MOSCOW, January 9 /PRNewswire/ --

Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces that its Mecheltrans OOO transportation subsidiary has won the open tender held by Russian Railways OJSC (RZhD OAO) for the sale of the Port Temryuk production complex.

As previously announced in September 2007, Mechel OAO acquired 100% of the shares of Temryuk-Sotra seaport located on the Taman shore of the Sea of Azov. This is one of the most promising ports for small tonnage river-sea type vessels in Southern Russia due to its geographical location.

The tender of RZhD OAO was held on December 28, 2007 and involved the sale of the real estate assets of the Port Temryuk production complex, two land plots of about 150,000 sq. km total area.

Mechel Management OOO Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Polin commented on the transaction, "The acquisition of this property complex will enable us to strengthen our presence in the export shipping markets and provide us with more opportunities to efficiently manage the port's operations and regulate logistics of our deliveries. Following complete commissioning of the real estate assets of the Port Temryuk production complex, we plan to achieve its transshipment capacity of approximately 1.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2008 and approximately 1.8 million tonnes beginning from 2009. The acquired property complex is located in immediate proximity to Temryuk-Sotra, which is already owned by Mechel. The operations of the both assets are supported by the same railway branch owned by Temryuk-Sotra and this affords us an opportunity to subsequently join these two infrastructure facilities into a high capacity port transshipment complex."

Mechel OAO Ilya Zhitomirsky Phone: +7-495-221-88-88 ilya.zhitomirsky@mechel.com

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.

Ilya Zhitomirsky of Mechel OAO, +7-495-221-88-88, ilya.zhitomirsky@mechel.com