McDonald’s reopens some restaurants in Ukraine for delivery

McDonald’s has reopened three of its restaurants in Kyiv, Ukraine, for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in late February.

The restaurants opened on Tuesday for delivery only.

McDonald’s will open seven more restaurants later this month, and dining and drive-thru services are expected to resume in October, according to Alesya Mudzyri, McDonald’s head of corporate communications in Ukraine.

“Restaurants will be open from 9 am to 9 pm and will close during the air raid alarm to allow staff and customers to evacuate to the nearest shelter,” Mudzyri said on Facebook.

“At the same time, the team quickly issues orders that have already been paid for while interrupting production processes and shutting down equipment before closing.”

In August, the company announced a “formulated plan” to reopen some restaurants in the capital and western Ukraine.

McDonald’s has almost 110 restaurants in Ukraine. The chain continued to pay its employees in the country despite the closures.

McDonald’s was one of several global companies that stopped operations in Ukraine due to the conflict.

In a note released in August, when the chain announced it would begin opening in Ukraine, letter, Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president for international markets, said the decision was made after discussions with Ukrainian officials, security experts and vendors.

Pomroy further noted that other businesses have also reopened in Kiev and western Ukraine.

The war prompted McDonald’s to permanently close its Russian restaurants, which had their operations on hold in March.

In May, the company said it would sell its restaurants in Russia, saying at the time that the “humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the precipitous unpredictable operating environment led McDonald’s to conclude that continued ownership of the Russian business is no longer sustainable.” , nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values”. The company has no plans to re-enter that market.

The hundreds of Russian stores were sold to a local franchise operator, who began reopening them under a new name, “Vkusno & Tochka”, which in English means “tasty and ready”, along with a new brand.