Putin's Latest Target: More Than 200 Russian McDonald's

[Independent voter]

Is there anything the US imports from Russia?

putins-latest-target-more-than-200-russian-mcdonalds

Ronald McDonald appears to be caught in the economic crossfire between Moscow and Washington. More than 200 of McDonald’s restaurants in Russia—or roughly half the country’s total 440 locations—are now under government investigation, according to the company, and a regulator has already closed nine McDonald’s outlets in recent weeks.

The crackdown on one of the most visible U.S.-owned consumer brands in Russia is widely seen as retaliation for sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis. Health and safety regulation “is an instrument that’s often used” by the Kremlin to gain leverage in political disputes, says Nonna Crane, a lawyer with Chadbourne & Parke specializing in Russian business issues. For example, Russian health regulators in 2006 banned imports of wine and mineral water from Georgia amid deteriorating relations that led to a military conflict between the two countries.

McDonald’s (MCD) has been a hit with Russian consumers since 1990, when it opened what was then its biggest outlet in the world on Moscow’s Pushkin Square. The fast-food giant doesn’t disclose revenue by country, but market-research group Euromonitor estimates that McDonald’s Russia sales were $2.2 billion last year—or about 8 percent of its worldwide sales of $28 billion.


McDonald’s enjoyed good relations with the Kremlin as recently as last February, when the company was an official sponsor of the Sochi Olympic Games and built a wheelchair-accessible playground as a gift to local children. In August, however, Russia’s consumer-safety regulator closed the flagship Pushkin Square restaurant, along with several others, for alleged violations of sanitary rules.

In a statement released this weekend on its Russian website, McDonald’s says a court has “ordered the further temporary suspension of operations” at nine outlets, including Pushkin Square. “We disagree with the court’s decision and will appeal it.”

How far will the Kremlin go? If it wanted to close McDonald’s outlets en masse, there’s not much the U.S. company could do about it, says Crane of Chadbourne & Parke. The only avenue of appeal is the Russian court system, and prevailing there against the government would be “very, very difficult,” she says. On the other hand, a mass shutdown could jeopardize the jobs of some 37,000 people who work for the company in Russia, as well as Russian farmers and others who supply food to local outlets.

The trouble in Russia comes at a bad time for McDonald’s, which is expected to report disappointing third-quarter results later Monday. Analysts estimate that revenue fell 1.8 percent, while net income dropped 11 percent. The company also has been hit by a food-safety scare in China and by lagging sales in the U.S., where rising prices are driving away some budget-minded customers.

[Jester Joe]

I can't say I blame him, McDonald's is gross.

Seems like a terrible move though.

[mikeakanice]

If this story is indeed in retaliation towards the U.S and not because of actual sanitation issues than Russia would look pretty desperate.

[Neyze]

I have no sympathy after they took the mcdouble off the dollar menu. McDonalds can burn in hell.

[diddle]

Putin's pretty desperate if the best leverage he can pull out of his ass is denying his own people McDonald's. Thought he was smarter than this to be honest...

[Espe]

If this story is indeed in retaliation towards the U.S and not because of actual sanitation issues than Russia would look pretty desperate.

If...

lol, so cute

[Deleted]

Tit for tat.

[Reeve]

Oh no McDonalds is taking a hit, what a shame.

Cant say I'd mind if they were all shut down.

Where's your national pride? You should be defending that Scottish restaurant!

[Kujako]

A McRib on both your houses.

[Darkis]

Yet Burger King, Starbucks, Papa John's, Sbarro, Subway and countless others aren't targeted.

Wish they were though, all are fucking horrible, except Papa J.

[Kujako]

Yet Burger King, Starbucks, Papa John's, Sbarro, Subway and countless others aren't targeted.

Wish they were though, all are fucking horrible, except Papa J.

I consider PJs to be one of the worse due to how they treat their employees and their stance on providing insurance etc. But meh.

[diddle]

Yet Burger King, Starbucks, Papa John's, Sbarro, Subway and countless others aren't targeted.

Wish they were though, all are fucking horrible, except Papa J.

Did Papa John's pay you to say that? They are worse than all listed.

