business

McDonald's to temporarily close 850 stores in Russia

38 Comments
By DEE-ANN DURBIN

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38 Comments
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Starbucks and Coca Cola too. Where are all those people that are defending uniqlo’s decision to stay in Russia now?

15 ( +19 / -4 )

Good on them to continue paying employees.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

No more McDonald’s, no more Netflix, no more twitter, n more coca cola. Looks like Russian society will turn out the better for it because of this war.

Doubtful with oligarchs still at the helm. All of these will be swapped out for the Chinese analogues.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

wanna have those quality products made in the free world!

Sorry to tell you mate, but those products (especially McDonald's) is anything BUT quality.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

To really punish Putin, he should be forced to eat three times a day at McDonald’s.

Classy act to continue paying employees in Russia and Ukraine. UNIQLO could learn a lesson.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

yep Putin will call the war off now because he cant get his big mac fix....

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Well Done, Mac. For those challenged by the menu, buy a salad & a veggie side item. (McDonald’s still holds more than 35% share in Japan’s McDonalds). Seems keeping them afloat will help continuing to pay furloughed employees abroad.

“McD's could take a big financial hit because of the closures. The Chicago-based co. said its restaurants in Russia & Ukraine contributed 9% of its annual revenue, or around $2 billion.”

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Good on them to continue paying employees.

I agree. The minimum wage fast food worker at a McDonald's in Vladivostok or Moscow shouldn't be the ones bearing the brunt of Putin's mania. However, I'm just wondering about the technicalities of how they'll be able to keep paying them for months upon months? Of course, McDonald's global has the money for it, but they can't move that money into the country due to banking shutdown and sanctions. And, it wouldn't surprise me if the funds McDonald's has in its Russian banks get seized by Russia on whatever flimsy pretext. The same goes for every multinational company that is pulling out of Russia, but continues to pay the wages.

But at least, they didn't just abandon their workers.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

no big deal for russians to be honest.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

“Anonymous” has also declared in recent days that Russia is now ‘fair game’ for their cyber attacks. They’ve warned it will also affect the private sector.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Let's hope, this tragedy can turn into something positive, ie commerce with ethics, like the ethical coffee, chocolate etc.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

snowymountainhellToday  09:51 am JST

Well Done, Mac. For those challenged by the menu, buy a salad & a veggie side item. (McDonald’s still holds more than 35% share in Japan’s McDonalds)

Japan McDonald’s is far better than US McDonald’s. But, you’re right salads…

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Putin uses his favorite puppet’s phrase: “fake news” whenever there is news contrary to his liking (and throws the messenger in jail).

By closing down consumer products (Coke, Starbucks, Mac), ordinary Russian citizens are becoming aware of their Ukrainian war.

Once the oligarchs start losing money (closed banks, sale of oil restricted) on his war, Putin will be hard-pressed to keep his job.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

‘They are legion’ that are unafraid & well-ahead of Putin’s threats to arrest those posting truth:

Anonymous” hacks Russian state TV with Ukraine footage” -

“‘Ordinary Russians are against war,’ hackers say” -

as published in a variety of international media.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

@Zichi

On International Women's Day, Putin went on TV asking all Russian women to support all the troops defending the country against the invaders. Any media producing the truth will be arrested.

Thousands of women protested against the war.

There was an awesome statement from the Ukrainian women today in the german news.

Amazing!!!

Sorry it is in german language, but please try to translate it somehow...it is absolute amazing!

Auch die Soldatinnen der ukrainischen Armee haben anlässlich des Frauentags eine Botschaft, eine Warnung an die russischen Truppen:

"Wir sind die Frauen der Ukraine. (...) Wir haben unsere Kinder in Sicherheit gebracht. Der Genpool unserer Nation ist gesichert. Jetzt schließen wir uns den Männern an und werden den Feind überall in unserem Land vernichten - in jeder Stadt, in jedem Dorf, in jedem Wald und in jedem Feld. Für jedes Kind, für jede Frau, für jeden alten Mann, für jedes zerstörtes Haus werden wir euch erschießen wie einen tollwütigen Hund. "

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

@Zichi

Translation:

We are the women of the Ukraine. We brought our kids in security. The Genpool of our nation is secured. Now we will join the men and will destroy the enemy everywhere in our country...in each city, in each village, in each forest, and in each field. For each child, for each woman, for each elderly man, for each destroyed house, we will shoot you like a rabid dog.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

The soldiers of the Ukrainian army also have a message on the occasion of Women's Day, a warning to the Russian troops:

"We are the women of Ukraine. (...) We have brought our children to safety. Our nation's gene pool is secured. Now we will join the men and we will destroy the enemy everywhere in our country - in every city, in in every village, in every forest and in every field. For every child, for every woman, for every old man, for every destroyed house, we will shoot you like a rabid dog."

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Shout out to you, Monty! - Will post elsewhere Today where relevant. Peace, Brother!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

The statement by Tadashi Yanai of Uniqlo about people in Russia needing clothes was highlighted on the US national TV news. It made Japan look stupid.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

That’s right @PeterNeil 9:51am, “salads! - Unselfish friends don’t penalize everyone else in the party when dining out, especially when so much good can come from patronizing such businesses like McDonald’s here, offering to continue to support furloughed workers during a crisis.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

OMG; this is REALLY serious.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Russia got rid of junk food.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Took them long enough. Obviously a moral judgement call based on losing profit!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

This actually doesn't do much except letting Russia boast their own local businesess. Less competitors.

Plus while the west move out, china businessmen move in. All it did in the end is to cause the companies that move out to suffer huge losses.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Who wants to eat Mc Crap anyway.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Ba Da Ba Ba Ba I'm Russian away from it !

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Don't think the impact is much in the short term.

Easy alternative, continue to pay employees, how much sourcing is actually within Russia, and franchisee likely gets some compensation.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

no big deal for russians to be honest.

No, it is a very big deal for the Russians. McDonald’s owns more than 80% of its 847 Russian restaurants, and sales in that country make up about 9% of total revenues.

So it is huge and it is going to hurt them quite significantly.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@factchecker

"Who wants to eat Mc Crap anyway."

One should not try to live on it but an occasional burger with fries is a tasty treat that is enjoyed by millions around the world.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

No, it is a very big deal for the Russians.

No, its is a very big deal for McDonald's Corporation and its Russian subsidiary.

Fixed it for you.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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