MECHEL ANNOUNCES PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS BASED ON 2009 FISCAL YEAR RESULTS

Moscow, Russia – January 11, 2011 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and steel companies, announces a dividend payment (including
taxes) of RUR 910,223,721.05 (approximately US$29.9 million as of December 31,
2010), based on the Company’s results for the 2009 fiscal year.
Mechel OAO has allocated a total of RUR 910,245,362.40 (approximately US$29.9
million *) (including taxes) for its annual dividend payment to shareholders for
the 2009 fiscal year. This includes RUR 456,510,250.35 paid to holders of
privileged registered book-entry shares or RUR 3.29 per one privileged
registered book-entry share, and RUR 453,735,112.05 paid to holders of ordinary
registered book-entry shares or RUR 1.09 per one ordinary registered book-entry
share. The amount of funds allocated to pay the annual dividend is approximately
40% of the company’s net profit for 2009 according to US GAAP.
As of December 31, 2010, Mechel OAO’s Russian and foreign shareholders were paid
a total of RUR 910,223,721.05 (including taxes). Total dividends of RUR
21,641.35 (approximately US$ 710 *), or 0.002% of the allocated amount, were not
distributed to certain shareholders due to their failure to fulfill their
obligations to provide information on their bank details required to transfer
the dividends.
All funds to pay the dividend to the holders of Mechel’s ADRs were transferred
to the account of the Company’s depositary bank Deutsche Bank, which will
distribute them till January 12, 2011.
* According to the Russian Central Bank exchange rate of 30.47 RUR/$ as of
December 31, 2010.
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Tel: + 7 495 221 88 88
ekaterina.videman@mechel.com
***
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.