A city spokeswoman told Reuters that Moscow has increased the amount of state support available for starting a fast-food chain in the city to 5 million roubles ($63,000), in the hopes of filling the void left by multinational fast-food firms that have halted operations.
Under pressure from customers and governments to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine, Western corporations ranging from McDonald’s and Starbucks to Deutsche Bank and Shell have backed away from Russia.
Russia refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a special operation,’ claiming that they are not intended to take territory but rather to weaken Ukraine’s military capabilities and catch those it considers to be dangerous nationalists.
The overall funds in the support program have also been quadrupled to 1 billion roubles, according to Moscow municipal authorities, who added that 17 enterprises, including Russian pancake company Teremok, have requested the money for projects worth 12.7 million roubles throughout the city.
Miratorg, Russia’s largest beef producer that also operates its own burger restaurants, has also made a finance request, hoping to be able to establish 30 or more new locations in addition to the 15 planned for this year, according to a spokeswoman for the company.