Mechel Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Group’s founding in 2003.

Mechel, which originated with a few production assets, including Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant and Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, now comprises some 30 producers of coal, iron ore, steel, rolls, high value-added products, ferroalloys, heat and electricity.

Mechel is one of the world’s top three coking coal producers and Russia’s top producer of coking coal concentrate, as well as Russia’s third largest producer of run-of-mine coal. The company controls over a quarter of the country’s coking coal washing capacities. Mechel is Russia’s second largest manufacturer of long rolls, as well as the leading and most diversified producer of specialty steels and alloys in Russia.

Mechel OAO’s Chief Executive Officer Evgeny Mikhel commented:

“Over the past decade, Mechel has traveled a long way, becoming not only one of Russia’s leading producers of coal, rolls and hardware, but also one of the world’s top coking coal producers. Thanks to us, many major enterprises survived the hardest crisis years. Now, 10 years later, we can tackle such large-scale endeavors, unprecedented for Russian business, as developing the Elga deposit, whose coking coal reserves are among the world’s largest, and including construction of a 321-kilometer railway. We are also close to completing the construction of the universal rolling mill which will make Russia one of the world’s few countries producing 100-meter rails for high-speed railways. Our projects not only create thousands of jobs, but also make a major contribution to development of Siberia and the Far East, increasing the Russian economy’s strength and prosperity.

“Today Mechel does not plan to rest at the level it has achieved and is alert to the challenges of market volatility. Throughout its existence, Mechel remained flexible and ready to keep up with the times. Despite hardships of the crisis period, Mechel intends to reach new heights, particularly in developing our mining division, where due to our coal reserves and plans for deposit development, by the next decade’s end the company plans not only to maintain its leading positions among the world’s metallurgical coal producers, but also consolidate these positions.”