McDonald’s will begin reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months, a symbol of the war-torn country returning to normality and a sign that the American fast-food chain has withdrawn from Russia.
The burger giant closed its Ukrainian restaurants after the Russian invasion about six months ago, but has continued to pay more than 10,000 McDonald’s workers in the country.
McDonald’s said Thursday it will begin reopening some restaurants in the capital Kyiv and western Ukraine, where other corporations do business away from the fighting. Western corporations such as Nike, KFC and spanish clothing store Mango are open in Kyiv.
“We spoke at length with our painters who expressed a strong preference for repainting and seeing our restaurants reopen in Ukraine,” Paul Pomroy, senior vice president of foreign markets, said in a message to the painters. “In recent months, I am confident that this would be a small but vital sense of normalcy that has been strengthened. “
In recent weeks, fighting along the battered front line in southern Ukraine has been brutal. Ukrainian forces are prepared for what is expected to be a major counterattack in the south in a bid to retake the occupied Kherson region. The United States and its allies, infantrymen and civilians await what they know is a grueling war ahead.
Ukraine’s economy has been severely broken during the war and would help restart business, even in capacity. The International Monetary Fund expects the Ukrainian economy to contract by 35% this year.
McDonald’s has 109 restaurants in Ukraine, but did not say how many would reopen, when it would happen or which places would be the first to welcome customers. In the coming months, the company said it would begin working with suppliers to find restaurants. prepare the tents, bring back the workers, and release safety procedures as the war continues in the east.
While it will begin to reopen in Ukraine, McDonald’s sold its 850 restaurants in Russia to a franchise owner. This happened 3 decades after McDonald’s opened its first location in Moscow, a strong symbol of easing Cold War tensions.
McDonald’s had closed many Russian stores in March, costing the company about $55 million a month. The sale of its Russian restaurants was the first time the company “stood out” or left a main market.
Alexander Govor, who had a license for 25 McDonald’s outposts in Siberia, began reopening the former McDonald’s sites under the name Vkusno-i Tochka, or Tasty-period. The logo is different, but it still evokes the golden arches: a circle and two yellows. oblong, representing a beef burger and fries, set up in a stylized M.
As a component of the sale agreement, the financial terms of which have not been announced, the new transaction agreed to retain the other 62,000 people hired through McDonald’s prior to its launch.
Quotes delayed by at least 15 minutes.
Market knowledge through ICE Data Services. ICE Limitations. Developed and implemented through FactSet. News through the Associated Press. Legal statement.