As the West launched comprehensive economic sanctions against Russia, Western multinational companies and brands have begun the process of withdrawing from the Russian market. In a series of “foreign business evacuation” operations, the closure of McDonald’s, the first American catering company that broke through the “Iron Curtain” and entered the Soviet Union and witnessed the social changes in Russia for more than 30 years, aroused many emotions.
access:
Alibaba Cloud 2022 “Cloud Procurement Season”” Hundreds of cloud products at least 0.24% off
From the opening of the first store in the center of Moscow in 1990, until now it has been “forced to withdraw”, McDonald’s “lost” Russia, which is considered by the German media as “the end of an era”.
“Beside Uncle Vanya” or instead
On March 14, McDonald’s 850 stores in Russia will be officially closed. On the eve of the previous day, a reporter from the Global Times in Russia visited the McDonald’s flagship store in Russia on Pushkin Square in Moscow and found that the newly renovated store was still operating normally. Since the time of the reporter’s visit coincided with the lunch rush, the store was also bustling and busy, and there was no sign that it was about to close. In the face of reporters’ inquiries, the store staff politely and simply confirmed the store’s plan to suspend business on the 14th due to “technical reasons”.
Since McDonald’s announced its plan to close the store on the 8th, there have been some regrets and regrets in Russian public opinion. However, according to the customers and passers-by randomly interviewed by the Global Times reporter, in real life, ordinary Russians are more “indifferent” about the closure of McDonald’s. A Russian citizen who dined told the Global Times reporter that eating McDonald’s is mainly because of the large number of outlets, whether it is dine-in or take-out, it is more convenient to buy food, but McDonald’s is not a necessity of life, and McDonald’s can be found even if it is closed. Lots of alternative foods.
At the same time, with the announcement of the withdrawal of Western catering and food companies such as Starbucks and PepsiCo, the voices of replacing Western catering companies with local catering companies in Russia have gradually increased. RIA Novosti reported on the 10th that the chairman of the Russian State Duma Volodin said that in the future, those McDonald’s outlets will not be McDonald’s using Russian raw materials, but a restaurant “beside Uncle Vanya” (a Russian restaurant). light meal restaurant). For Volodin’s remarks, the owner of the restaurant “Beside Uncle Vanya” recently expressed his support in an interview with Russia’s “Rise” magazine, saying “Russia is a strong country. I will do my best to help. , I have everything ready for Russia.”
According to the Russian Interfax news agency, Moscow Mayor Sobyanin said when meeting with business people recently that the local Russian restaurant chain will replace McDonald’s 250 stores in Moscow. Sobyanin said that in order to fill the market left by “withdrawal of foreign counterparts”, Moscow city authorities have decided to allocate 500 million rubles in concessional loans for the establishment of a new fast food network. Anna Zhukova, president of the Russian National Culinary Association, also said in an interview with TASS on the 11th that the traditional Russian recipes developed by the members of the association can be used in the standardized menus of restaurant chains, thereby replacing McDonald’s restaurants.
“The Great Earthquake of the Western Foreign Economy”
“The end of an era”, the German magazine Der Spiegel said on the 12th that under the shadow of Western sanctions against Russia, many Western companies from McDonald’s, Volkswagen to Apple have announced their departure from Russia and may be “nationalized” by Russia “.
The American fast food chain McDonald’s is a typical representative. On January 31, 1990, after 14 years of long struggle, McDonald’s finally opened its first store in the Soviet Union in a prime location next to Pushkin Square in the center of Moscow. In the era of relative scarcity of materials at that time, McDonald’s restaurant became a resort for Moscow people to check in and try early adopters as soon as it opened. On the opening day alone, the McDonald’s restaurant received 30,000 customers, and people had to queue for several hours to enter the restaurant. The police set up a cordon around the restaurant to maintain order. At that time, European and American media said that this was a “Western consumption revolution” and that young Russians “favored the Western way of life”.
For the next 32 years, McDonald’s flourished in Russia. At present, there are 850 McDonald’s stores in Russia with as many as 62,000 employees. Last year, the number of McDonald’s restaurants in Russia increased by 6%, significantly faster than the global average of 1.5%.
McDonald’s withdrawal from the Russian market is a blow to its already declining global business. McDonald’s said on the 9th that it expects to lose about $50 million a month by closing stores in Russia. Other Western catering industries have experienced similar experiences, such as KFC, which closed more than 1,000 stores in Russia, as well as Pizza Hut and Starbucks.
“A major earthquake in the foreign economy of the West”, the German “Economic Weekly” said that the withdrawal of the Russian market will have an impact on almost all important sectors in Europe and the United States, including automobiles, electronic products, energy, finance, trade, industry, consumption, Logistics, aviation, media, technology, telecommunications and other industries. Luxury goods will also lose big customers, such as LVMH closing its 124 stores. These companies lost tens of millions of euros to tens of billions of dollars.
“External Administration”
Recently, Russia has also taken a series of countermeasures against Western sanctions. Among them, it has issued a severe warning against the withdrawal of foreign companies from the Russian market, especially the possibility that foreign companies may stop operating in Russia and lay off local employees. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Belousov previously stated that such behavior will be identified as “intentional bankruptcy.” In response to this “intentional bankruptcy” situation, the Russian government has recently prepared to submit a special response bill to the State Duma. “Russian newspaper” quoted the introduction of the first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, Alexander Zhukov, as saying that according to the bill, if a company with more than 25% of the shares of “unfriendly” countries decides to withdraw from Russia, members of the board of directors of the company or Russian taxation, procuratorial and other relevant departments will have the right to apply for “external administrative management” of the company, and may take temporary restrictions on the company involved, such as prohibiting it from disposing of assets, dismissing employees, and terminating contracts. But if the business owner decides to resume business activities, or sell the stake and assume the buyer’s obligation to keep the business, the “external administration” will be lifted.
Perhaps because of the consideration of avoiding being identified as “intentional bankruptcy” and being adopted by “external administration”, or because it is difficult to cut off the vast market of Russia, McDonald’s announced the closure of the store this time, obviously leaving room for turning around. According to a statement on the official website of McDonald’s in Russia, after closing the store, McDonald’s will still pay its 62,000 employees as normal, guarantee employee social welfare, and will also provide support to its suppliers.
Russia’s “Izvestia” quoted Igor Bukharov, chairman of the Russian Restaurant and Hoteliers Association, as saying on the 11th that McDonald’s will not give up the cost of 32 years of investment in the Russian market. McDonald’s has formed a well-established network in Russia, where its turnover accounts for 10% of its global turnover, and no one wants to lose that money. Therefore, when the situation stabilizes, McDonald’s will try to return to the Russian market.
According to sources quoted by the TASS news agency on the 11th, McDonald’s restaurants may reopen in a month and a half.