London, 05 February 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service has today affirmed
NLMK's Baa3 issuer rating and assigned a provisional (P)Baa3 rating to
the proposed loan participation notes to be issued by, but with limited
recourse to, Steel Funding Limited, a private limited company
incorporated in Ireland. The notes will be issued for the sole purpose of
financing a loan to NLMK (under a facility agreement with Steel Funding
Limited). NLMK will use the proceeds from the loan for general corporate
purposes, including refinancing indebtedness. The outlook on the rating
is stable.

Moody's issues provisional ratings in advance of the final sale of
securities, and these ratings represent only the rating agency's
preliminary opinion. Upon a conclusive review of the transaction and
associated documentation, Moody's will assign definitive ratings to the
bonds. A final rating may differ from a provisional rating.

"Our affirmation of the Baa3 issuer rating and assignment of the (P)Baa3
rating to NLMK's proposed loan participation notes primarily reflects the
global scale of the group's operations, its self-sufficiency in low-cost
iron ore, its low production costs and high capacity utilisation," says
Denis Perevezentsev, Moody's Vice-President, lead analyst for NLMK.