New Russian fast-food era begins
Global TimesJun 15, 2022
More than a dozen McDonald's restaurants reopened in Moscow on Sun. under new Russian ownership and a new name: Vkusno & tochka, which translates as "Tasty and that's it."
The American fast-food giant closed its Russian restaurants in March and divested from Russia in May after declaring business was "no longer tenable" amid the Ukraine war. McDonald's left Russia 32-yrs after opening its first restaurant in the country in the Soviet Union on Pushkin Square on Jan. 31, 1990.
Families who may have thought they were saying goodbye to affordable fast-food in Russia are now enjoying a delicious cheap menu offered by a Russian-run business. Alexander Govor's intervention is good news for consumers as well as employees, who will be kept on for at least two years under the sale plan. Govor also plans to develop new restaurant locations, expanding the new brand beyond the achievements established by McDonald's.
The presence of the golden arch took on a meaning beyond a meal when the first McDonald's restaurant opened in Moscow's Pushkin Square - it was a sign of the thaw of Cold War tensions. The company's exit from Russia is perhaps the most visible sign of the exodus of nearly 1k foreign companies from the Russian market since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the reversal of amiable diplomatic relations between Russia and the West.
There is a 92% chance that Russia will be the world's most sanctioned country by Feb. 22, 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.