New York
CNN Business
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After closing its restaurants in Ukraine six months ago due to the Russian invasionMcDonald’s is starting to reopen in parts of the country.
“We have decided to put in place a phased plan to reopen select restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine,” wrote Paul Pomroy, senior vice president of international markets, in a letter posted on the website. the company on Thursday.
McDonald’s has nearly 110 restaurants in Ukraine. The chain continued to pay its employees in the country despite the closures.
“Over the next few months, we will begin working with suppliers to get product to restaurants, prepare physical properties to serve customers, bring restaurant teams and employees back on site, and implement procedures and protocols. enhanced to ensure the safety of our staff. and customers,” Pomroy said.
The decision was made after discussions with Ukrainian officials, security specialists and suppliers, he added.
McDonald’s was one of many global companies that suspended operations in Ukraine because of the deadly conflict. In his letter, Pomroy noted that other businesses have also reopened in Kyiv and western Ukraine.
The war prompted McDonald’s to permanently close its Russian restaurants. The channel announced that it was suspend operations in Russia in March. In May, the company announced that it sell your Russian restaurantsstating at the time that “the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment have led McDonald’s to conclude that continued ownership of the company in Russia is no longer tenable, nor consistent with McDonald’s values.” The company has no plans to re-enter this market.
The company sold its hundreds of Russian locations to a local franchise operator, which started to reopen them with a new name“Vkusno & Tochka”, which in English means “tasty and that’s it”, as well as a new brand image.
McDonald’s leaves Russia marked the end of an era. The channel opened its first location in Moscow in 1990 and is perhaps the most prominent example of glasnost, former President Mikhail Gorbechev’s initiative to break down the barrier between the former Soviet Union and the rest of the world.
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