaatar's central Sukhbaatar Square -- home to the Government Palace -- in minus 21 degrees Celsius, demanding "justice" be meted out against corrupt officials and calling for the country's parliament to be dismissed.
"Help us our country is collapsing," one protester's sign read.
Protesters are frustrated with the country's ailing economy, with inflation soaring to 15.2 percent in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But public outrage has also been stoked by whistleblower claims that a so-called "coal faction" of lawmakers with ties to the industry has stolen billions of dollars worth of the sedimentary rock.
In mid-November, Mongolia's anti-corruption authority announced that over 30 officials -- including the CEO of the state-owned coal mining company Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi -- were under investigation for embezzlement.
The firm controls the Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi deposits, which contain 7.5 billion tons of coking coal -- an essential ingredient in the steel-making process -- and represent a key component of Mongolia's state budget revenue. It is yet to comment on the allegations.
The implicated lawmakers are alleged to have leveraged their ownership of coal mines and transportation companies that move the fossil fuel across the border into China to make illegal profits.
