The RTS price for Mechel shares had risen 10.17% in early trading but by 3:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. GMT) - a half hour after Igor Shuvalov said Mechel would not be a repeat of the Yukos story - the day's increase was at 18.2%.
"No possibilities should be excluded, but this is the least probable scenario," Shuvalov told journalists.
He said the company would most likely cooperate "in good order" with government bodies, and that all outstanding issues would be resolved without any fuss.
Mechel's share price had plunged dramatically in New York and Moscow after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the company was selling raw materials at twice the price domestically it used abroad. This was coupled with fresh accusations of tax evasion against the company by Putin on Monday.
Russia's top antitrust regulator had planned to consider the charges against Mechel by August 26, but vowed Monday to move more swiftly to calm the markets.
Analysts started comparing Mechel's situation with the story of Yukos, once Russia's largest private oil company but eventually bankrupted over unpaid tax bills.
