Mechel Announces Coke Oven Battery No. 4 Commissioning At Its Mechel-Coke OOO Subsidiary

CHELYABINSK, Russia, June 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL),
one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces that the
official ceremony was held today which was dedicated to the restart of coke oven
battery No. 4 at its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant's Mechel-Coke OOO
subsidiary. The ceremony took place on the eve of the state holiday -- Russia
Day. Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (CMP) is a part of Mechel group of
companies. Coke oven battery No. 4's operations were suspended in January 2008
due to its capital repair.

The official commissioning of coke oven battery No. 4 was attended by the
Chelyabinsk Region Governor Pyotr Sumin, Chelyabinsk Region Chief Federal
Inspector Andrey Andrianov, Chelyabinsk Region Deputy Governor Yury Klepov,
Chelyabinsk Region Minister of Industry and Natural Resources Evgeny Teftelev,
Chelyabinsk City Duma Chairman Boris Vidgof, Deputy Chelyabinsk City Mayor
Sergey Komyakov, and other honorable guests. Mechel OAO was represented at the
meeting by its Chief Executive Officer Igor Zyuzin, Mechel Management OOO Chief
Executive Officer Andrey Deineko, and Mechel OAO Senior Vice President Victor
Trigubko. Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OAO Managing Director Sergey Malyshev
and Mechel-Coke OOO General Director Pavel Shtark also attended the ceremony.

Following the commissioning of coke oven No. 4 at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical
Plant in April 2009 with a view to fulfill its production plans, the plant's
needs in coke have grown significantly. Today, the plant operates more than 100%
average monthly capacity as compared to the pre-crisis production levels. Coke
oven No. 4 will supply additional coke to CMP's blast furnace workshop and
produce 200 million cubic meters of gas for operation of the plant's power
facilities.

The accomplished reconstruction of coke oven battery No. 4 enabled enhancing its
production and quality performance. The renovated unit comprising 61 oven
chambers with a 20.0 cubic meter capacity each will produce approximately
440,000 tonnes of coke annually, i.e. 90,000 tonnes more than prior to
accomplishment of the repair measures. In the course of the capital repair, the
oven walls have been partially re-laid, battery reinforcement has been replaced,
and gas exhaust and intake equipment has been repaired and partially replaced.
Capital repair of coking machines has been accomplished and a new power supply
circuit and instrumentation and automated control systems with modern hardware
components have been installed.

Also the following technical innovations have been implemented during
reconstruction: construction of the endmost vertical refractory laying has been
changed, which will enable eliminating risk of coke falls during coke release.
In addition, the project provides for arrangements to improve the environmental
situation. Thus, gas exhaust columns have been installed with the use of a cap
pneumatic compression system to reduce gas emission.

The capital repair of the coke oven battery was carried out from January to
October 2008 in line with Mechel-Coke OOO's long-term development plan and with
a view to maintain utilization of the coke production facilities and to satisfy
the needs of CMP's blast furnace production. Later it was put to hot standby
mode due to the change in the plant's production programs.

"The commissioning of coke oven No. 4 has strategic importance for
implementation of the planned production programs of Mechel-Coke OOO and CMP
OAO. It is also clear evidence of existence and results of synergies between
Mechel's subsidiaries. At present, the market needs and growing demand for
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant's metal products and, correspondingly, the
increase of its pig iron production have brought about resumption of the plant's
needs in coke and resumption of coke oven No. 4 operations. That will have a
positive impact on our subsidiaries' economic performance and staff load,"
Mechel OAO Senior Vice President, Vladimir Polin, commented.

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.

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.

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CONTACT: Mechel OAO
Ilya Zhitomirsky
+ 7 495 221 88 88
ilya.zhitomirsky@mechel.com