OREANDA-NEWS. Mechel OAO (MICEX:MTLR, NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports obtaining a certificate of compliance with the requirements of the Customs Union’s Technical Regulations for its rails of up to 100 meters in length. This certificate will enable the company to begin supplying Russian Railways OAO with Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (CMP)’s products.

The certificate was granted by the Federal Railway Transport’s Certification Registry following the results of tests and monitoring of the production process.

The grant of this certificate followed after several stages of certification procedures at the Russian Railway Research Institute. A test batch of CMP rails successfully passed the test of carrying 150 million tonne-kilometers of cargo at the experimental proving ground throughout six months. Test results confirmed that the plant’s products are equal to the best global analogues, surpassing them on several counts.

Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s universal rolling mill can produce up to 1.1 million tonnes of products annually. The mill employs a unique heat treatment technology which allows it to produce high-performance rails and structural shapes, with excellent wear resistance, durability and fatigue endurance.

Investment in the project topped 900 million US dollars.

“Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s products are equal to their foreign analogues in quality, which all stages of lab and range tests confirm. Rail production at CMP will help implement the import substitution program and encourage further development of our country’s transport infrastructure,” Russian Railways OAO’s Senior Vice-President for Innovation Development - Chief Engineer Valentin Gapanovich noted.

“Obtaining the compliance certificate for our rails is an event of strategic importance for Mechel. Our success at these tests enables us to begin cooperation with Russian Railways and ensures a high load for CMP’s universal rolling mill. I would like to express particular gratitude to Gazprombank OAO, BNP Paribas and UniCredit banks, as well as export agencies from the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy that ensured the project’s financing,” Mechel OAO’s Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov noted.