OREANDA-NEWS. March 19, 2008. OAO Raspadskaya, one of Russia’s leading coking coal producers, has announced today that the negotiations with Evraz Group to merge with its Yuzhkuzbassugol have been terminated.

At the moment, Raspadskaya is one of the most efficient coking coal producers in Russia and worldwide and the managing shareholders have considered necessary to focus on the strategic development of Raspadskaya itself as well as implementation of its long-term business development plans.

Raspadskaya’s General Director Gennady Kozovoy said: “My holding of two executive roles at both coal companies and daily cooperation of specialists there has already allowed to stabilise Yuzhkuzbassugol’s performance in the areas of operational safety, technical planning and reliability of its coal supplies. That is why I intend to focus my future efforts at managing Raspadskaya itself. Our relations with Evraz Group will not change because they are based on our long-standing strategic and market cooperation.”

Chairman of the Board of Directors Alexander Vagin added: “We value highly our investors’ trust and we are acting in the interest of all shareholders of the company.”