McDonald’s said on Thursday it would reopen its restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine in response to the “great desire” of many employees to return to work despite the ongoing war with Russia.
McDonald’s closed 109 restaurants after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Many workers fled and others joined the army. In the six months since, fighting has shifted mainly to the east and south of the country, with thousands of Ukrainians returning to their homes in the capital, Kyiv, and the western regions of the country.
McDonald’s vice president of international operations Paul Pomroy said: “We have spoken extensively with employees who have returned to work and have expressed a strong desire to reopen safe and responsible Ukrainian restaurants.” he said in a statement.
“Over the past few months, my belief that this supports a small but important sense of normalcy has grown,” he said.
Pomloy said the decision to begin the gradual reopening of restaurants would “support the local economy and the people of Ukraine.” Created after discussions with Ukrainian officials, suppliers and security experts, he said the company continued to pay the salaries of his more than 10,000 employees while the restaurant was closed. Stated.
McDonald’s operates 39,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. In Russia, where it had 840 restaurants, the company ceased operations after the invasion. Two months later, he put the restaurant up for sale amid mounting employee and consumer pressure.
A month later, after being bought by a Siberian oil tycoon, the Russian restaurant reopened under a different name. The new owners were confident they could continue to serve the same dishes as they used local ingredients. But a fall in crops in Russia and shortages of potatoes caused by supplies his chain disrupted by Western sanctions prompted the rebranded chain to remove Fried His potatoes from its menu last month. became.
