Burger King Looks To Rule In Crimea After McDonald's Abdicates
One week after McDonald's announced it was temporarily closing its three restaurants in Crimea, Burger King Russia has said it plans to open shops on the disputed peninsula.
Dmitry Medoviy, CEO of the Russian branch of the fast-food empire, tells ITAR-TASS that Burger King is "planning to introduce our services in Crimea, though, I can neither tell you when exactly it will happen, nor how many restaurants there will be."
According to The Moscow Times:
"Burger King operates about 200 restaurants in Russia. The brand has worked under franchise since 2010, when the first outlet opened in a Moscow shopping mall. In 2012, Russia's second-largest bank, state-owned VTB, paid $50 million for a 47 percent stake in Burger King Russia, the company that now operates the franchise. In 2013, VTB sold 12 percent of the company to a financial investor, reducing its stake to 36.6 percent, Forbes.ru reported."