McDonald’s will withdraw its trademark golden arches from Kazakhstan. Credit: Jurij Kenda / Unsplash.

American fast-food restaurant chain McDonald’s has decided to close its operations in Kazakhstan as the ongoing Ukraine war has severely disrupted meat supplies from Russia, Bloomberg reported.

Sources familiar with the matter told the news agency that because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Central Asian country had experienced difficulties finding a substitute for its previous supply of Russian meat.

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Due to sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West, McDonald’s asked its local franchisee not to procure meat patties from Russian suppliers, the sources said.

However, the Kazakh business found itself unable to purchase meat patties locally or from European markets due to higher prices and freight costs.

Sourcing meat from Europe or local suppliers at higher cost would result in operating the restaurant at a loss, the sources said.

With this decision, McDonald’s will withdraw its trademark golden arches from Kazakhstan after a span of just six years.

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Last November, TOO Food Solutions KZ, which owns 24 McDonald’s restaurants in the region, also suspended its operations after experiencing supply issues.

McDonald’s, which has already exited the Russian market, declined to comment on the report.

Last May, the American fast-food restaurant chain decided to offload its Russian business to Alexander Govor, who had been its licensee since 2015.

Govor agreed to purchase the entire restaurant portfolio and operate them under a new brand.

Earlier this week, McDonald’s also suspended the license of Gliese 581g, its franchise in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following a series of scandals.

However, the reasons for revoking the license of the franchise were not officially revealed by the restaurant company.