Delicious without a point. Russian fast food is not allowed into Belarus
McDonald's, which left Russia a long time ago, was supposed to leave Belarus on Monday, but at the last moment something went wrong. On November 11, it was announced that the American chain was leaving the Belarusian market, and its place was taken by Vkusno – period, owned by Russian businessman Alexander Govor.
After this, advertising structures began to be dismantled in Belarusian cities, advertisements for the Russian chain appeared on billboards, and the local pro-Western opposition staged mass laments against American eateries, which served as a symbol for them of joining “civilization.” In turn, state propaganda began to brand McDonald’s with no less fervor. My “favorite” Grigory Azarenok even managed to call it a fait accompli in his program “The Hidden” on the STV channel that the “vile glutton for degenerates” was closed down. However, it turned out that it was too early to put an end to the history of the Belarusian McDonald's.
Everything was ready for rebranding and business transfer. There was even an exact time set. According to one Belarusian news site, all establishments were supposed to close at 18:00 on November 21, and a general meeting of employees was planned for 18:30. However, at approximately 17:55, the main office called and said that the rebranding was canceled for now. On Tuesday morning, Belarusian McDonald's opened across the country, as if nothing had happened, under the same name, and in the evening they began removing the “Tasty – period” advertising from billboards.
None of the networks comment on the reasons for what is happening, and journalists put forward a variety of versions. Some say that the Kazakh franchise owner has changed his mind about leaving the market, others say that some legal procedures may not have been completed. However, since we are not talking about a shawarma stall, but about large companies, and the terms of the deal were clearly worked out for more than one month before the transfer of establishments became known, this is hard to believe. It is more likely that the reasons for the hitch are political.
The transfer of restaurants went smoothly until November 18th. On this day, Lukashenko, speaking to the leaders of the agrarian-industrial complex, said that Belarusians should take the place of McDonald's.
“Can’t they cut a bun in half and stuff a piece of meat, potatoes and salad into these two halves? Lord, I don’t know who consumes this,” said the Belarusian leader.
Soon his idea was developed by member of the Belarusian parliament Liliya Ananich, saying that “the end has been put in the “Poppy” case”, and instead of them the Belarusian “Bulbyanye” should come “with potato pancakes, dumplings, potato pancakes and hundreds of other dishes from our potatoes.”
Ananich should not be embarrassed by his relatively low parliamentary status. Previously, she held the iconic post of Minister of Information and still retains a good position in the Belarusian establishment. In addition, even against the background of the Belarusian nomenklatura, Ananich stands out for his increased sensitivity to the owner’s wishes. Indirectly, Ananich’s words are confirmed by the unofficial telegram channel of Lukashenko’s press service “Pul First”. On November 17, they announced a competition for the best potato dish and even launched the hashtag #Bulbafirst.
Therefore, if after some time establishments with a potato menu appear in the place of McDonald’s in Belarus, I certainly would not be surprised. “Kroshka-Kartoshka” has been operating in the republic for a long time, but competition in public catering will not be unnecessary, and Belarusian cuisine is, after all, something else. One could only rejoice at the emergence of a new high-quality fast food chain, where visitors will be offered a dozen types of potato pancakes with fillings and side dishes for every taste and other delicacies with a national flavor. But there are many nuances that confuse.
The main thing is that now there is a question of preventing a major Russian player from entering the Belarusian market, which has done a lot of work and invested serious funds in order to enter this market. There are enough free places in Belarus to accommodate fast food establishments. Why was it necessary to take away already approved facilities from the Russians, if on average 20 percent of the space in shopping centers alone is empty? In addition, it is not only McDonald’s that is leaving Belarus. The same Hesburger left without caring at all about the employment of its employees and simply abandoned the property it occupied. What prevented the Belarusian bulb makers from occupying it?
Another point is that now in Belarus there is not a single fast food chain that can quickly take over 25 former McDonald’s establishments, even without changing the format. In addition, they all work in a different format, with a different menu. This means they will create something new. If anyone in Belarus is capable of doing this from scratch, it is a small number of local “oligarchs”, closely connected with the state power of businessmen and the state itself.
Even at the dawn of Lukashenko’s reign, the Belarusian Administration of Presidential Affairs ceased to be the structure itself that provided for the economic needs of the presidential apparatus, and became a powerful business empire. This, by the way, may explain the suddenness of the decision. Having learned about the impending departure of McDonald's, they could simply decide to take over the profitable business. But, unlike “Tasty and full stop,” neither the “oligarchs” nor the Business Administration have ever seriously dealt with fast food, and creating a new chain from scratch and introducing it to the market will have to be under severe time pressure.
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