MECHEL WINS AWARD FOR ELGA COAL COMPLEX PROJECT

Moscow, Russia — October 10, 2011 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, won the 5th annual award of Minex-2011
forum in the nomination “For Successful Development of a Mining Industry
Project”.
The award was granted based on the results of online open voting and the
opinions of independent experts involved in the award committee’s work.
The Elga coal deposit is one of the world’s largest coking coal deposits. Its
development is a key strategic project for the Far East, unmatched in the past
35 years of the Russian mining industry. Due to the Elga deposit’s development,
the company will be able to increase export to Pacific Asia, thus strengthening
its positions in this actively developing region.
Mechel Mining Management Company OOO’s Chief Executive Officer Boris Nikishichev
said regarding the award: “We are very glad that experts and the community
honored our work on Elga Coal Complex with such a high evaluation. We do have
something to be proud of. Not only did our company manage to begin coal mining
in such a short time, but we also built over 200 kilometers of railway in very
difficult geographic and climatic conditions. Elga Coal Complex’s construction
will give a significant boost to the Far East’s development, create new jobs and
lay the basis for a new industrial and social infrastructure in southern
Yakutia’s less populated areas.”
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Tel: + 7 495 221 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, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, steel, 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.