In Mongolia, where the weather gets up to +30 celsius and down to -40 degrees in winter, households living in traditional Mongolian gers burn coal to heat up their homes during the cold season. However, in some aimags with insufficient infrastructure, heating can be a headache for businesses too. This is the case for Sansarsaikhan Munkhhuyag. He is the executive chief officer of “Onol-Yertunts” LLC operating in Selenge aimag (Selenge is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia, located in the west of the country). Due to the fact that the 256-square-meter service facility owned by his company was not connected to the heating network, it had to be heated up by coal every winter.
“Our work was made much easier by getting a low-interest loan and connecting our house to central heating”
Owner Onol-Yertunts LLC Sansarsaikhan Munkhkhuyag
In addition to preparing the coal to be burned every month during the cold season, a special fireman would need to be hired. This not only polluted the environment, but also buying tons of coal and hiring a firefighter would be a financial burden. There are other local businesses, such as fast food and food production, who rented the facility. But insulation has been a problem for many years due to the cold weather. Sansarsaikhan used to borrow commercial loans at a rate of 21.6 percent per annum, which is considered higher than government loans, to finance his business activities. So, it was costly and risky to take out another loan with the same interest rate for him.
He had previously run a trading business but had no experience with taking low-interest loans. While thinking about what to do next, learning about the BEST program gave him a great opportunity. By participating in the program, he received a loan intermediation service and successfully applied for a five-year loan of MNT 70 million from XacBank at an annual interest rate of 8 percent implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. By borrowing money to solve their insulation problems and connect their facilities to central heating, they have brought several benefits to their business. The cessation of coal-fired power plants has become more environmentally friendly, reduced costs, streamlined operations, and made customers more comfortable. Sansarsaikhan says “Our work was made much easier by getting a low-interest loan and connecting our house to central heating. It wasn't easy to hire someone who could transport and fire coal every year for just a few months in the winter. Now there is nothing to worry about”.