Fears as Russia widens McDonald’s probe
Print Edition
RUSSIA said yesterday that it was investigating dozens of McDonald’s restaurants, in what many businessmen said was retaliation for Western sanctions over Ukraine and that they fear could spread to other symbols of Western capitalism.
Russia’s food safety watchdog said it was looking at possible breaches of sanitary rules at McDonald’s, but many in the business community said it was a reflection of the deterioration in relations between Russia and the West over Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country are fighting against government forces.
“Obviously, it’s driven by the political issues surrounding Ukraine,” said Alexis Rodzianko, President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. “The question on my mind is: Is this going to be a knock on the door, or is this going to be the beginning of a campaign?”
Russia this month slapped bans on Western food imports after Washington and Brussels imposed economic sanctions in response to Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and what they said its backing of the separatists.
McDonald’s, which opened its first store in Russia in the dying days of the Soviet Union in 1990, is a very visible symbol of American capitalism in Russia, where it has 438 branches.
The food safety watchdog ordered the closure of four of its restaurants in Moscow on Wednesday, including that first Russian branch — the busiest in the firm’s global network.
The watchdog said yesterday that it was starting unscheduled checks in several Russian regions, including Sverdlovsk and Tatarstan in the Urals, the central Voronezh region and the region around the capital.
“We’re aware of what is going on. We’ve always been ... open to any checks,” a McDonald’s Russia spokeswoman said.
No other prominent Western brand has reported coming under extra scrutiny from the Russian authorities, though there were Russian media reports that Jack Daniels was being investigated. The whiskey producer said it would challenge any accusations about quality.
Amrest, the Warsaw-listed holder of the Russian franchises for several iconic US brands — Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King — said last week it had experienced no problems.
French bank Societe Generale published yesterday a note saying companies generating most revenues in Russia — and therefore most exposed to political risks — were BP, British American Tobacco, BASF, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Alstom and E.ON.
Outside the shuttered restaurant on Moscow’s Pushkin Square yesterday, the closure stirred patriotic sentiment among some people.
“McDonald’s is such a symbol of everything Western. I think this is a good symbolic step that shows that we have some teeth,” said a passerby who gave his name as Ivan.
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