No more US fast food for Russia - McDonald's withdraws because of the Ukraine war

Created: 05/17/2022, 12:23 p.m

By: Patrick Freiwah

The residents of Russia will have to do without McDonald's in the future.

As a result of the Ukraine war, the fast food chain in the country will no longer offer meals in the future.

Moscow - In response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the US fast food giant McDonald's is withdrawing completely from Russia.

After more than 30 years, McDonald's "is exiting the Russian market and has initiated a process to sell its Russian business," the fast-food chain said in a statement.

As a result of the measure, all of the company's quick service restaurants will be sold to a "local buyer".

The step does not come as a surprise: McDonald's had already closed all around 850 branches in Russia until further notice at the beginning of March, after which profits shrank significantly.

Now the well-known burger chain is withdrawing completely from the country that is waging a military conflict against Ukraine.

"The humanitarian crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine and the unpredictable business environment have led McDonald's to conclude that continued ownership of the Russia business is no longer tenable," the statement said.

In addition, this would also not be in line with "McDonald's values".

McDonald's is leaving Russia - the Kremlin has long had its own alternative

However, the Kremlin recently announced that it was planning its own alternative to the US fast-food chain: "Uncle Vanya".

The fast-food restaurants sold will no longer be able to use the McDonald's name, logo and menu, the American company emphasizes.

To date, McDonald's has operated more than 80 percent of fast-food restaurants bearing its name in Russia itself. The Russian business has so far contributed nine percent of group sales.

The US fast food chain McDonald's is withdrawing from Russia.

© Artyom Geodakyan/Imago

McDonald's leaves Russia: retreat aria of Western companies

There are warm words for the chain's Russian employees: McDonald's boss Chris Kempczinski was "proud" of the chain's 62,000 employees.

"Their commitment and loyalty to McDonald's makes our announcement today extremely difficult." McDonald's will reportedly post up to $1.4 billion in special charges for the exit, including write-downs and foreign exchange losses.

Because of the Ukraine conflict, numerous Western companies have already withdrawn from Russia - temporarily or permanently.

Western countries have imposed harsh sanctions on Russia, but most of these are affecting their own people.

Before McDonald's, Siemens, Apple, BMW and other companies withdrew from Russia.