A whole lot of McDonald’s eating places have been closed throughout Russia when the American fast-food large pulled in another country over the Ukraine struggle earlier this yr.
This Sunday, nonetheless, a brand new firm known as “Vkusno & Tochka” (Tasty & That is it) reopened 15 McDonald’s venues in Moscow and the encompassing area, with proprietor Alexander Govor pledging to broaden the enterprise nationwide.
Govor beforehand operated 25 eating places in Siberia underneath the McDonald’s license, a small fraction of some 850 places in Russia.
The brand new Vkusno & Tochka (Tasty & That is it) restaurant plans to broaden on McDonald’s Russian enterprise
“I’m formidable man, and I do not solely plan to open the 850 eating places of our predecessor, however to additionally develop new ones,” Govor stated on Sunday. He added that the brand new firm has managed to keep up all 51,000 McDonald’s staff within the nation.
The entrepreneur made the speech at Pushkin Sq., the identical location the place the first-ever McDonald’s opened in January 1990 as an emblem of thawing ties between Russia and the West within the closing years of the Chilly Struggle. Reopening the venue underneath a Russian-brand is now seen as a robust image of a brand new world rivalry.
Providing identical ‘atmosphere’ to fast-food lovers
“Vkusno & Tochka” eating places shall be providing a menu much like the one provided by the US large, with a noticeable exception of Huge Macs and McFlurry ice lotions. Different objects may be modified because of provide chain points.
“Our objective is that our visitors don’t discover a distinction both in high quality or atmosphere,” stated the corporate’s CEO Oleg Paroev.
McDonald’s agreed to promote its Russian enterprise to Govor in Could this yr. The main points of the transaction haven’t been made public, however the firm beforehand stated it will have a tax write-off of $1.2 – $1.4 billion (€1.14 – 1.33 billion) from exiting the Russian market.
The exit, nonetheless, is just not full — for authorized causes, a number of eating places proceed to function underneath a McDonald’s licence at airports and practice stations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
dj/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters, Interfax)