Restaurateur Anton Pinskiy and rapper Timati will take over the assets of Domino's Pizza in Russia after its former owner filed for bankruptcy, according to a report by Reuters.  

The duo would operate the eateries under the largely unaltered name Domino Pizza, with the 'i' in Domino substituted by the equivalent Russian character и.

The report added that the pair plan to retain the franchise's partners, the brand's 120 outlets and its 2,000+ employees in Russia.

Pinskiy told reporters that the pair have already invested Hundreds of millions of roubles in the business.

Recently, the Domino’s franchisee for Europe and Asia, DP Eurasia, said it would file for bankruptcy for its Russian unit as it failed to find a buyer.

In its statement, DP Eurasia said: “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.”

Following the conflict with Ukraine, several food and beverage brands, including Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Starbucks, left the Russian market in 2022.

Anton Pinskiy and rapper Timati together also acquired the Russian business of Starbucks last year.

Anton Pinskiy claimed that they acquired Starbucks’ assets in Russia by paying Rbs500m ($5.9m).

He also reported that he took part in a tender to buy McDonald's old Russian stores but lost out to McDonald's franchisee Alexander Govor.

Govor renamed McDonald's restaurants “Vkusno i tochka,” which translates to “Tasty, period.”

The Starbucks locations were rebranded as Stars Coffee.