Russia’s former McDonald’s reopen with new name
A new era for Russia's fast-food and economic scene dawned on Sunday as McDonald's restaurants flung open their doors in Moscow under new Russian ownership and with the new name "Vkusno & tochka," which translates as "Tasty and that's it.”
Alexander Govor, the new owner of the chain, attended a ribbon cutting ceremony at what was once McDonald's flagship restaurant in central Moscow, before the first customers were granted entry, met with cheering and applause from restaurant staff.
Scores of people lined outside the flagship Moscow restaurant, which is among 15 rebranded outlets that will initially open in and around the capital on Sunday.
The queue was significantly smaller than the thousands of people who thronged to the original McDonald's opening there in 1990 during the Soviet era.
Oleg Paroev, chief executive of Vkusno & tochka, said the company was planning to reopen 200 restaurants in Russia by the end of June and all 850 by the end of the summer.
The chain will keep its old McDonald's interior but will expunge any references to its former name, said Paroev, who was appointed Russia McDonald's CEO weeks before Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
McDonald's closed its restaurants in Russia on March 14 and said in mid-May it decided to leave the market.
-ABC News’ Rashid Haddou