Kremlin swings at a US icon (McDonalds) – but hits a Russian business

[pampango]

Shutting down three McDonald's restaurants might seem a symbolic blow to the US. But McDonald's Russia is a successful Russian-owned and -operated company.

Three McDonald's outlets, including the iconic first and largest one on Moscow's Pushkin Square, have been "temporarily" shut down by Russia's main consumer inspection agency in an unprecedented step that critics call a salvo in the escalating sanctions war between Russia and the West.

But if the sudden campaign really is a political ploy to smite a high-profile symbol of the US, Russia may be shooting itself in the foot – by punishing a successful Russian company with no US significant ties.

According to public sources and company officials, McDonald's Russia is a stand-alone, Russian-registered corporate entity that is only nominally part of McDonald's global network. Founded by Canadian entrepreneur George Cohon, who spent decades trying to convince Soviet authorities they needed McDonald's in the USSR, the company has since evolved into one of the biggest success stories on the Russian business landscape.

"We have 39,000 employees, all of whom are Russian. Not a single expat works here," says Oxana Beloychuk, a spokesperson for McDonald's Russia. The company has always reinvested its profits domestically ...

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0821/Kremlin-swings-at-a-US-icon-but-hits-a-Russian-business

The PR value of shutting down some McDonald's is probably more important to the Russian government than is the fact that it really only hurts Russians.

[4now]

1. Brilliant move Putin

That will teach Obama a lesson.