OREANDA-NEWS. May 26, 2010. Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces assigning B1 corporate family rating with a stable outlook by Moody’s, reported the press-centre of Mechel.

Moody's Investors Service has today assigned a B1 corporate family rating (CFR) to Mechel and a B1 Probability of Default Rating. Concurrently, Moody's Interfax Rating Agency has assigned an A2.ru.ru national scale rating to the company. The outlook on the ratings is stable.

The official Moody’s release emphasizes:

“The CFR of Mechel’s reflects: 1) the company’s role as a leading domestic steel and coal producer with strong positions in key businesses including production of specialty steel and alloys; 2) the company’s largest coal reserve base in Russia; 3) favourable business profile results from high degree of vertical integration which ensures the stable production and to some extent preserves operating margins; the company has internal captive demand for coking coal and iron ore in steel production and for steam coal – in power generation; 4) strategic location of its key assets close to the major steel consuming markets as well as the ownership and control of essential infrastructure including ports, rolling stock and power plants which provide guaranteed access to export markets; 5) combination of underground and open pit mining operations with no significant concentration on any single mine mitigates the risks of interruption in coal production; 6) good disclosure and adequate corporate governance supported by NYSE listing.”

Commenting on the rating, Stanislav Ploschenko, Mechel’s Chief Financial Officer said:
“The obtained rating proves significant improvement of Mechel’s financial position and as a result creditworthiness of the company. The rating will help us in the ongoing optimization of our credit portfolio, in particular to decrease the cost of the debt service and further improve its structure.”