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Chief Executive’sstatementI believe that the events of 2008 have already had thebenefit of bringing us back to fundamentals2008 was an unprecedented year in many respects– not least in the speed and severity of the globaleconomic downturn and resulting impact on steelproducingcompanies. Severstal’s results for the year2008 were good overall, as we benefited from volumegrowth, price increases and margin improvement. Theglobal economic slump in the last quarter resulted inweakening demand for steel and subsequent fallingprices.Revenues for the year 2008 increased by 44.4% to arecord US$22,393 million, and EBITDA grew by 45.5%to US$5,366 million, due to strong demand in the firstnine months of the year, a favourable price environmentand the consolidation of our assets in North America,which is outlined below.Severstal Russian SteelRussian Steel benefited from favourable prices, astrong domestic market and growth in productionvolumes. This resulted in a 33.3% increase in revenuesand EBITDA growth of 29.7%. The division continued toimprove its competitiveness during the year, and is alow cost, high quality asset for the Group.In the fourth quarter, we reduced production of crudesteel by 48% quarter-on-quarter, due to lower domesticdemand.Izhora Pipe Mill, our large diameter pipe manufacturer,demonstrated significant growth for the year, withEBITDA increasing by 50.7%, although pipe productionfell by 13% in the fourth quarter.Severstal Resources (Mining)In our mining division, Severstal Resources, revenuewas 32.6% higher and EBITDA rose by 72.9%, as webenefited from increases in coal and iron ore prices.We reduced the production of iron products (pelletsand concentrate) by 5% in 2008 and production of coalby 21%. This was due to the dramatic change in themarket environment towards the end of the year, andthe sale of the Kuzbassugol mine in Q2.We acquired PBS Coals, a Pennsylvania-basedcoal company, in November 2008 for a total cashconsideration of US$877 million. In the last quarter of2008, the PBS production of coking coal concentrateand steaming coal helped to support the productionlevels of coal in the division as a whole.Our strategy for the gold market is to make relativelysmall, opportunistic investments in order to exploitthe synergies and expertise in our existing core miningbusiness. This has created real value during the year,with our gold business adding US$82 million to EBITDA.In August, Severstal Resources took control of Balazhal,a gold mine in East Kazakhstan, and in November weacquired a controlling stake in High River Gold for atotal consideration of US$63 million.Severstal InternationalAt Severstal International our North Americanoperations reported EBITDA of US$377 millioncompared to negative US$50 million in 2007.This included one-off gains of US$423 million, US$15212 13