Belarussians will no longer be able to buy a Big Mac in their home country after McDonald’s finalised its withdrawal from the nation, due to take place on Tuesday 22 November.
McDonalds’ was one of many Western brands, joined by the likes of Coca-Cola, H&M, Ikea, to leave Russia after the country’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. With Belarus being a close ally to Russia, and permitting the use of their territory to launch attacks on Ukraine by Russian troops, RFI reports that McDonald’s will now also be withdrawing from the country.
Like in Russia, the company’s branches in Belarus will be taken over by the chain “Vkusno i tochka”.
The Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has mocked the decision of McDonalds to leave the country. In comments made to employees of the agri-food sector, he said that “some, especially young people, began to moan: ‘Ah! McDonald’s is leaving”. He said that from his perspective he felt “Thank God, let them go”. He went on to add that “we ourselves have to do what this McDonald’s was doing, and even do it better. We also know how to cut a loaf in half and stuff a piece of meat, first and salad inside”.
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