Global fast-food giant Domino’s Pizza is set to close down all of its outlets in Russia, marking a significant departure in the wake of major Western fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks, which exited the country over a year ago.
DP Eurasia, the company holding franchise rights for the Domino’s Pizza brand across Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, has announced its intention to declare bankruptcy for its Russian division, DPRussia.
This move highlights the increasingly tough decisions that Western companies still operating in Russia are confronted with in the aftermath of the Ukraine conflict. Russia has raised barriers and costs for Western corporations attempting to divest their Russian operations. Additionally, there have been instances of Russia taking control of local assets of foreign companies, as witnessed with Danish brewery Carlsberg and French yogurt producer Danone.
“With the increasingly challenging environment, DPRussia’s immediate holding company is now compelled to take this step, which will bring about the termination of the attempted sale process of DPRussia as a going concern and, inevitably, the group’s presence in Russia,” DP Eurasia said in a statement.
The company operates 142 stores in Russia and is the country’s third-largest pizza delivery business. In December, DP Eurasia said it was reviewing its presence in Russia and that work on a potential sale was “ongoing.”
After exiting Russia, Starbucks became Stars Coffee and McDonald’s is now “Vkusno i tochka,” which translates to “Tasty, period.”
More than 1,000 foreign companies have exited or suspended operations in Russia since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
