Southern Kuzbass Coal Company Appoints New General Director

MEZHDURECHENSK, Russia, Feb. 15  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, a subsidiary of Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), has appointed Igor Khafizov to the position of General Director.

Igor Khafizov, 38 years old, replaces the former General Director of Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, Leonid Oparin, who was appointed to this position by the Board of Directors in October 2004.

"Igor Khafizov is a highly qualified professional in mining. Over the years of his successful work in Mechel he proved himself as a talented manager and an efficient production runner. Under his management, the Korshunov Mining Plant has been demonstrating excellent production and operating performance over the last three years. I am confident that Mr. Khafizov's considerable experience and expertise will have a positive impact on the business of our core mining asset," Mechel's CEO, Vladimir Iorich, said.

Biography:

January 2006 - February 2006. -- Managing Director of the Department of Management of Korshunov Mining Plant, Mechel Management Company's Mining Department 

  2003 - 2006 -- General Director, Korshunov Mining Plant
  1992 - 2003  -- Held various positions at Korshunov Mining Plant


Graduated from the Urals Mining Institute with a degree in "mining engineering"

  Mechel OAO
  Irina Ostryakova
  Phone: [phone]
  e-mail: 



Mechel is one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore, nickel, steel, rolled products, and hardware. 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. 

DATASOURCE: Mechel OAO



CONTACT:  Irina Ostryakova, Mechel OAO, [phone],

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