26 May 2022 18:51

New owner of McDonald's restaurants in Russia plans to begin opening them under new brand on June 12

MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) - The new owner of McDonald's restaurants in Russia is planning to begin opening them under a new brand on June 12.

"We can confirm that we're striving to open for our guests on June 12. A precise opening schedule for our enterprises will be available later. We'll present the updated brand separately in the near future," the chain's press service in Russia told Interfax.

McDonald's Corp. agreed earlier in May to sell its business in Russia to Alexander Govor, who had been a franchisee of the company since 2015 and operated 25 restaurants in Siberia. Based on the terms of the deal, Govor is acquiring the chain's entire restaurant portfolio and will develop it further under a new brand. It is expected that the buyer will keep on employees of the chain and maintain equivalent working conditions for them for a minimum of two years. Govor has also agreed to fund the salaries of corporate employees working in 45 regions of Russia until the deal is closed and take care of current obligations to suppliers, property owners, and utilities companies.

McDonald's closed its restaurants in Russia on March 14 and announced on May 16 that it was exiting the Russian market. "The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment have led McDonald's to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable nor is it consistent with McDonald's values," McDonald's said.

McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Russia on Pushkin Square in Moscow in 1990. The company has named it on its website as the most visited McDonald's restaurant in the world. The chain currently consists of more than 850 restaurants in Russia.

McDonald's had $2.5 billion in total investments in Russia. The company paid 167 billion rubles in taxes. More than 62,000 employees worked within the McDonald's system in Russia, and suppliers employ around 100,000.