RUSSIA - MONGOLIA RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 005103

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON MG RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA - MONGOLIA RELATIONS

Classified By: Political M/C Alice G. Wells. Reasons 1,4 (B/D).


1. (C) Summary. The October 3 visit to Moscow by Mongolian
Foreign Minister Enkhbold reaffirmed the historically good
relations between Russia and Mongolia. GOR officials, the
Mongolian Embassy, and the Mongolian Consulate General in
Ulan Ude expressed satisfaction with the state of the
relationship. Both sides desire to increase the trade
volume. A minor irritant for the Mongolians is Russia's high
tariffs on Mongolian goods destined both for the Russian
market and European markets. End summary.

Relations Good As Always
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2. (U) At an October 3 press conference, FM Lavrov
characterized the Mongolian FM's October 3 visit as a
follow-up to the Mongolian President's Moscow visit a year
ago, with the goal of transforming the agreed political
documents into concrete economic/trade programs that were to
be realized by the year 2010. Lavrov also described an
upcoming Business Forum and the "Day of Ulaanbaatar" with the
Ulaanbaatar mayor's participation, which an intergovernmental
commission is preparing for November in Moscow. Lavrov
underlined that the bilateral relationship has a
"consultative" character, and includes the two countries'
work on security in the Central Asian and the Asian-Pacific
regions.

Could Be Better
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3. (C) Mongolian EMBASSY Political Counselor Badarch Suvd
agreed that politically the relationship lacks nothing, but
wished that in the economic/trade sphere Russia would be a
little more generous. According to Suvd, the Mongolian side
hoped to double by 2010 the current USD 500 million a year
trade. The GOR could help by applying less strict rules to
Mongolia's meat imports and lower tariffs to boost trade.
Russia's high tariff on Mongolian goods transiting to the
European market is also affecting Mongolia's overall trade
development, she added.

Squeezed Between the Two Powers
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4. (C) Suvd stressed that Mongolia's foreign policy priority
is, of necessity, to get along with all of its neighbors.
With large neighbors like Russia and China, Mongolia has no
alternative, she said. The most important goal for Mongolia
is economic development to which all politics takes a back
seat. For this reason, Mongolia remains equidistant from the
two Koreas, cultivating economic opportunities with both.
For the same reason, Mongolia pursues economic interests
through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),although
it has no intention of joining it in the near future. Suvd
said that Mongolians are proud of President Bush's 2005 visit
to their country and the Mongolian President's October 23-25
trip to New York, which is part of ongoing Mongolia's efforts
to find its place in the international community.

Views from Ulan Ude
--------------


5. (C) Mongolia is the only country which has diplomatic
representation in Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryatia. It
also, along with China and Poland, has a consulate in the
neighboring Irkutsk region. Among the 1,300 Mongolian
students in Russia, four hundred are studying in Ulan Ude's
five higher education institutions, among them the Buryat
State University and the Siberian Technical University, which
have branches in Ulaanbaatar. According to Mongolian Counsel
General Chimidorzh Agvandamdin, 80 work permits are given to
Mongolians each year in Ulan Ude. Most Mongolian traders try
to avoid competition with the Chinese. Chimidorzh said,
"There is neither cooperation nor competition between the
Mongolians and Chinese in Ulan Ude."


6. (C) The 1,800 km border between Russia and Mongolia, with
more than 20 border crossing points, is quiet, and there are
no demarcation disputes. The only notable annoyance is in
the nearby Tuva Republic where bands raid herds in Mongolia.
The Mongolian government declared Astambodok, the border town
across the border from the Russian town of Kyakhta, in
Buryatia, a free economic zone a few years ago. The counsul
general lamented that unfortunately, not much has happened
there since, because of lack of investment. More than ten
percent of Russia-Mongolia's trade transits Buryatia, with
meat and meat products to Russia and wood, oil and machinery
to Mongolia.
Burns