Mechel wins Cbonds Awards Prize for Best Primary Placement for Domestic Bonds

Mechel, one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces winning the prestigious Cbonds Awards contest in the Best Primary Placement for Domestic Bonds category.

Based upon the Cbonds news agency’s analysis, Mechel won the top place in the Best Primary Placement for Domestic Bonds nomination for the placement of the 17-19 series debentures with a maturity of 10 years and a put option in five years.

Mechel placed the 17-19 series bonds with the nominal value of each series set at 5 billion rubles in June 2011. VTB Capital ZAO, Sberbank OAO and Coalmetbank OAO acted as managers of the placement.

The award ceremony was held on December 9 in Saint-Petersburg as part of the IX Russian Bond Congress organized by the Cbonds news agency.

“In 2011, Mechel OAO publicly placed a significant volume of ruble bonds on the Russian market. The placement allowed us to optimize our credit portfolio by extending the terms of our financial obligations and cutting financing costs, as well as to fund our investment projects. This is proof not only of the fact that our company began to make more active use of the public loan market’s instruments, but also of the high level of trust that investors have for the company’s financial policy and its quality as an issuer. We are particularly glad that investors noted this not only at the time of the bonds’ placement, but also when they voted for this year’s best deals,” Mechel’s Chief Financial Officer Stanislav Ploschenko said.