A McDonald’s restaurant reopened on Friday in the port city of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, located less than 70 km from the front line.
Initially, the reopening was set for 2023, but plans changed after Russia destroyed the nearby Kahovka dam, plunging the southern city into a devastating water crisis, as reported by Kyiv Independent.
With dirty water flowing through taps and limited food supplies throughout the city, the McDonald's restaurant couldn't resume operations. However, the new water infrastructure was completed last year, including a pipeline connecting the city to another reservoir, and the restaurant reopened today.
The event kicked off with a race where the fastest participants could place their orders first.
The only issue: for now, those craving an early morning McMuffin will have to wait two weeks for the breakfast menu to be back on offer, as noted by the source.
"For us, this is not just the opening of a restaurant - it is the return of business, jobs, and a sense of normalcy for the city," said Iulia Badritdinova, McDonald's General Manager in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, in a company press release.
The reopening of McDonald's restaurants - the first American fast-food chain to enter Ukraine in the '90s - is always welcomed with great joy after Russia's large-scale invasion forced the company to suspend operations nationwide, as noted by the cited publication.
By the summer of 2022, the American company began reopening restaurants where it was safe to do so. Residents of Kiev were able to enjoy Big Mac again in September 2022, but in frontline cities like Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv, they remain closed.
Some locations have been destroyed by Russia's attacks, such as the one in Kherson, devastated by war, or damaged, including the country's oldest restaurant located near Lukianivska metro station in Kiev.
However, the company announced 10 new locations in Ukraine last year, mostly in western regions, and currently operates 125 restaurants nationwide - more than the pre-war figure. This means new job opportunities - with 100 positions in Mykolaiv alone - and more revenue for the war-torn country's budget.
The fast-food giant is considered in Ukraine an example of transparent business practices, with an $80 million contribution to the budget by 2025, placing it among the largest taxpayers in Ukraine.
"Even in the fifth year of Russia's large-scale illegal war in Ukraine, American companies continue to bet on Ukraine's future. Now we look to Washington to follow the example set by the private sector - to believe in Ukraine as deeply as our businesses do," said Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, to Kyiv Independent.
T.D.