McDonald’s announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its business in Russia to a partner

The McDonald’s group announced Thursday that it already exists agreed to sell your business businessman and franchise partner Alexandr Govor in Russia, which will save thousands of jobs.

“Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Govor acquired the chain’s entire restaurant portfolio and it will develop under the new brand“McDonald said in a statement, highlighting that the Russian businessman has been a partner since 2015, and that 25 franchises he has opened operate in Siberia.

The agreement still requires specifying certain conditions, including its approval by regulatory authorities, and it is expected that final details will be finalized in “the coming weeks”.

“The contract of sale thinks of care at least two years of employment on equal conditions for all employees, ”McDonald’s emphasizes.

The buyer, the press release added, also agreed to finance until the end of the transaction the salaries of employees of the corporation working in 45 regions of Russia, and will meet obligations to suppliers, landlords and services community.

The announcement of the agreement, the financial terms of which have not been disclosed, came three days after McDonald’s announced that it would surely end its activity in Russia due to sanctions and aggression in Ukraine.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said at the time that he was proud of the more than 60,000 workers and that the decision to stop doing business in Russia was “very difficult.”

But “our commitment to our values meaning we can’t last there longsaid Kempczinski.

On March 8, McDonald’s had already announced that it had temporarily halted its business in Russia and was temporarily closing its approximately 850 restaurants after the start of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

The company’s departure from Russia has been great symbolic and economic weight.

McDonald’s decision to leave the country coincided with the cessation or closure of other U.S. food and beverage giants, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Starbucks, their operations in Russia to caused by western punishments.

McDonald’s has more than 39,000 locations in more than 100 countries. Most are owned by franchises, and only 5% are owned by the company.

McDonald’s said the exit from Russia would not change its forecast to add 1,300 net restaurants this year, which would contribute 1.5% to sales growth across the company.

The fast food chain was one of the first Western brands to establish itself when it opened a branch in Moscow in 1990, before the collapse of the Soviet Union and shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, so it became like a symbol of the end of the Cold War.

Source: EFE