McDonald’s is being given unfair benefits by the Russian authorities, and it should be stopped, says the founder and owner of a Russian fast-food chain Teremok, which sells blini - thin, fried pancakes with cheese, ham, caviar or other fillings.
The American fast-food giant is renting two locations in the center of Moscow for just $165 per square meter a year, according to Teremok CEO Mikhail Goncharov. McDonald’s is saving $6 million per year only in these two restaurants, and there are hundreds of them in Russia, Goncharov wrote in a Facebook post.
“McDonald’s is so philanthropical in Russia with this charity clown. Give me a $6 million benefit, I would give money to charity, too,” Goncharov said.
Teremok is one of the largest Russian fast-food chains with more about 300 restaurants in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, and other cities. It also has two restaurants in New York. The first location was opened in 1999 by Goncharov and his partners with $30,000 of savings and a $60,000 loan.
"This is a beastly policy of killing and strangling Russian businesses. And I have to compete with them. Not only is Russian business being snubbed, but they also give preferences to Western networks. We have been forced to switch to white plastic plates and have to listen to our customers about bad service despite high prices. We cook from fresh products, and these McDonald’s bas***ds serve deep-fried food," he added.
According to Goncharov, despite deteriorating relations between Russia and the US since 2014, McDonald’s has managed to open more restaurants in Russia in the last three years than in the previous 20 years.
In October, Goncharov said Teremok was experiencing problems and could close in one to two years.