MECHEL ANNOUNCES OBTAINING INTERNATIONAL CREDIT RATING

Moscow, Russia – May 24, 2010 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, announces assigning B1 corporate family
rating with a stable outlook by Moody’s.
Moody's Investors Service has today assigned a B1 corporate family rating (CFR)
to Mechel and a B1 Probability of Default Rating. Concurrently, Moody's Interfax
Rating Agency has assigned an A2.ru.ru national scale rating to the company. The
outlook on the ratings is stable.
The official Moody’s release emphasizes:
“The CFR of Mechel’s reflects: 1) the company’s role as  a leading domestic
steel and coal producer with strong positions in key businesses including
production  of specialty steel and alloys; 2) the company’s largest coal reserve
base in Russia; 3) favourable business profile results from high degree of
vertical integration which ensures the stable production and to some extent
preserves operating margins; the company has internal captive demand for coking
coal and iron ore in steel production and for steam coal – in power generation;
4) strategic location of  its key assets close to the major steel consuming
markets as well as the ownership and control of essential infrastructure
including ports, rolling stock and  power plants which provide guaranteed access
to export markets;  5) combination of underground and open pit mining operations
with no significant concentration on any single mine mitigates the risks of
interruption in coal production; 6) good disclosure and adequate corporate
governance supported  by NYSE listing.”
Commenting on the rating, Stanislav Ploschenko, Mechel’s Chief Financial Officer
said:
“The obtained rating proves significant improvement of Mechel’s financial
position and as a result creditworthiness of the company. The rating will help
us in the ongoing optimization of our credit portfolio, in particular to
decrease the cost of the debt service and further improve its structure.”
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Tel.: (495) 221-88-88
ekaterina.videman@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, nickel, steel, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, 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.