Euractiv.com with Reuters Est. 2min 15-07-2022 People visit a former McDonald's restaurant during reopening under a new brand Vkusno I Tochka in Moscow, Russia, 12 June 2022. On 14 March 2022, due to events in Ukraine, McDonald's Corporation ceased its operations in Russia. In May after announcement of the plans to exit the Russian market, the company sold its Russian business to Russian businessman, McDonald's franchisee partner, Alexander Govor. [EPA-EFE/MAXIM SHIPENKOV] Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram The head of the company now running the former McDonald’s Corp chain of restaurants in Russia told RBC TV that producers of French fries are refusing to supply to the country and warned that attempts to increase domestic processing are fraught with difficulties. McDonald’s quit Russia after a Western backlash against Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, which included a barrage of economic sanctions, and sold all the restaurants it owned to a local licensee in May. Restaurants began opening under the new name Vkusno & tochka, or “Tasty and that’s it”, on 12 June. CEO Oleg Paroev told Reuters the chain had sold almost 120,000 burgers on opening day. Tasty name but no Big Mac: Russia opens rebranded McDonald's restaurants It might look and smell like McDonald’s but now it’s Vkusno & tochka. The golden arches are gone, the Filet-O-Fish is simply a fish burger. The Big Mac has left Russia. The new ownership was keen to stress that high quality standards would be maintained or even bettered, and that consumers would not notice much difference. It has since been forced to admit that it is facing a shortage of French fries until autumn, blaming a poor harvest in Russia and supply chain woes. “What has happened now is that due to well known events many foreign companies, I would even say all major producers of fries, have refused to deliver this product to Russia,” Paroev told RBC TV, a business channel, late on Thursday (14 June). Paroev said that factories in both “friendly” and “unfriendly” countries that produce fries belong to five or six major companies, whose headquarters are based in unfriendly nations and which have therefore refused to supply to Russia. Moscow deems countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine as “unfriendly”. Paroev said there was a shortage in Russia’s harvest this year of the specific potatoes needed for French fries and that other issues could arise, with only a few enterprises capable of processing potatoes for French fries in Russia. Read more with Euractiv EU, Southeast Asia to hold first full summit amid security fearsEU and Southeast Asian nations will hold their first full summit in December, a sign that the two blocs are looking for closer ties amid concerns over security threats from China and Russia, officials told Reuters.
