Govor agrees to buy all McDonald’s in Russia and rebrand them
McDonald’s has reached a deal to sell all its restaurants in Russia to one of its licensees in the country, the businessman Alexander Govor, who will operate them under a new name.
The fast food company temporarily closed hundreds of outlets across Russia in March after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, a decision that has cost McDonald’s about $55m (£44m) a month.
On Monday, it announced it would sell those stores and leave Russia, saying the humanitarian crisis caused by the war and the unpredictable operating environment meant continuing running restaurants there was “no longer tenable” or “consistent with McDonald’s values”.
Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, has agreed to buy its 850 Russian restaurants and run them under different branding, McDonald’s said on Thursday.
McDonald’s did not disclose how much the outlets were sold for. Last year, its Russian operations contributed 9% of the company’s total annual sales, or about $2bn.
Govor, a licensee since 2015, has agreed to retain McDonald’s 62,000 Russian employees for at least two years on equivalent terms and to fund existing liabilities to suppliers, landlords and utilities. He also agreed to pay the salaries of McDonald’s corporate employees until the sale is completed.
The sale is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to close within a few weeks, McDonald’s said.
Govor is also half-owner of Neftekhimservis, a construction investor that owns an oil refinery in Siberia, and is a board member of another firm that owns projects in Siberia including Novokuznetsk’s Park Inn hotel and private clinics.
McDonald’s was among the first western consumer brands to enter Russia in 1990. Its large, gleaming store near Pushkin Square in Moscow,
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