MECHEL ANNOUNCES OPENING OF CREDIT FACILITIES IN THE AMOUNT OF $1 BILLION BY
GAZPROMBANK

Moscow, Russia – February 9, 2009 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, today announced that its subsidiaries have
been provided with lines of credit totaling $1 billion from Gazprombank OAO.
Gazprombank Open Joint-Stock Company has opened credit lines totaling $1 billion
for Mechel's subsidiaries. Credit facilities provided will be used mainly for
short-term debt repayment.
The credit facilities provided have a three-year term.
Mechel Company and Gazprombank have strong ties through a well-established
partnership. In particular, in December 2008 they signed an agreement arranging
financing for the contract of the universal rail and structural steel mill
construction at Mechel’s CMP OAO. Pursuant to that agreement, Gazprombank OAO
participates in fund raising for implementation of the project, with the
facilities amounting up to $255 million.
“The new long-term credit facilities allow Mechel the flexibility to manage our
short-term liabilities and navigate the near-term economic challenges while
continuing to execute on our long-term strategy of developing production
assets,” said Mechel’s Chief Financial Officer, Stanislav Ploschenko.
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Mechel OAO
Ilya Zhitomirsky
Phone: + 7 495 221 88 88
ilya.zhitomirsky@mechel.com
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Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its business includes four
segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal,
iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, hardware, heat and
electric power. Mechel products are marketed domestically and internationally.
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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other
forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial
performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that
these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may
differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to
the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and
identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned
“Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in our
Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those
contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among
others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and
synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the
ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of
developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment,
volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial
risk management and the impact of general business and global economic
conditions.