Fast-food giant McDonald's has said that it will permanently close all of its restaurants and operations in Russia in response to the nation's barbaric and illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Mcdonald's had already temporarily halted its activities at the start of the invasion, but this new step will permanently end all business activities within the Russian Federation.
In a statement, the McDonald's chief executive Chris Kempczinski said:
"This is a complicated issue that's without precedent and with profound consequences. Some might argue that providing access to food and continuing to employ tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, is surely the right thing to do. But it is impossible to ignore the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. And it is impossible to imagine the Golden Arches representing the same hope and promise that led us to enter the Russian market 32 years ago."
As such, all 850 McDonalds restaurants in Russia will not re-open, leading to large-scale job layoffs involving as many as 62,000 people.
McDonalds has an important part in Soviet and modern Russian history, particularly when it became one of the first Western fast-food restaurants to open in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the embracing of a free-market economic policy. The opening of the first restaurant in Moscow in 1990 was attended by tens-of-thousands of patrons who queued for hours to have their first visit to the golden arches.
The McDonald's CEO in 1990 had said of the historic Moscow opening:
"It's been a long, long road. It's also been worth every drop of sweat. Today is the most exciting day of my life, and I salute all those who have come along this path with me."
While a patron of the restaurant had told a Daily Mail journalist:
"I've seen places like this in American films, but I wondered if I would ever be in one. For months I've watched this building being prepared. I'll be here every week. It is already my favourite food."
There currently exist a large number of Russian based fast-food restaurants that will likely be seeking to expand their market share in the coming months.
[Based on reporting by: The Daily Mail]
COMMENTS