MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) - Mechel has signed a final agreement on Wednesday to buy U.S. Bluestone Coal for $436 million plus 83.3 million preferred shares in Mechel, the Russian steel giant said.

"The aggregate merger consideration is $436 million paid in cash (including $36 million interest paid), approximately 83.3 million preferred shares, plus the assumption of approximately $132 million of net debt," Mechel said on its website.

The deal does not include other businesses run by the owners of Bluestone Coal Corp., which include steam coal operations in Kentucky and non-coal operations.

The parties are to float preferred shares as soon as there are favorable market conditions, according to the deal.

The merger is primarily aimed at creating one of the largest global producers of coking coal, according to Mechel.

Mechel is one of the Russia's leading companies, uniting producers of coal, iron ore, concentrate, nickel, steel, rolled products, hardware, and thermal and electric power.

Bluestone sold 2.8 million metric tons of high-quality hard coking coal in 2008, with total sales of $327 million.