McDonald’s announced Thursday that it will reopen some of its restaurants in kyiv and areas of western Ukraine, a country where it closed all its establishments in February as a result of the Russian invasion.
The company, which did not offer specific dates, said that “over the next few months” it will begin to work with suppliers to obtain the necessary products and to prepare the restaurants to receive diners again.
According to McDonald’s, the company’s own employees in Ukraine are the ones who have requested the reopening, also supported by the Ukrainian authorities, who consider that it will help revive the economy and restore a certain normality.
“After extensive consultations and discussions with Ukrainian officials, vendors and security specialists, and considering our employees’ request to return to work, we have decided to institute a phased plan to reopen some restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine, where other businesses have safely reopened,” Paul Pomroy, senior vice president of International Markets, said in a statement.
For now, it is unknown how many restaurants will reopen out of the more than 100 that McDonald’s had in Ukraine before the war.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, the multinational has continued to pay the salaries of more than 10,000 employees in the country while studying the possibilities of reopening, according to Pomroy.
As a result of the war, the company decided to close its restaurants in Russia and subsequently completely abandon that country, in which it had been operating for three decades.
In May, McDonald’s announced the sale of its entire business in the country to businessman and franchise partner Alexandr Govor, who reopened the chain’s stores under the name Vkusno and Tochka (Tasty and period).