McDonald's installs generators at over 70% of its restaurants in Ukraine

MOSCOW. July 19 (Interfax) - McDonald's Ukraine Ltd., which is developing the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain in Ukraine, has already installed generators at more than 70% of its restaurants and has updated the production processes in conditions of the power shortage, the company's operations director Dmitry Korbut told Ukrainian media.

"McDonald's is working on safeguarding resources. That is why, our restaurants' operations are based on the principles of energy efficiency. In response to the challenges, we began installing generators to be able to serve our customers in the absence of the centralized power supply. More than 70 restaurants already have generators, and we continue to provide undisrupted electricity supply to other establishments of the chain," Korbut said.

Since generators may fail due to lengthy blackouts and hot weather, the company had to update its production processes, he said.

"Now, even if there is a generator, we can close the establishment for 30 minutes or longer to allow the generator to cool down, and the restaurants can continue to operate stably," he said.

If a restaurant has not yet been equipped with a generator, it closes in the event of a blackout, Korbut said.

The company gives great attention to carefully monitoring the food storage conditions in accordance with standards, he said.

"Our powerful modern refrigerators maintain the required temperature for up to 14 hours a day. When the power supply is restored, we additionally check products' temperature, which ranges from minus 24 to minus 18 degrees Celsius for frozen products, and from plus 1 to plus 4 degrees for chilled products. The products are disposed of if the temperature is not right," Korbut said.

In the event of a lengthy power outage, when there is a risk that ingredients may not be stored at the proper temperature, they are temporarily returned to the warehouse equipped with generators for safe and secure storage.

"The company has adapted to power outages and guarantees the constant freshness and safety of its products," Korbut said.

The first McDonald's restaurant in Ukraine was opened in Kiev on May 24, 1997.

As reported, McDonald's began to gradually reopen its restaurants in Ukraine on September 20, 2022. Until February 24 of the same year, the chain had 109 restaurants in 24 cities of the country. As of July 2024, 101 out of the chain's 118 outlets are operating. The company plans to open six more restaurants in 2024.

McDonald's boosted its revenue 3.9 times to 12.9 billion hryvni in 2023 year-on-year, according to Opendatabot data. The financial results for 2023 show that the company's net profit amounted to 1.29 billion hryvni against a loss of 2 billion hryvni in 2022.

The company's staff grew 7% to 9,614 in 2023.

According to the unified register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, MCD Europe Limited (100%, London, the UK) is the company shareholder.