(PresidentialWire.com)- McDonald’s announced last week that will begin reopening some of its restaurants in western Ukraine in the coming months.
The fast-food giant scampered out of Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in late February. Though the stores were closed, the company continued paying its more than 10,000 McDonald’s employees in Ukraine.
But now, with Hollywood actors feeling safe enough to fly to Ukraine to hobnob with President Zelensky and Vogue Magazine celebrity photographer Annie Liebowitz flying there to do photoshoots with Zelensky and his wife, McDonald’s must have figured the coast is clear.
The company said on Thursday that it will gradually reopen some of the restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine far away from the fighting. Other western businesses, including Nike, KFC, and Spanish clothing retailer Mango, had already reopened their Kyiv locations.
In a message to McDonald’s employees, Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president of international operated markets, said the company had spoken to its Ukrainian employees who are eager to see the restaurants open so they can return to work.
The burger giant, which had 109 locations in Ukraine, didn’t say how many will reopen. Nor did the company offer a timetable on when the reopenings will begin or what locations would be the first to welcome customers back.
The company said over the next few months it will start working with vendors to get the Ukraine locations supplied and bring back employees.
The Ukrainian economy has been devastating by the ongoing conflict. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Ukrainian economy is expected to shrink by 35 percent this year.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s sold all 850 restaurants in Russia to a franchise owner.
The company had closed down hundreds of its Russian locations in March, costing McDonald’s around $55 million a month.
Russian Alexander Govor, who held a franchise license on 25 McDonald’s restaurants in Siberia, has started reopening the former McDonald’s locations in Russia under the name “Vkusno-i Tochka,” which means Tasty-period.
