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End of an era as Russia's McDonald's reopens under new name

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Maria Panina, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A woman passes by a former McDonald" s="" restaurant="" during="" reopening="" under="" a="" new="" brand="" Vkusno="" I="" Tochka="" in="" June="" On="" March="" due="" to="" events="" Corporation="" ceased="" its="" operations="" Russia.="" May="" after="" announcement="" of="" the="" plans="" exit="" Russian="" company="" sold="" business="" franchisee="" Alexander="" who="" will="" continue="" develop="" fast-food="" chain="" brand.="" The="" first="" outlets="" open="" Moscow="" and="" region="" on="" June.="" EPA-EFE="" MAXIM="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/06/13/mcdo.jpg"/><figcaption>A woman passes by a former McDonald&#x27;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&#x27;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&#x27;s franchisee partner, Alexander Govor, who will continue to develop the fast-food chain under a new brand. The first 15 outlets will open in Moscow and Moscow region on 12 June.<em> EPA-EFE/MAXIM SHIPENKOV</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MOSCOW, Russia - The restaurant that launched McDonald&#x27;s in Russia in 1990, heralding Moscow&#x27;s opening after decades of Soviet rule, reopened Sunday with a new name and logo in a potent reminder of the upheaval sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.</p><p>The US fast-food giant announced on May 16 that it would exit Russia in the wake of its Ukraine offensive.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/16/22/mcdonalds-to-exit-russia">McDonald&#x27;s to exit Russia, sell business in country</a></li></ul><p>In Moscow&#x27;s Pushkin Square on Sunday, dozens of people gathered outside the Russian incarnation of the fast-food restaurant, &quot;Vkusno i tochka&quot; (&quot;Delicious. Full Stop&quot;), well before the official noon (0900 GMT) opening.</p><p>&quot;My whole family went... three times to McDonald&#x27;s for a farewell meal,&quot; Elena, a programmer and mother of two, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;Now we&#x27;re going for a reunion lunch,&quot; she smiled.</p><p>Inside, 31-year-old Oleg, one of the first customers to receive his order, said &quot;Vkusno i tochka&quot; was &quot;delicious, beautiful and cheap.&quot;</p><p>The restaurant, on the spot where the very first McDonald&#x27;s opened its doors to long queues and great fanfare in January 1990, is among the first 15 to welcome customers.</p><p>On Monday, another 50 restaurants are set to open, according to Oleg Paroyev, general manager of the new group, with the chain then planning to reopen 50 to 100 a week across the country.</p><p>In place of the Golden Arches, there&#x27;s a new logo – two stylised orange fries alongside a red dot on a green background.</p><p>There are still double cheeseburgers on the menu, as well as a wide range of ice creams and desserts. But the &quot;Mc&quot; prefix no longer appears.</p><p>&quot;We had to remove some products from the menu because they refer directly to McDonald&#x27;s, such as the McFlurry and Big Mac,&quot; Paroyev said.</p><p>Prices have risen &quot;slightly&quot; due to the inflation that has hit Russia hard after Western countries imposed sanctions -- but they remain &quot;reasonable&quot;, he added.</p><p>As for the packaging, it is &quot;neutral&quot; -- &quot;no word, no letter&quot; should remind customers of the McDonald&#x27;s group, Paroyev said.</p><p>McDonald&#x27;s Russian restaurants had accounted for around nine percent of the US group&#x27;s turnover.</p><p>Three days after the company announced its exit in May, Russian businessman Alexander Govor, who had been a licensee of the chain, bought the 850-restaurant operation.</p><p>&quot;I am ambitious and I don&#x27;t only plan to open the 850 restaurants but to develop new ones,&quot; Govor said on Sunday.</p><p>Under the sale conditions, Govor agreed to retain employees for at least two years and fund liabilities to suppliers, landlords and utilities, McDonald&#x27;s said.</p><p>The price of the transaction was not disclosed but in announcing its exit, McDonald&#x27;s said it planned to take a one-time charge of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion to write off the investment.</p><p>McDonald&#x27;s had employed 62,000 workers in Russia.</p><p>Govor, a licensee since 2015, has operated 25 restaurants in Siberia. He is co-founder of NefteKhimService, a refining company, and a board member of a firm that owns the Park Inn hotel and private clinics in Siberia.</p><div><strong>bur/tbm/bt/lcm/gw</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S8H8Y8EyA-E?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The restaurant that launched McDonald's in Russia in 1990, heralding Moscow's opening after decades of Soviet rule, reopened Sunday with a new name and logo in a potent reminder of the upheaval sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.

End of an era as Russia's McDonald's reopens under new name

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End of an era as Russia's McDonald's reopens under new name

Maria Panina,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jun 13, 2022 06:54 AM PHT

Read More:

McDonald's

russia

Vkusno i tochka

ukraine crisis

russia sanctions

ukraine

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