The Board of Directors of Mechel OAO appointed Mr. Igor Zyuzin, currently Chairman of the Board and core shareholder, to the position of CEO. In addition, the Board also elected Vladimir Iorich to replace Mr. Zyuzin as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Iorich is leaving his position as CEO of the company in accordance with the previously announced agreement between shareholders.

Igor V. Zyuzin has held the position of the Chairman of Mechel's Board of Directors since March 2003, when Mechel was initially registered. Mr. Zyuzin also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, a position he has held since May 1999. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Zyuzin was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mezhdurechensk Coal Company, which was merged into Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, and a member of the Board of Directors of Kuzbass Central Processing Plant. Mr. Zyuzin has over 16 years of experience in the coal mining industry and holds a doctorate in coal mining from Tula Polytechnic University. Mr. Zyuzin is also a certified coal mining engineering economist.

“From the very day of its foundation Mechel has been developing quickly,” said Mr. Zyuzin CEO of Mechel.. “From a small coal trading house we evolved into one of the leading mining and steel companies of the Russian Federation. Today we feel that there is a potential for Mechel to become more important player on the Russian and world markets. We see opportunities for Mechel in development of the coal business and further coal processing within the company. I always considered the core shareholders to bear most of responsibility for the business, so I decided to personally lead Mechel on its way to becoming global player on the coal market. I will be able to return to the question of giving over operational control when we have achieved this goal.”

Alexey Ivanushkin will continue to hold the position of Chief Operating Officer of the company.

The Board of Directors have also accepted the Corporate Governance Code and approved new editions of "Bylaw on the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors" and "Bylaw on Internal Audit". Moreover, they have agreed to hold a general shareholders meeting on February 1st, 2007. According to the agenda, the shareholders are to confirm the new editions of the Mechel OAO bylaws mentioned above, and to approve other decisions on operational activities.