McDonald’s closes stores in Kazakhstan

American fast-food giant McDonald’s has closed its operations in Kazakhstan this month as the ongoing war in the Ukraine disrupts product supplies. 

McDonald’s franchises in the Central Asian country were unable to buy meat patties from Europe due to the recent price increases in both produce and transport.

Furthermore, due to the Western sanctions against Russia, McDonald’s in Kazakhstan were no longer able to procure meat patties from Russian suppliers either.

Sources revealed that obtaining meat from Europe or local suppliers at inflated costs would have resulted in the restaurant operating at a loss.

After just six years of trading, McDonald’s has consequently withdrawn its trademark golden arches from Kazakhstan.

Many Kazakh businesses have faced similar supply problems on the back of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions against Russia that followed. 

However, Kazakh government officials this week announced that McDonald’s successor in Russia, Vkusno & Tochka, has filed an application to register their trademarks in Kazakhstan.

Vkusno & Tochka is yet to make any formal comment or announcement.

Last May, McDonald’s closed all operations in Russia, due to the Ukraine war ‘humanitarian crisis,’ and instead agreed to sell the business infrastructure to Alexander Govor, who has been a McDonald's licensee in Russia since 2015.

Govor agreed to purchase the entire restaurant portfolio and operate them under a new brand, Vkusno & Tochka (which translates in English to: “Tasty and that’s it.”)

The twenty-five Belarusian McDonald’s franchises also reached the agreement to rebrand their stores under the same name last November.