International Committee of the Red Cross operational director Dominik Stillhart provides insight into the Russia-Ukraine war.
A Russian fast-food franchise is positioning itself to become the next McDonald’s after the Chicago-based company suspended operations in the country over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, the firm filed a patent application to trademark its logo, which bears a striking resemblance to the infamous Golden Arches.
An application to patent a suspiciously familiar new logo. (new.fips.ru/registers)
The fast-food chain Uncle Vanya’s new logo shows the McDonald’s “M” repurposed to form a Cyrillic “B,” which corresponds to the “V” in Vanya. Uncle Vanya is an 1898 play by Russian author Anton Chekhov.
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The application appeared online after Moscow removed protection for patent holders who were registered in “unfriendly” countries – a move that came in response to a mass exodus of companies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
FILE: People enter a McDonald’s restaurant in Moscow, Russia April 24, 2018. (Tatyana Makeyeva)
McDonald’s, following other companies’ lead, announced last week it was suspending operations at nearly 850 Russian locations.
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The company said in a statement that “at this juncture, it’s impossible to predict when we might be able to reopen our restaurants in Russia.” But it is continuing to pay its 62,500 Russian employees and expects the closure to cost around $50 million per month.
Russians wait in line outside a McDonald’s fast food restaurant in Moscow in 1991. (AP)
McDonald’s presence in Russia once symbolized the powerful triumph of the west after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It opened its first location in downtown Moscow, becoming the first American fast-food restaurant to enter the Soviet Union.
Its opening day was a sensation, with thousands lining up to enter the 700-seat restaurant. At the end of the day, the restaurant’s 27 cash registers had rung up 30,000 meals.
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Fox Business has reached out to McDonald’s for comment but did not hear back before publication.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
