Country of Incorporation and Country of Operation
The
Company was incorporated in the Isle of Man under the Isle of Man Companies Act
2006 on 30 August 2007 with registered number 1483V under the name Petro Matad
Limited and the Group’s operations are managed from its headquarters in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
Mongolia is located between China
and Russia and is
approximately twice the combined size of the United
Kingdom and France. Mongolia’s terrain can be divided
into desert, steppe and mountain. Climatic extremes are the norm, with
temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees centigrade in winter to plus 40
degrees centigrade in summer.
In
2006, the Mongolian population was approximately 2.7 million, with
approximately 1 million living in the capital Ulaanbaatar. Its religious demographic is
predominantly Tibetan Buddhist. Mongolia
is a member of the UN, its troops having participated in peacekeeping
activities in Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Afghanistan
and Iraq.
In 1997, Mongolia
became a member of the World Trade Organisation.
Following
the withdrawal of economic support from the former Soviet Union in 1989, Mongolia moved
to a free-market democracy in 1990, with the first multi-party elections taking
place in 1992. Since then, there have been four more parliamentary and four
presidential elections, both being held at least every four years.
Economic
performance has improved significantly in recent years. GDP growth was 7.5 per
cent. and 9.9 per cent. during 2006 and 2007 respectively, supported by high
international mineral prices and increased foreign investment in the mineral
and petroleum sectors. In 2007, Mongolia’s
GDP was estimated at US$3.85 billion, with an average GDP per capita of
US$2,900. Inflation was 15 per cent. in 2007. In 2005, the mining sector
accounted for one fifth of GDP and 70 per cent. of Mongolia’s exports.
Standard
and Poor’s foreign currency sovereign debt rating in Mongolia is currently BB-. This
primarily reflects the country’s declining debt burden and the mining industry’s
prospects. In particular, a Standard and Poor’s report dated December 2006
cites Mongolia’s
solid growth projections, based upon the expected large expansion of production
capacity by several major resource companies. In September 2007, Fitch granted
a foreign currency sovereign debt rating of B+ and Moody’s gives a foreign
currency sovereign debt rating of Ba2 for the country.
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