According to Reuters, former McDonald’s restaurants in Russia are set to reopen on Friday under a new brand. However, Reuters also reported that the fast-food chain from the United States sold its Russian locations to a local licensee last week in support of a boycott by the United States of Russian businesses.
McDonald’s and Alexander Govor, a local licensee, reached an agreement to sell their entire restaurant portfolio on May 19. Three days after the United States-based multinational corporation announced its plans to sell its Russian business, the deal was reached.
In a May 16 press statement, the company explained why it made this decision.
McDonald’s Corporation has announced that it will leave Russia after more than 30 years of operation in the country and has begun a process to sell the Russian business. This announcement follows McDonald’s March 8th 2022 announcement that it had temporarily closed Russian restaurants and suspended operations in the country.
McDonald’s has concluded that Russia’s continued ownership is not sustainable due to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the unpredictable operating environment. This is in direct contradiction with McDonald’s core values.
American fast-food chain, McDonald’s, has retreated from Russia following the example of many other Western and United States-allied businesses that had abandoned Russia after the launch of its latest war against neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2015. In response to the Kremlin’s latest conflict with Kyiv, the U.S. government placed financial sanctions on Russian entities and individuals on February 24.
This campaign continues to inspire allies of the United States to impose economic sanctions against Moscow. This campaign has also prompted blanket boycotts by Western companies of Russian businesses, such as the one McDonald’s recently implemented.
