Ulaanbaatar Railway, Mongolian-Russian Joint Venture, plans to cut 7,000 jobs nationwide, daily publications reported last week.

Management executives with the organization did not deny the reports and acknowledged that the joint venture will have difficult times ahead, due in large part to the fact that international freight transportation through Mongolia has decreased substantially in recent months.Last week, Ulaanbaatar Railway stopped providing daily passenger trains to Darkhan City, as well as Baganuur, a satellite district town of Ulaanbaatar, because only 160 passengers traveled to both those destinations last month. The Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions blamed private and public employers for cutting jobs in great numbers. The Trade Union appealed to employers to “keep jobs” despite being hit by the crisis. “Cutting jobs must be the last solution, which should not be made at the dawn of the economic crisis,” said S.Ganbaatar, President of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions.

Ulaanbaatar Railway’s management team was in talks with Russian shareholders last week to increase its freight transportation through Mongolia. As a result, the Russian Government “advised” its 16 largest companies to use transit-Mongolia railway. Ulaanbaatar Railway employs over 16,000 workers nationwide.

THE UB POST