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00:00Dahan, Mongolia's third biggest city, has a new fleet of public buses, touted by local
00:07officials as a solution to reduce congestion and pollution.
00:13Before, taxis were our only option. It was expensive. The buses are a benefit for anyone
00:21who doesn't own a vehicle.
00:25I rode one once and thought the buses are a good service for elderly people.
00:31Many are a scam. I'm truly disappointed and frustrated, even now.
00:40If some are sceptical, it's because these vehicles are at the heart of a corruption
00:44scandal.
00:46Critics allege that these buses are substandard, second-hand models with just a fresh lick
00:51of paint. So are they worth 220,000 euros a piece?
00:56To determine this, a public inquiry into the procurement process is underway.
01:01Mongolia is no stranger to graft scandals. The biggest one in recent years led to the
01:062022 protests.
01:09Citizens rallied in the capital to denounce corruption in the coal industry, pointing
01:13to billions of dollars of export revenue missing from public coffers.
01:18Since, the ruling party vowed more transparency and put coal sales on the stock exchange.
01:23But frustration lingers, especially within civil society.
01:28Business and politics is all tangled up. Politicians make promises to corporations in exchange
01:33for their support. Clientelism is still very present. That is why the levels of corruption
01:39are so high.
01:43The ruling party insists it's weeding out corruption, whilst opposition parties say
01:48too much of it is happening under the current government's watch.
01:53Mongolia's 2.2 million eligible voters are set to decide who to trust on Friday's parliamentary
01:58elections.