Russian McDonald's buyer will rebrand restaurants

After being forced to leave Ukraine due to the conflict, McDonald's has found a local buyer for its Russian operations. According to McDonald's, Alexander Govor, who already runs 25 McDonald's shops in Siberia, would take over the company's stores and workers and operate them under a new brand. It did not disclose the sale price but told investors that the exit would cost it more than $1 billion.

McDonald's had been in Russia for almost three decades. The company's first restaurant, which opened in Moscow in 1990, came to symbolise a thaw in Cold War tensions. The Soviet Union disintegrated a year later, and Russia opened its economy to Western corporations. However, more than three decades later, it is one of a rising number of companies withdrawing as the crisis in Ukraine and Western sanctions make it tough to do business.

McDonald's, which has nearly 850 locations in the country, the majority of which it controlled directly, said it expected the acquisition to finalise in the coming weeks, subject to regulatory approval. Mr. Govor has been a McDonald's licensee since 2015. He is also a board member of another company that operates the Park Inn hotel and private clinics in Siberia, as well as a co-founder of Neftekhimservice, a refining company.