Fast-food giant says the humanitarian crisis caused by the Ukraine war is forcing its hand.
McDonald’s said Monday that it’s started the process of selling its Russian business, which includes 850 restaurants that employ 62,000 people, making it the latest major Western corporation to exit Russia since it. The fast-food giant pointed to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, saying holding onto its business in Russia “is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values.”
The Chicago-based company announced in early March that it was but would continue to pay employees. On Monday, it said it would seek to have a Russian buyer hire those workers and pay them until the sale closes. It didn’t identify a prospective buyer. CEO Chris Kempczinski said the “dedication and loyalty to McDonald’s” of employees and hundreds of Russian suppliers made it a difficult decision to leave.
“However, we have a commitment to our global community and must remain steadfast in our values”, Kempczinski said in a statement, “and our commitment to our values means that we can no longer keep the arches shining there.
