McDonald’s was among the American chains that closed their operations in Russia in the midst of the war with Ukraine. The fast-food chain, which operated in Russia for 30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, sold its operations in Russia to Alexander Govor, who ran 25 McDonald’s restaurants in Siberia. The restaurants that have been renovated are called Vkusno i tochka, which translates to “Delicious and finished”, according to Reuters. In a YouTube video from the Russian channel Redaktsia, a reporter met with the restaurant’s owner, Alexander Sysoev, to try Vkusno i tochka. (Redaktsia, meaning “editorial office” in Russian, was created by Alexey Pivovarov, a television presenter who is also the editor-in-chief of RTVI, a private television network.) Upon entering, the Redakcia reporter says that the smell inside the restaurant does not resemble the traditional smell of a McDonald’s. At a table with younger women, the reporter asks what the food is like and if it has changed since McDonald’s. One of them tells the reporter that the chicken tastes better, but that may be because he had not eaten it for about three months. The journalist, who accidentally asks Sisoev if this is his first time eating at McDonald’s, instead of calling it Vkusno i tochka, says the food packaging is different from the original packaging. The reporter has a “grande” burger, renamed the McDonald’s royal cheeseburger, as well as nuggets and french fries. When the reporter and Sysoev go for the sweet and sour sauce, they realize that the McDonald’s logo has been marked with a black marker. A Reuters report said the logo was also marked on other sauce packs. Sisoev tells the reporter that the potatoes “are the same, at least visually”. Andrea Palasciano visited Vkusno i tochka for Insider and said the potatoes were “a little sadder, less salty and crunchy” than she expected. Vladislav Solomatov, head of quality control of the restaurant, says that potatoes for potatoes are grown in Russia and processed in the Lipetsk region. Vkusno i tochka CEO Oleg Paroev says the restaurant supplies most of its products from Russian suppliers, but some ingredients come from other countries. He said a lot of beef is imported from other countries, such as Uruguay and Paraguay, because Russia does not have enough beef. The buns, which were made with lecithin starch imported from the USA, are also different. Paroev says that the buns in Vkusno i tochka are made from flour and water and do not have the same crispness without the lecithin starch. When the journalist and Sysoev try the cola, the journalist says that others told her that it has a “strange taste”. Sysoev says it is less carbonated and similar to Coke Zero, the sugar-free version of Coca-Cola. Alina Didkovskaya, who runs McDonald’s Telegram, said Coca-Cola would not be available in Russia for long and even that restaurants depended on leftovers before finding an alternative. Vkusno i tochka says it plans to reopen another 200 restaurants by the end of June. McDonald’s used to have 850 restaurants across Russia. The restaurant chain also has the ability to repurchase its Russian restaurants within 15 years. Translations by Nikita Angarski.
