What used to be Moscow’s McDonald’s restaurants reopened under a new Russian property called Vkusno and Tochka, meaning “Tasty, period.”
Fifteen rebranded restaurants opened in the capital on Sunday after the U.S.-based burger giant withdrew its operation over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The reopening of outlets is believed to be a testament to whether Russia’s economy can become more self-sufficient and withstand Western sanctions.
Others, however, see the move as a further step toward Russia, which is more isolated from the rest of the world.
Vkusno and Tochka CEO Oleg Paroyev said that although restaurants no longer serve McDonald’s signature dishes, guests can still enjoy the food.
“Some products will no longer be on our menus, such as Big Mac or McFlury,” he explained.
“This is because these brands, their appearance and their manufacture have a very direct association with the McDonald’s brand,” Paryoev said, “but I want to promise that in the very near future we will have a worthy replacement for these. products, which I’m sure our consumers will enjoy. “
The Vkusno and Tochka branches will retain their former McDonald’s interior, but will remove any reference to its old name.
The owners of the chain say their goal was to keep people busy and working. The company currently employs 51,000 people.
McDonald’s leaves Russia for “unnecessary human suffering”
McDonald’s was the first major Western fast food chain to open a restaurant in the Soviet Union, after a summit between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan led the USSR to allow joint ventures. 1987.
The burger chain opened its first restaurant in the Soviet capital in January 1990, a joint venture between McDonald’s Canada and Moscow City Council, beating its competitor Pizza Hut by several months.
The restaurant, the world’s largest McDonald’s at the time, did not close until early March, except for the closure of a health inspection in 2014.
The 2014 closure for “health and safety violations” was seen as an act of retaliation for US sanctions against the Kremlin for its annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and its involvement in the war in the eastern region of Donbas. The restaurant, however, reopened after 90 days.
McDonald’s initially suspended operations in Russia in the early days of the invasion. In May, the company decided to leave Russia altogether and sold its 850 restaurants to Alexander Govor, who was licensed for 25 franchises in Siberia.
Govor, a businessman and billionaire who made his fortune in the energy, hospitality and health sectors, is moving fast to reopen closed outlets.
In an open letter to employees on March 7, McDonald’s president and CEO Chris Kempckinski said closing restaurants was the right thing to do.
“Our values mean that we cannot ignore the unnecessary human suffering that is taking place in Ukraine,” Kempczinski said.
The company also pledged to continue paying its 62,000 employees in Russia in March before Govor’s acquisition included guarantees that the new company would keep workers.