MECHEL ANNOUNCES BRIDGE LOAN EXTENSION

Moscow, Russia – May 26, 2009 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, announced a two month extension of its
bridge loan taken to finance the acquisition of Oriel Resources Ltd. (Great
Britain).
On May, 22, 2009, following negotiations with the banking syndicate which
provided Mechel with a one-year loan for financing of Oriel Resources Ltd.
(Great Britain) acquisition, an agreement for a two month payment term extension
was reached. The new payment date is July, 15, 2009.
The Company and creditor banks representatives agreed on the basic principles of
the bridge loan refinancing for a term of up to 3.5 years, and the extension
period will be used to execute the agreement. At the moment the participating
banks of the syndicate are in the process of internal procedures performing in
order to get the final approval of this agreement conditions.
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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, ferroalloys and power. Mechel unites producers of coal,
iron ore concentrate, nickel, steel, rolled products, 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.