MECHEL ANNOUNCES OPERATIONAL RESULTS FOR 2008

Moscow, Russia – January 22, 2009 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, announced today operational results for
2008.

Vladimir Polin, senior vice-president of Mechel OAO, commented on corporate 2008
operational results, “In the first nine months of 2008 our company performed at
a very high level and some results were outstanding. Mechel subsidiaries showed
overall stable operational results in 2008 despite negative trends in economy at
the end of the year.
The year saw an increase in our production of both coke and steam coal and coal
concentrate resulting from the acquisition of Yakutugol in October 2007.
A new impetus for the development of the ferroalloy division of our business was
provided with the Oriel Resources acquisition. One of the main characteristics
of our ferroalloy facilities is their own source of raw materials required for
their operations and development. To ensure efficient management of our
ferroalloy business, we established the dedicated ferroalloys division that
includes both ore mining and ferronickel, ferrosilicon, and ferrochrome
production facilities.
The acquisition of Ductil Steel in Romania allowed us to enhance our presence in
the steel market of Eastern Europe. Successful results at Mechel Targoviste and
Mechel Campia Turzii integrated mills, in which their operations became
profitable through the incorporation into Mechel Group, show the effectiveness
of our strategy to perform modernization and technical upgrades in our
facilities. The Eastern European steel division incorporating all of the four
Mechel subsidiaries in Romania is in charge of raising the efficiency and
profitability of these facilities.
At the same time, a decline in the production volume in the machinery,
automotive, and construction industries resulted from the global financial
crisis, which caused a decrease in demand for our products. It included a
temporary reduction in market demand for ferroalloys, resulting in a small
reduction of ferroalloys output and impacted  flat products and stampings
output. We have reduced production of billets offsetting the increase in long
products output thus implementing the strategy to increase the output of
high-margin downstream products.
Coke output was affected by the scheduled major repairs at Chelyabinsk
Metallurgical Plant (CMP) coking battery No. 6 and suspension of Moscow Coke and
Gas Plant coking battery (not cooled).
The reduction in pig iron output resulted from the shutdown of CMP blast furnace
No. 4 due to scheduled repairs.
Power production has increased as a result of the incorporation of the Southern
Kuzbass State Regional Power Station and improving efficiency of power
generating capacities at the subsidiaries. In particular, we have revised our
repairs and investments plan, broadened the clientele, and increased power sales
in wholesale markets, which  was favorable in the pricing environment.
In 2008, we implemented several projects included in the investment plan, such
as major repairs with upgrades, installation of new equipment and processes, and
development of corporate sales and distribution chains. I am sure the results we
achieved in 2008 will act as a basis for successful development of Mechel in the
future.
We are constantly monitoring the markets, revising our operations program and
performing all necessary activities for equipment maintenance to be able to
increase output most efficiently as soon as the markets recover.”
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Mechel OAO
Ilya Zhitomirsky
Phone: + 7 495 221 88 88
ilya.zhitomirsky@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, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, 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.