Actions on Burger King Russia
QSR STOCK UPDATE:
The following is an open letter on March 17, 2022 from RBI’s International President, David Shear, to RBI employees. “I know that many of you have been following the horrifying attacks on Ukraine. There have been a lot of media reports about brands continuing to operate in Russia and internally, we have been working around the clock to do all the right things. I want to share this letter to keep everyone up to date on our actions.
We entered the Russian market ten years ago through a joint venture partnership, similar to our approach in 15+ other global markets. We have three joint venture partners in Russia that are controlled by Alexander Kolobov, who has extensive restaurant experience and is responsible for the day-to-day operations and oversight of the ~800 restaurants in Russia; Investment Capital Ukraine – one of Ukraine’s largest investment firms; and VTB Capital. VTB Capital, as an affiliate of one of Russia’s biggest banks, has partnered with several other western companies in Russia, including other large QSR brands. We own a minority stake (15%) in the joint venture and none of the partners has a majority share.
We started the process to dispose our ownership stake in the business. While we would like to do this immediately, it is clear that it will take some time to do so based on the terms of our existing joint venture agreement.We contacted the main operator of the business and demanded the suspension of Burger King restaurant operations in Russia. He has refused to do so.”
