McDonald’s announces its total withdrawal from Russia after 30 years of activity

The group McDonald’s announced this Monday that it will leave the Russian market and has started a process to sell the business throughout the country after 30 years of activity, according to the restaurant chain in a statement published by media in the United States.

“The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the unpredictable environment for operating there have led to McDonald’s to conclude that the business in Russia is no longer sustainable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values,” the company said in a statement.

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Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski said in the note that he was proud of the more than 60,000 workers employed in Russia and that the decision was “extremely difficult” but that “our commitment to our values ​​means we can no longer stay there.”

The departure carries great symbolic and economic weight because the fast-food chain was one of the first Western brands to establish itself when it opened a branch in Moscow in 1990, just before the fall of the Soviet Union and shortly after it was demolished. Berlin Wall, for which it became a symbol of the end of the Cold War.

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On March 8, McDonald’s already announced that it was temporarily ceasing its business in Russia and that it was temporarily closing its around 850 restaurants after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but until now it has been keeping and paying its workers there.

“This is a complicated issue that is unprecedented and has profound consequences,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a message to franchisees, employees and suppliers obtained by The New York Times.

McDonald’s (MCD) indicated that its employees will continue to be paid until the transaction closes and that they “will maintain employment with any potential buyers.”

Source: Elcomercio

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