US fast food giant McDonald's leaves Russia

Kremlin towers and passers-by are reflected in the window of a closed McDonald's restaurant in Moscow on May 16, 2022. AFP - NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Contrary to rumors of a return of the global fast-food giant, McDonald's will not return to Russia in the fall.

The Chicago firm announced it on Monday, May 16.

After closing its restaurants in early March, it is preparing to sell all its activities in the country in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Advertisement

Read more

With our correspondent in Moscow

,

It is out of respect for its values ​​that McDonald's has decided to close a chapter opened in Russia 32 years ago.

This morning, our CEO Chris Kempczinski announced McDonald's plan to completely exit the Russian market, following our decision to pause operations in Russia earlier this year.

For more details on this values-led decision, click to read Chris's message.

https://t.co/lvkjO51n5M

— McDonald's Corporation (@McDonaldsCorp) May 16, 2022

Almost all Muscovites remember the irruption of the colors red and yellow in the greyness that characterized the urban landscape of the capital in 1990. The sign of a radical change, which testified to the openness of Mikhail Gorbachev's Russia on a West that is happy to set out to conquer new promising markets.

Still, the special operation in Ukraine got the better of this momentum.

It is her that the management of the fast food giant invokes to justify the sale of all its activities in Russia.

We are committed to our global community and must remain adamant about our values, said the management of the American group.

The departure is a delight for McDonald's competitors, starting with Burger King, whose restaurants have remained open.

It should also be noted that several Russian burger and sandwich chains have benefited from an increase in their sales since the beginning of March, when McDonald's restaurants closed in Russia.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

• Russia

• Food

• Ukraine