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McDonald's in talks with several companies to transfer business in Russia — source

The source said that the quality of food in restaurants under the new brand will be maintained

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. McDonald's Corporation is negotiating the transfer of its business in Russia with several Russian companies, a source at McDonald's told TASS on Monday.

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McDonald's initiates selling its business in Russia

"There is a pool of Russian candidates. Negotiations are underway with all of them. This was one of the requests of the Russian authorities - that a Russian businessman becomes the new owner," the agency's source said.

The source said that the quality of food in restaurants under the new brand will be maintained, and added, "The first restaurants under the new brand will open in June".

According to the company’s statement published on Monday on PR Newswire website, "After more than 30 years of operations in the country, McDonald's Corporation announced it will exit the Russian market and has initiated a process to sell its Russian business. This follows McDonald's announcement on March 8, 2022, that it had temporarily closed restaurants in Russia and paused operations in the market".

A source in the company told TASS earlier, "McDonald's will return to Russia under a new brand in June, keeping the restaurant chain and the menu, as well as jobs. More than 90% of suppliers are Russian, work with them will continue. In fact, only the name will change".

On March 8, McDonald's announced that it would temporarily close all its restaurants in Russia and suspend all operations in the Russian market due to events around Ukraine.

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