Fast-food chains find breaking up with Russia is hard to do

Some fast food chains are struggling to disassociate their Russian brands amid intense public pressure on U.S. companies to withdraw from the country for their attack on Ukraine.

Restaurant Brands International (RBI) of Canada, owner of Burger King, has said it wants to close all 800 restaurants it operates in Russia. But the company’s local partner, Russian businessman Alexander Kolobov, has refused to comply, while getting out of the trade deals set up 10 years ago is legally complicated, the RBI said.

“Would we like to suspend all Burger King operations in Russia immediately? Yes. Can we enforce a suspension of operations today? No. But we want to be transparent with our actions and explain the steps we have taken to stand by the international community. “Business community in response to Russia ‘s attack on Ukraine and its people,” David Shear, RBI’ s international chairman, said in a press release this week.

RBI owns 15% of the Russian company Burger King, and the rest is controlled by Kolobov-led investors. RBI has suspended corporate support for the Russian market, including operations, marketing and supply chain support, and has begun the process of leaving its Russian partnerships. The company has also suspended new investments in Russia and is redirecting Russian profits to the United Nations refugee agency, according to the company.

Pope John’s has also suspended its corporate operations in Russia, but nearly 200 of its restaurants there continue to sell pizza, according to the New York Times. All outlets are owned by a majority of Russian citizens through a franchise agreement controlled by Christopher Wynne, an American who owns a house in Moscow.

“The vast majority of Russians are very clear and understand the dark gravity of the situation in which they find themselves,” Wynne told the newspaper. “And at the end of the day, they appreciate a good pizza.”

Dunkin Donuts has 21 franchised and owned stores in Russia, where the brand is based in Canton, Massachusetts. returned in 2010 after an 11-year absence. The company recently told Yahoo Finance that it had stopped all “current development and investment” in Russia, but noted that it could not legally close independently operated franchises.

Dunkin Donuts is on the list of 84 companies that are shrinking in Russia, according to a list of candidates for Yale University management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Describing these moves largely as showcases, companies “postponed unspecified future investments or suspended advertising while continuing substantive business operations,” Sonnenfeld said in a co-authored comment posted by Fortune.

The fast-food giant Subway, which is among the 27 companies described by Sonnenfeld as profound and challenging demands to leave Russia, is also taking a freer approach, encouraging boycott calls on social media.

The sandwich maker said it would redirect the profits from its Russian operations to humanitarian efforts, but that the country’s approximately 450 Subway outlets are independently owned and controlled by local franchisees.

“We do not directly control these independent franchisees and their restaurants, and we have a limited view of their day-to-day operations,” Subway said in a statement on Wednesday.

McDonald’s is getting easier to get out of Russia. The Golden Bows moved in last week it temporarily closes its 850 restaurants in the country. The Chicago-based company owns 84% ​​of McDonald’s restaurants in Russia, making it easy to close its doors.

Starbucks has also frozen business in Russia and stopped shipping its products. The coffee chain said its licensed partner agreed to stop operations at 130 Starbucks stores in Russia and continue to pay about 2,000 workers.