This week, CBC News visited two McDonald’s in Moscow serving hamburgers and french fries, and there are reports on the Internet that other Russian sites are still open. Despite numerous inquiries, McDonald’s has not explained why these restaurants have not closed. However, the US-based fast food chain was open about its plans on March 8, when it announced that all 850 locations in Russia would be temporarily closed to protest the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “Together with the world, we condemn aggression and violence and pray for peace,” McDonald’s chief executive Chris Kempczinski said in a statement. McDonald’s has joined several multinationals, including other fast food chains, suspending operations in Russia following pressure from social media. However, some of these chains, such as Burger King, Subway and KFC, continue to be controlled because, although they have ceased their corporate operations, the franchise sites remain open to business. On Friday, CBC News visited a McDonald’s at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. An employee said it was still open because it is a franchise business. (Dmitry Kozlov / CBC)
Responding to an email question, McDonald’s told CBC News on March 10 that all of its Russian locations would be closed, including franchise restaurants. But shortly after the Russian McDonald’s stores closed on March 14, there were reports that some remained open. Last week, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported that, according to a McDonald’s statement, some of its franchises in Moscow were still operating. On Thursday, CBC News visited a McDonald’s restaurant at Moscow’s Leningradsky Railway Station and found it full of customers. Most of the seats were occupied in the dining room and there was a large queue of customers waiting to receive their orders. On Thursday, CBC News visited a McDonald’s restaurant on Moscow’s Leningradsky Railway Station and found it open and busy. (Dmitry Kozlov / CBC)
On Friday, CBC News visited another McDonald’s at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. It was also open and served dozens of customers. An official at each location said the restaurant remained open because it was a franchise. And Moscow is not the only city where Russians can still get Big Macs. Also Thursday, Will Vernon, senior producer at the BBC’s Moscow bureau, wrote on Twitter that he had discovered a McDonald’s serving customers in St. Petersburg. “The staff told me that, as it is a franchise, they are still open and will continue to operate,” he said. This McDonald’s in St. Petersburg is still open, despite the fact that the company has ceased operations in Russia. The staff told me that, as it is a franchise, they are still open and will continue to operate. pic.twitter.com/N5A7o4BCh3 – @ BBCWillVernon
Last week, CBC News repeatedly contacted McDonald’s for comments about the open sites and, on Thursday, sent photos. The company did not respond. According to information posted on the Internet by McDonald’s, there were 847 McDonald’s in Russia at the end of 2021 and 84 percent of them were controlled by the company. This means that 135 sites operated independently.

The word has come out

Business professor Ian Lee said he suspects McDonald’s still operating are independent restaurants that have some sort of franchise or joint venture with the company, making it difficult for McDonald’s to close arbitrarily. However, Lee said the chain needs to explain publicly why some sites still serve customers. “When they claim to have closed everything, and then not everyone closes, and then keep silent because they do not close, all they do is damage their brand,” Lee said. Associate Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. Already, people on social media are asking for answers after seeing videos and photos posted online by McDonald’s that are supposed to still operate in Russia. “Everyone in the world who has a cell phone is a potential spy,” Lee said. “The company must enter the beginning of the story and be transparent, because sooner or later the truth will come to light.” .Hello https://t.co/Itt2bMvnQZ – @ eu_values
Other fast food chains have spoken publicly about why their franchise activities are still open in Russia. Last week, Subway issued a statement saying it could not close its 450 restaurants in the country because they are independent franchises operated by an independent master franchisee.
Subway also said it was redirecting all corporate profits made in Russia to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. CLOCKS When the first McDonald’s opened in Russia in 1990:

McDonald’s opened its first position in Russia in 1990

The Russians gathered at the first McDonald’s in the country, in Pushkin Square in Moscow. 3:23
Last week, Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International (RBI) also issued a statement explaining why the 800 Burger King restaurants, run by a major franchisee, remain open in Russia. In a detailed letter posted on the Internet, RBI International President David Shear said that as a result of a joint venture, the RBI controls only 15 percent of Burger King’s operations in Russia.
Shear said the RBI had previously contacted the “chief operator” of Burger King in the country to ask it to suspend its operations, but that “they refused to do so”. As a result, RBI is now trying to sell its stake in Russian Burger Kings, but “it will take some time to do so under the terms of our existing consortium agreement,” Shear said. The RBI, meanwhile, has suspended all corporate support in Russia and is diverting profits to humanitarian efforts, he said.

Supply problems could still be forced to end

Franchise lawyer Daniel So said multinational companies often rely on a major franchisee to manage sites in foreign countries and usually have little or no power to demand closure. “When these major franchise deals are traded, termination clauses are often very, very delicate,” said So with McKenzie Lake Lawyers of Victoria. “[This] “It’s no surprise given the amount of investment required by the main licensee to operate in the area.” Franchise lawyer Daniel So says multinational companies often rely on a major franchisee to manage sites in foreign countries. (Submitted by Daniel So)
However, So said franchises that are still open in Russia could soon end, not because headquarters want it to, but because they may run out of supplies. Along with hundreds of companies leaving Russia, the country has been hit by sweeping international sanctions that cut off supply chains. He said that some of the supplies on which the franchisees from outside Russia were based could soon disappear. “[That] may force the closure of those restaurants where the licensor could not have requested the closure. “ With files by Dmitry Kozlov