January 21, 2010, 13:25 / Business

The first Burger King opened in Moscow

The world's second fast food chain after McDonald's entered Russia. Tatiana Romanova

The American fast food restaurant chain Burger King, the second fast food chain in the world after McDonald's, has entered Russia. Today, the company opened its first restaurant in the Moscow Metropolis shopping center.

The owner of the franchise was the operator of the Russian coffee shop chain Shokoladnitsa. General Director of Burger King Rus OOO Yana Pesotskaya told Interfax that the American company intends to attract other franchise partners to cooperation in Russia. “There will be no exclusive master franchise in Russia,” she added.

Franchising development is traditional for Burger King; of the 11,700 restaurants under this brand, over 90% are operated by partners. The American chain offers its franchisees to give 5% of turnover and invest in the overall marketing budget for promotion in Russia.

The average check in eateries will be 120-150 rubles. Investments in the project and payback periods are not disclosed.

Mostly domestic producers will supply products to Russian Burger King restaurants. Currently, the network has about 30-40 suppliers in Russia, of which over 50% are local manufacturers.

Pesotskaya added that at the initial stage, Burger King eateries are planned to open in Moscow and the region, and later, when a logistics system is created in the regions of the Russian Federation, restaurants will appear in other regions.

Burger King's main competitor, McDonald's, which operates about 30,000 restaurants, entered the Russian market 20 years ago and does not operate through franchising. In Russia, McDonald's has about 240 eateries.