Burger King Decides To Halt Support For Its Russian Locations

The latest fast-food chain to pull support from its businesses in Russia is Burger King. This fast-food chain apparently resisted the external pressure for the longest. Mcdonald’s and a few other brands announced this decision earlier this week. Restaurant Brands International that is the owner of Burger Chain announced the decision on Thursday.

RBI’s Effort To Help Ukrainian Refugees

(RBI) “has suspended all of its corporate support for the Russian market, including operations, marketing, and supply chain”. In addition to this, the company also made a decision to stop investment and expansion in the region. Restaurant Brands International, however, cannot directly pull the plug on the 800 Burger King Restaurants operating in Russia. That is because according to the company, these locations are “fully franchised and managed by a local master franchisee”. Therefore, the Burger King situation is a bit different from McDonald’s and other franchises that completely paused their business in the region. Burger King announced that it is dedicated to “redirecting any profits from franchised operations to humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.”

Restaurant Brands International says in a statement “BK Russia is a standalone business owned and operated by our franchisees in the country”. The company further admits “We have long-standing legal agreements that are not easily changeable.” RBI also owns other brands like Popeyes, Tim Hortons, and Firehouse Subs but these chains do not operate in Russia.

“Mass Corporate Exodus”

In addition to the major brands, several other restaurants have also decided to cut ties with Russia in support of Ukraine. The “long-standing legal agreements” are undoubtedly making this decision a little complicated for Burger King. However, Burger King’s aim to use the profits for “humanitarian aid” might be able to make a difference. Jeffery Sonnenfeld and his team at Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute developed a running list. The list mentions the companies that remain operating in Russia and the ones that have ended business in the country. According to Sonnenfeld’s knowledge, hundreds of companies have withdrawn from Russia in a “mass corporate exodus.”