Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2010 – Severstal, a leading Russian Metals and Mining Major and BearingPoint, an international management and technology consulting firm, announced today a successful launch of the Severstal Shared Services Center.

The reasons for consolidating the financial function at the Shared Services Center were the diverse geography of Severstal operations, lack of standardized financial information, large volumes of transactions, high labor costs for basic operations and company’s ambitious merger and acquisition plans.
The project objective was to centralize and standardize the financial function of Severstal Mining Division by establishing a Shared Services Center and thus improving the efficiency and reducing the costs.

The Shared Financial Services Center project team was made of Severstal specialists and BearingPoint consultants, who jointly designed business processes, developed services and quality management procedures, drafted Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and organized and delivered training and change management efforts. The Severstal Shared Services Center Project commenced in 2009 and the Center began operations on December 31, 2009.

As a result of this transition the company has consolidated such important financial areas as accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets accounting, payroll accounting, IAS adjustments, payments, loans accounting, tax accounting, period closure, financial and tax reporting, tax expert review and tax audit support.
Severstal Shared Services Center General Director Sergei Dunaev noted: "The headcount of the newly established Shared Services Center is 40 percent less than that we have for the same functions before, and management headcount was reduced by 70 percent. This enables us to significantly reduce our costs, improve manageability and achieve greater efficiency in resource management. The new model improves out company's appeal to investors, and provides company management and shareholders with a an access to actual and up-to-date information about our business. This will also help us to speed up integration of new acquisitions in our corporate setup."
"One of the key success factors for the project was Severstal top management involvement in all phases of the project. Also, very important was the fact that Severstal Recourses key resources and BearingPoint consultants worked as one professional team, - noted Natalia Krasnoperova, Leader of BearingPoint Russian practice. A business scheme that is widely popular in the world today will allow Severstal not only significantly cut the costs but also achieve a greater transparency and efficiency in management."

About Severstal
Severstal is an international vertically integrated steel and mining company with a listing on the Russian Trading System (RTS), on Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) and on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). It is operating high-quality assets in North America and Europe. In 2009 Severstal produced 16.7 mln tonnes of steel, posting revenues of USD 13.05 bn. The company’s 2009 EBITDA was USD 844 mln.
www.severstal.com

About BearingPoint
BearingPoint is an independent management and technology consultancy. Owned and operated by its Partners throughout Europe, BearingPoint is offering its clients the best possible value in terms of tangible, measurable results by leveraging business and technology expertise. The company currently employs 3.250 people in 14 European countries and is serving commercial, financial and public services clients.
BearingPoint offers its clients a seamless cross-border approach, strong focus on results, an entrepreneurial culture, profound industry and functional knowledge as well as solutions customised to clients’ specific needs. The firm ranks high in client satisfaction, has long-standing relationships with reputable organisations and is seen as a trusted adviser. BearingPoint has European roots, but operates with a global reach. For more information, please visit: www.bearingpointconsulting.com