McDonald’s set to open first location in Siberia
Employees serve clients in a McDonald's restaurant on Pushkin square in Moscow on February 1, 2010. — AFP pic MOSCOW, Sept 4 — Russia is set to be the site of a turf war between Western fast food chains, with news that McDonald’s plans to open the first of 10 outposts in Siberia.
According to English-language site The Voice of Russia, the largest fast food chain in the world is about to break ground on its first restaurant in the biggest city in Central Siberia, Krasnoyarsk, at a price tag of $130 million rubles (RM13 million).
The restaurant will have a drive-thru service, along with separate facilities for children and a banquet hall.
The arrival of the Golden Arches is poised to up the ante and present a major challenge to Subway and KFC, the only two global fast food chains operating in Siberia.
Recently, KFC announced plans to open 300 outlets in Russia by 2015. That means doubling its presence in the country and building 30 to 40 restaurants a year.
According to The Voice of Russia, there are currently 324 McDonald’s locations in non-Siberian Western Russia.
Other West Siberian sites which are being eyed as possible McDonald’s locations include Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Tomsk and Novokuznetsk. — AFP-Relaxnews
Employees serve clients in a McDonald's restaurant on Pushkin square in Moscow on February 1, 2010. — AFP pic
