Big Mac still sold in Russia despite McDonald’s departure from the country | Economy

McDonald’s sold most of its 850 restaurants in Russia to one of its local licensees in May. Some of them reopened on Sunday under the new name Vkusno & tochka, or “Delicious and that’s it,” offering a new menu without the iconic sandwich.

But other franchisees have kept their establishments open, selling authentic McDonald’s meals at McDonald’s-branded restaurants virtually visible.

The lingering presence of fast food outlets underscores the challenges Western companies will face in completely extricating themselves from the Russian market because of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

The McDonald’s name and logo was covered in transparent white fabric at train stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Big Mac burger was available, although it was renamed Bolshoi Burger or Big Burger.

The fast food chain had been in the country for over 30 years and was one of the first windows that Russia, still a Soviet Union, had on the western world. The first McDonald’s in the country opened shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall and was a powerful symbol of the easing of tensions from the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, which would collapse in 1991.