MECHEL ANNOUNCES FINANCIAL LEASE CONTRACT BETWEEN MECHELTRANS AND GAZPROMBANK
LEASING
Moscow, Russia – March 22, 2010. – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, announces financial lease contract signing
between its Mecheltrans OOO subsidiary and Gazprombank Leasing CJSC.
Mecheltrans OOO and Gazprombank Leasing CJSC signed financial lease contract to
lease out railcars to Mecheltrans. The contract’s total value is 1.26 billion
rubles (approximately US$ 43.1 million)*. According to the contract Gazprombank
Leasing ZAO, an authorized company that implements Gazprombank’s leasing
projects, plans to lease out about 450 railcars manufactured by Novokuznetsk
Railcars Construction Plant during the first and second quarters of 2010.
Mecheltrans OOO is Mechel Group’s integrated transport operator. Currently
Mecheltrans provides freight forwarding of not less than 35 mln tonnes of cargo
per year. Mechel’s products are transported by the operator to Russia, CIS as
well as to far-abroad countries. Exports are arranged for Europe, Middle East
and Asia-Pacific Region. The majority of the cargo goes through land
border-crossings to China, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 2007 Mecheltrans was officially awarded as the best Russian rolling stock
operator.
Alexander Starodubov, Mecheltrans OOO Chief Executive Officer, commented on the
event:
“Mecheltrans’ rolling stock fleet will be increased by 12% due to the purchase
of 450 railcars through financial leasing. The increase of leasing rolling stock
fleet, which in future will pass into our ownership, will allow the company to
significantly cut shipping costs. The additional railcars will be engaged in
transportation of raw materials, semi-finished goods and finished products
between Mechel’s subsidiaries. It is supposed to ship about 1 mln tonnes of
cargo per year in these railcars”.
* According to the Russian Central Bank exchange rate of 29,25 RUR/$ as of March
20, 2010.
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Tel.: (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, 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.