Russian billionaire businessman Aleksandr Govor is expanding his empire.
After buying the nation’s 850 Mcdonald’s outlets, he also has a burger arm. That is a massive jump on the 25 former Mcdonald’s franchises he ran across Siberia starting in 2015, and his interests are not limited to fast food.
Mcdonald’s has been very popular in Russia since the early 90s, but it left the country following Ukraine’s February invasion. Mcdonald’s said, however, that it would keep the brand, meaning that its former Russian outlets would have to adopt new names. After three decades, Mcdonald’s restaurants are closing their doors in Russia, marking the end of an era in which there were close relations between Moscow and the West.
McDonald’s former Russian boss, Oleh Paroev, is running the rebranded operation for Mr Govor. Before his acquisition, Mr Paroev worked at Mcdonald’s for seven years. He said he wants to open 200 outlets again by the end of this month. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Mr Govor agreed to keep Mcdonald’s 62,000 Russian employees on an equivalent contract for a minimum period of two years.