McDonald’s Found A Buyer For Its Russian Restaurants. The Fast Food Network Will Completely Rebrand.

McDonald’s has found buyers for its restaurants in Russia. The current Russian license holder Alexander Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, will buy 850 Russian restaurants from the most famous fast food chain. The restaurants will undergo a complete rebranding, changing the name, logo and everything else that people have associated with the original brand, informs the BBC.

McDonald’s did not disclose the selling price, but said it would cost $ 1.2 billion to $ 1.4 billion to leave Russia. Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said the agreement was the result of "long and difficult" negotiations.

The spokesman, who has been licensed since 2015, has agreed to provide 62,000 Russian McDonald’s employees with the same conditions as before for at least two years. He also agreed to pay the salaries of corporate employees until the end of the sale.

Done after 30 years 

McDonald’s has operated in Russia for 30 years, and its first restaurant, which opened in 1990, became a symbol of the easing of tensions at the end of the Cold War. It is currently one of the largest brands withdrawing from the country due to the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions that complicate its operation.

The company announced its departure from the Russian market in March this year. The Kremlin then announced that instead of McDonald’s network, Russia wants to open a chain called Uncle Vanya's, whose logo is strikingly similar to the world-famous logo of the American company.