Chelyabinsk, Russia — February 26, 2013 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports the visit of Chelyabinsk Region’s Governor Mikhail Yurevich to Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant.

Chelyabinsk Region’s Governor Mikhail Yurevich, First Deputy Governor Sergei Komyakov, Deputy Governor Ivan Feklin, and the regional administration’s Industry and Natural Resources Minister Yegor Kovalchuk came to Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant as part of a working trip.

The delegation was hosted by Mechel OAO’s Vice-President for Technological Development Andrey Deineko, Mechel-Steel Management Company’s Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Tytsky and Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OAO’s Managing Director Rashid Nugumanov.

As part of the visit, the delegation toured the construction site for Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s universal rolling mill — the chief investment project for Mechel’s steel division. The mill will produce high-quality rails up to 100 meters long with state-of-the-art technology. These rails will be superior to their foreign analogues on several key counts, due to the specifics of rail exploitation in Russia. Once the construction project, which is currently in its final stage, is complete, the plant will create over 1,000 additional jobs. The project will cost an estimated total of over 25 billion rubles.

Chelyabinsk Region’s governor hailed the key investment project by saying, “I am grateful to Mechel’s shareholders for choosing Chelyabinsk Region to implement such a project that will provide high tax receipts and jobs for highly qualified specialists. The plant created a complete technological production line for long rails, from making high-quality steel to rolling and thermal processing. The mill can produce not only rails of high resistance to wear, contact endurance and reliability in low temperatures, but also structural shapes, which are currently in high demand due to growing volumes of construction in the country.”