U.S. based burger chain, McDonald’s has announced plans to reopen outlets in Ukraine, which it closed after Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
The United States (U.S.) based burger chain, McDonald’s has announced plans to reopen outlets in Ukraine, which it closed after Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
While the war is still on and Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty, the fast-food chain said it hoped the move would help restore a “small but important sense of normalcy.”
The opening of the restaurants will happen in a phase-wise manner over the next several months in Kyiv and Western Ukraine in areas deemed safe. McDonald’s had more than 110 restaurants in Ukraine before the conflict started. The company continued to pay wages to more than 10,000 staff since then.
A message from the Senior Vice President. McDonald’s – Paul Pomroy on their website read, “We’ve spoken extensively to our employees who have expressed a strong desire to return to work and see our restaurants in Ukraine reopen, where it is safe and responsible to do so.”
It further read, “In recent months, the belief that this would support a small but important sense of normalcy has grown stronger. And Ukrainian officials have advised that businesses resuming operations will support the local economy and the Ukrainian people.”
McDonald’s said it is working with suppliers and contractors to ensure the restaurants are ready for reopening. KFC, Nike and Zara are among the other western brands whose stores have reopened in Ukraine. Three decades after McDonald’s became a powerful symbol of easing Cold War tensions when it opened its first location in Moscow, the company suspended operations in Russia in March 2022 and sold 850 of its Russian restaurants to a local licensee – Alexander Gover, who has started reopening the former McDonald’s locations under the name ‘Vkusno-i Tochka’ or ‘Tasty-period’. It is for the first time that McDonald’s has exited a major market. It shuttered hundreds of Russian locations in March, costing the company about U.S. $ 55 million per month.
As per the International Monetary Fund (IMGF), Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 35% this year, disrupting exports, devastating key infrastructure and forcing shut thousands of businesses.
Earlier, the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at a meeting of Western business leaders hosted by Yale University and urged firms to invest in the country. Ukraine’s Government has also started a program to relocate businesses westwards from war-ravaged areas looking to prevent further damage to its economy. He also celebrated the reopening of dozens of embassies in Kyiv, including the United Kingdom (U.K.) in April.