[Darkis]

I consider PJs to be one of the worse due to how they treat their employees and their stance on providing insurance etc. But meh.

Well, all fast food places are horrible places to work, and a chance to see an ethnic russian working there at a low level position is about 1 outta 100. Usually it's immigrants that fill those spots.

However, what i meant about PJ's, is that their stuff is edible at least, unlike the rest. And i despise Sturbucks for that fucking $7 mucho grande cockachino magnum, that tastes like shit and still fucking expensive. There's a tiny coffee place at my office building, that makes a $3 big latte, that blows SB out of the water.

Did Papa John's pay you to say that? They are worse than all listed.

Hah, i'd wish =) Tbh, i only order one kind of pizza there like once-twice a month, and they make it quite well, thus my preference.

[Kasierith]

I'm curious... is the general assumption that if anything happens in Russia, Putin was the one who did it? If some police officer in the middle of nowhere Siberia slapped a baby, would the general assumption be that Putin himself gave the order, and is beginning a mass genocide of younglings in order to keep younger generations from aging out his voter base?

That said, with McDonalds... the sanitary conditions of fast food restaurants in Russia aren't really up to par with areas like the US or Britain. Increased hostility towards American-stationed companies might have caused them to stop overlooking problems, but there were definitely problems to begin with.

[Darkis]

I'm curious... is the general assumption that if anything happens in Russia, Putin was the one who did it?

Well, my cat puked on my carpet today.

Again.

And that balding midget is gonna answer for that!

[Cyberowl]

I'm curious... is the general assumption that if anything happens in Russia, Putin was the one who did it? If some police officer in the middle of nowhere Siberia slapped a baby, would the general assumption be that Putin himself gave the order, and is beginning a mass genocide of younglings in order to keep younger generations from aging out his voter base?

That said, with McDonalds... the sanitary conditions of fast food restaurants in Russia aren't really up to par with areas like the US or Britain. Increased hostility towards American-stationed companies might have caused them to stop overlooking problems, but there were definitely problems to begin with.

Well, Putin just stands for the Russian government, which was always everything but shit, and he is kinda having a dictatoresque touch. But hey, everyone blames Obama for US issues and Merkel for German/EU issues, so there is that.

[truckboattruck]

just change the name to McFedors and there wont be a problem

[diddle]

I'm curious... is the general assumption that if anything happens in Russia, Putin was the one who did it? If some police officer in the middle of nowhere Siberia slapped a baby, would the general assumption be that Putin himself gave the order, and is beginning a mass genocide of younglings in order to keep younger generations from aging out his voter base

In a way isn't that beneficial though? People don't hate Russians, they hate Putin.

Not to mention a Russian submarine was most likely found trespassing in Swedish waters, which is pretty Putin-esque.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29680960

Honestly I like the man. Photo ops or not it's entertaining as hell.





Second one is supposedly him operating a helicopter to put out a wildfire. The man has good PR.

[Cyberowl]

In a way isn't that beneficial though? People don't hate Russians, they hate Putin.

Russian people are good, even most Russophobes don't hate Russians, but their governments since... well, ever.

[Kasierith]

In a way isn't that beneficial though? People don't hate Russians, they hate Putin.

Not to mention a Russian submarine was most likely found trespassing in Swedish waters.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29680960

Because a lot of the problems come from the legislators, and from a voter base that makes the Baptist Church look open and friendly to all groups and beliefs (not as bad as WBC, though). For example, those who have studied Putin's stances and such over a long time have no reason to believe that he even cares about homosexual rights at all, either in protecting or in removing them. The push for that came from a large soviet-era constituency. The current Russian political stance was largely born out of large-scale anger over what were viewed as massive concessions to the US made in the previous presidency, and a resulting desire to make the leadership look strong even though the country was not ready for it and was still recovering from the decay and collapse of the USSR and the subsequent dismantling of the country by the oligarchs.

In other words, it obfuscates a political atmosphere that is highly complex and polarized, something that results in room for hostility and misunderstandings of why Russia does what it does. It's an "easier" way to look at things... but it's also a more shallow, ignorant way to view the world.