Severstal wins Best Overall Investor Relations at 2012 IR Magazine Russia & CIS awards

OAO Severstal, one of the world's leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, has been named the winner in the Best Overall Investor Relations category for large cap companies at the IR Magazine Russia & CIS awards ceremony held on July 12, 2012 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow.

The winners of the prestigious IR awards were selected by Thomson Reuters Extel, IR Magazine Russia & CIS’s research partner, as part of their independent 2012 Russia IR Survey. More than 359 respondents from 270 brokerage firms and research houses - 37% from Russia, 20% from the UK and 11% from USA - contributed to the in-depth, independent survey which was open from March 19 to May 4, 2012.

Severstal beat off competition from fellow nominees NLMK and Gazprom.

Vladimir Zaluzhsky, Severstal‘s Head of Investor Relations, commented: “This award is a reflection of our team work. I would like to say thanks to everyone at Severstal who assists and supports the company’s IR activity, helping us to make Severstal more transparent for investors at a time when it is most important.”

The awards ceremony to recognize excellence in investor relations has been hosted by IR Magazine in various regions of the world for more than 20 years, and during that time has become the most prestigious event in the IR calendar.

This is the second significant award won by Severstal in a matter of months. In May 2012 Severstal was named the winner in the Best Corporate Development Strategy category at the annual awards hosted by RCB Group and investor.ru portal.

In 2011, Severstal delivered a leading performance amongst the Russian steel companies in terms of EBITDA, EBITDA margin and ROCE. In 2012, Severstal will further develop its projects and operations including the construction of a new rolling mill in Balakovo as well as the continuing development of a large iron ore deposit at Putu in Liberia and coalfields in Tyva and the Komi Republic.