Watchdog has shut down four of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) restaurants in Russia. Even though sanitary violations were cited as reasons for this action, according to critics this was an outcome of Russia’s exceedingly tense relationship with the US and a reaction to imposition of sanctions.
As per a statement by Raspotrebnadzor Watchdog, these restaurants had been found guilty of multiple sanitary violations as a result of which the ban was imposed. The four banned restaurants also included the first ever McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) joint to have opened in Russia.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is currently refraining from commenting on the situation and the only reaction has been a statement from its Russian spokesman, Sveta Polyakova, which says –
“We are closely studying the subject of the documents to define what should be done to re-open the restaurants as soon as possible”.
When a watchdog Raspotrebnadzor source was asked to comment on whether it was a political move, he declined the allegation and quoted only sanitary violations as the reason. According to the fast-food giant, calorie count and nutritional value of the food is determined as per the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences guidelines.
With 400 restaurants located across 112 cities, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is one of the most famous fast food chains in Russia wherein it is one of the very few countries those are bereft of local franchisees. In the event, McDonald’s itself is responsible for running its joints.
Shutting down a foreign restaurant is not a new event in Russia as it is known for banning foods that are imported from countries which do not approve of its policies. That is why most of the people are interpreting it as a political move rather than a “sanitary violation”. There was a flurry of tweets on Twitter expressing different opinions, most of which were scornful – a user called McDonald’s the Sochi Olympics’ official restaurant.
An interesting tweet came from Evgeny Feldman, a famous photojournalist which stated –
“I think crazy patriots would do better to fight in Donetsk rather than with McDonald’s. If you must fight with something edible, you can fight with vodka”.
All through Wednesday’s market hours till 3:11 pm, shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) dipped down by 0.3% after having opened at $94.45. The stock’s range over 52 weeks has fluctuated between 92.22 and 103.78 with an Inst. Ownership of 65% and its market cap is 92.82 B.
This article has been written by Myra Rahmani, edited by Vinita Basu.
