{{US fast-food giant McDonald’s said on Friday that it had closed its restaurants in Crimea, prompting fears of a backlash as a prominent Moscow politician called for all the chain’s Russian outlets to be shut down.}}
However, in a Press statement, McDonald’s said the decision was strictly based on business and that it hoped to reopen the restaurants soon.
“Like many other multinational companies, McDonald’s is currently evaluating potential business and regulatory implications which may result from the evolving situation in Crimea,” the statement read. “We believe it is prudent and responsible to sort through these details thoroughly.
Additionally, due to the suspension of necessary financial and banking services, we have no option but to close our three restaurants in Crimea. It is important to note that this is strictly a business decision which has nothing to do with politics.”
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party, or LDPR, said in televised comments that he would welcome the closure of McDonald’s restaurants throughout Russia.
“I will give an order to the LDPR local branches to place pickets outside all of McDonald’s restaurants,” he said.
His provocative statements are aimed mostly at his core support base of nationalist voters and do not represent official policy.
Other pro-Kremlin lawmakers quickly indicated the government has no intention of cracking down on McDonald’s. Sergei Zheleznyak, a deputy speaker of the lower house and a leading member of the main Kremlin party, United Russia, was quoted by the “Moskovsky Komsomolets” newspaper as saying that there is no plan to shut down McDonald’s.
The company has more than 400 restaurants in Russia. The Crimean outlets are not franchises but owned and operated by McDonald’s itself.
Its move to temporarily close restaurants in Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta is likely to be seen as emblematic of the rift in Western-Russian relations, now at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
{france24}
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