McDonald’s Corp. is exiting Kazakhstan after disruptions triggered by the invasion of Ukraine left the central Asian nation without a substitute for Russian meat supplies.
(Bloomberg) — McDonald’s Corp. is exiting Kazakhstan after disruptions triggered by the invasion of Ukraine left the central Asian nation without a substitute for Russian meat supplies.
“Fast-food restaurants managed by TOO Food Solutions KZ will cease to work under the McDonald’s brand in Kazakhstan because of supply limitations,” its local franchisee said in a statement on Thursday. A date for reopening sites under a new name will be announced shortly, it said.
The world’s biggest fast-food chain is withdrawing its trademark golden arches from the nation of 20 million that borders Russia to the north after only six years. The move was first reported by Bloomberg News on Wednesday.
Although Kazakh businesses aren’t covered by sanctions against Moscow, McDonald’s — which left Russia following the invasion — banned its local franchisee from procuring meat patties from Russian suppliers, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News before the decision was announced. The 24 McDonald’s restaurants in Kazakhstan suspended operations in November, citing supply issues.
The Kazakh business was unable to source meat patties from local or European suppliers, as higher prices and freight costs to transport supplies across the vast nation would mean running restaurants at a loss, the people said.
McDonald’s, whose arrival in the Soviet Union in 1990 became a symbol of the opening up the country’s economy and its pivot to capitalism, sold its restaurant portfolio in Russia in May. At its pre-invasion peak, McDonald’s ran 853 restaurants in Russia. Alexander Govor, who bought the restaurants from McDonald’s, reopened them under a new brand, Vkusno-i Tochka, or “Tasty—Period.”
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