ULAN BATOR, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's former finance minister Sangajav Bayartsogt held in custody since April for alleged corruption was released on bail, judicial authorities said Wednesday.
Three district courts in the Mongolian capital jointly made the decision at the prosecutor's request.
The court has also banned him from leaving the country.
In 2009, Bayartsogt signed an agreement on behalf of the Mongolian government with Canada's Ivanhoe Mines on developing the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, granting a 66-percent controlling stake to the company, which later changed its name to Turquoise Hill Resources and is now majority owned by Australian-British mining giant Rio Tinto.
The Independent Agency Against Corruption, Mongolia's top anti-corruption body, accused Bayartsogt of using his influence and position to provide other parties to the agreement an advantage in negotiations.
Mongolia's two former prime ministers, Sanjaa Bayar and Chimed Saikhanbileg, were also being investigated for their involvements in the case of the Oyu Tolgoi mine project. They were both taken into custody in April and earlier released on bail for health reasons.
The Mongolian government signed the deal's original 2009 investment agreement during Bayar's term, and the financing arrangement of the deal was revised in 2015 during Saikhanbileg's term.
The Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, located in the South Gobi Desert of Mongolia, 80 km north of the country's border with China, is expected to produce an average of 430,000 tons of copper and 425,000 ounces (about 12,050 kg) of gold annually for 20 years.
