Big Mac is coming back: McDonald’s to reopen in Ukraine McDonald’s will begin reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months, a symbol of the war-torn country’s return to normalcy and a show of support for post-American fast-food Chain pulled from Russia.
The burger giant closed its Ukrainian restaurants after Russia’s invasion about six months ago, but continues to pay more than 10,000 McDonald’s employees in the country.
McDonald’s on Thursday said it would begin gradually reopening some restaurants in the capital Kyiv and western Ukraine, where other companies are doing business away from the fight. Western businesses such as Nike, KFC and Spanish clothing retailer Mango are open in Kyiv.
“We have spoken extensively to our employees, who have expressed a strong desire to return to work and reopen our restaurants in Ukraine,” Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president of international-driven markets, said in a message to employees. “In recent months, the belief that this will support a small but significant sense of normalcy has strengthened.”
The Ukrainian economy has been badly damaged by the war and restarting businesses in a limited capacity will help. The International Monetary Fund expects Ukraine’s economy to shrink by 35% this year.
McDonald’s has 109 restaurants in Ukraine, but did not say how many would reopen, when or which locations would be the first to welcome customers. Over the next few months, the company said it would begin working with vendors to get supplies to restaurants, prepare those stores, bring back employees and ramp up security procedures with the formerly still raging war .
While it will resume in Ukraine, McDonald’s has sold 850 of its restaurants in Russia to a franchise owner. It came three decades after McDonald’s opened its first location in Moscow, which has become a powerful symbol of easing Cold War tensions.
McDonald’s closed hundreds of Russian locations in March, costing the company about $55 million a month. Selling its Russian restaurant was the first time the company had “de-arked”, or exited, a major market.
Alexander Gower, who holds the license for 25 McDonald’s outposts in Siberia, has begun reopening former McDonald’s locations under the name Vakusno-i Tochka, or Tasty-Period.
Also read: Russia-Ukraine war: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coke, Pepsi suspend business in Russia
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