A Russian man filled his McDonald’s refrigerator while others sell £250 hamburgers after the restaurant said it would close its 850 locations across Russia in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s devastating invasion of Ukraine.
In a photo posted on the discussion site Reddit, the desperate man’s refrigerator is chock-full of at least 50 McDonald’s hamburgers, with little room left for other groceries.
The resident’s addiction to his favorite fast food came after McDonald’s across Russia was inundated with customers desperate for the latest Big Mac.
The caption under the photo read: “McDonald’s in Russia is closed forever, here is my friend’s stash.”
In a photo posted on the discussion site Reddit, the desperate Russian’s refrigerator is chock-full of at least 50 McDonald’s hamburgers, with little room left for other groceries.
After the news that McDonald’s will close its restaurants across Russia, many people have decided to cash in and sell Big Macs for up to £250.
Reacting to the post, some people said it would be a “good business opportunity” if he tried to sell burgers, while others jokingly wondered why he was going to stash McDonald’s food.
One person wrote, “So you’re saying this is a safe, long-term, risk-free investment?”
Another said: “You could probably leave it on the shelf and it would still be good for a few months.”
A third wrote, “If it’s not for personal consumption, it’s certainly a good business opportunity to sell overpriced, stale burgers.”
A fourth joked, “Did you eat yesterday’s McDonald’s burger? They are… not very good.
After the news that McDonald’s will close its restaurants throughout Russia, many people have decided to cash in and sell Big Macs at outrageous prices.
In posts on Russian classifieds site Avito, people tried to flog entire bags of McDonald’s food, while others tried to make a profit by simply selling pots of sauces.
One eager man priced the Big Mac at £250 and another attempted to sell three McDonald’s merchandise packages for £639.
Another Russian listed McDonald’s food, including a double big mac, a double royal, two large chips, 18 McNuggets and mozzarella dippers, for a staggering £255, claiming the food was “still warm” in the ad.
Posts on Russian classifieds site Avito showed people trying to flog entire bags of McDonald’s food, while others were trying to make a profit by simply selling sauces.
In one of the posts on Avito, it was written that three packages of McDonald’s food are for sale at an incredible price of 639 pounds.
Competitive sales of McDonald’s came after McDonald’s said it would close its 850 outlets in Russia as Western companies continue to withdraw from the country.
Meanwhile, another ambitious Russian attempted to whip pots of McDonald’s sauces, including the popular cheese sauce, for almost £40.
One vendor tried to cash in on the closing by selling McDonald’s nuggets for £159, while another tried to sell 10 McChicken burgers and nine cheeseburgers for a staggering £191.
Competitive sales kicked off after McDonald’s said it would close its 850 locations in Russia as Western companies continue to withdraw from the country following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which sparked outrage around the world.
On Tuesday evening, Moscow’s McDonald’s was overflowing with customers desperately trying to get their last Big Mac.
Hundreds of cars lined up in the snow outside the fast food place, with one witness saying the line stretched for nearly “half a mile.”
It’s getting harder for Russians to get their hands on Western goods as new sanctions hit the country’s economy.
As the bombs continued to fall on Ukraine, video of the lineup showed dozens of cars waiting under McDonald’s iconic glowing yellow “M” signifying the people of Russia don’t like harsh sanctions.
As the camera panned, a line of passing cars could be seen curving around the roundabout, under the overpass, and receding into the distance.
The American company directly owns and operates most of its establishments in Russia, where it has had a cult following since opening a restaurant in Moscow in 1990, marking the end of the Cold War.
McDonald’s like this one in Moscow, as well as throughout Russia and Ukraine, make up nine percent of McDonald’s annual revenue. Now they are closing
When the chain first opened, long queues of Russians were seen outside McDonald’s restaurants wanting to try Western fast food.
The company said it would continue to pay its 62,000 employees there “who have poured their heart and soul into our McDonald’s brand.”
In an open letter to McDonald’s employees, President and CEO Chris Kempkinski said closing these stores for now is the right decision.
“Our values mean we cannot ignore the unnecessary human suffering going on in Ukraine,” Kempczynski said, adding that it is impossible to know when the company will be able to reopen its stores in Russia.
“The situation for a global brand like ours is extremely complex and there are many considerations,” Kempczynski wrote in the letter.
McDonald’s was not the first company to be flooded with Russian customers after announcing the closure of business in the country.
Last week, shoppers flooded IKEA stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as Siberian outlets in Omsk and Novosibirsk, which had already closed to buy something at the last minute.
For example, McDonald’s works with hundreds of Russian suppliers and serves millions of customers every day.
McDonald’s has also temporarily closed 108 restaurants in Ukraine and continues to pay those employees.
In an open letter to McDonald’s employees, President and CEO Chris Kempkinski said closing these stores for now is the right decision.
McDonald’s could take a big financial hit from the closure. In recent regulatory filings, the Chicago-headquartered company said its restaurants in Russia and Ukraine generate 9 percent of its annual revenue, or about $2 billion.
Unlike other major franchise-owned fast food brands in Russia, including KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Burger King, McDonald’s owns 84 percent of its locations in Russia.
McDonald’s said Tuesday it has donated more than $5 million to its employee relief fund and relief efforts.
McDonald’s was joined by Starbucks, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and General Electric, announcing on Tuesday that it was temporarily suspending operations in Russia.
Some companies, such as McDonald’s, say they will continue to pay their workers in Russia for the time being.
Speaking on Wednesday, a British professor said the scale of the sanctions by Western companies “might have shocked the Russian elite.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Dr James Rogers, who teaches international journalism at the City of London University, said: “These companies are making these decisions now. It will be quite difficult to see how they can reverse them in the short term.
“This is an important symbol of how Russia sees the outside world.
“The scale of the sanctions may have shocked the Russian political elite and the Russian leadership, but Russia is preparing to try to survive on its own, and in part this means that these Western companies will not be represented there.”
The country is facing its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 after crippling sanctions were placed on almost its entire financial and corporate system.
When the chain first opened in 1990, long queues of Russians were also seen outside McDonald’s restaurants wanting to sample Western fast food.
The sanctions have resulted in the US shutting down the Russian central bank, effectively preventing the Americans from doing business with it and severely limiting Russia’s ability to defend its currency.
The U.S. also imposed sanctions on a state-owned investment fund, and a spokesman said Joe Biden intended to ensure that the Russian economy “rolls back as Putin presses forward in his invasion of Ukraine.”
As of the morning of March 9, 1 US dollar was equal to 133 Russian rubles. Prior to the February 24 invasion, its value was about 84 rubles to 1 US dollar, indicating a rapid decline in its value.
The Kremlin is desperate to quell any opposition to the brutal invasion of Ukraine, and a total of 13,500 demonstrators have been arrested since the start of the war, 100 of them on Wednesday.
Anti-Putin sentiment is coming to the fore, with consumers being asked to limit the amount of items in their shopping carts as sanctions take effect.
Some say they may have to leave the country to provide a better life for their families as Russians return to the hardships of the 1990s, when the country experienced food lines and hyperinflation after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
One of the appeals to buyers in St. Petersburg said: “It is important that there is enough goods for everyone. We are forced to temporarily impose restrictions on high-demand goods. Up to ten pieces per purchase.
There are speculations that Putin is already rationing some products, foreseeing an extended period without a normal influx of Western goods and money.
Major retailers such as Zara, H&M, Ikea and many others have also suspended sales in Russia, closing their doors in many shopping malls in the Moscow capital.
The world’s leading fashion houses such as Gucci, Prada, Dior and Fenti are also closed from Monday.