McDonald's in Moscow

I found the following somewhere on the Internet. If anyone has any more info to add to it, feel free to let me know.

The Moscow McDonalds is the largest in the world. The expansion of McDonald's Canada to Russia was accomplished after thirteen years of difficult negotiations and an investment of $50 million.

McDonald's has built an entirely indepdent Russian organization with its own farms to supply potatoes and it's own processing plants to make hamburger buns, apple pies, and other food products for the restaurant. Profits will be small at first, with a 50-50 split between the company and the Russian government. Business is conducted entirely in Russian rubles that are nearly worthless outside the country. If McDonald's Canada wants to take any profit out of Russia they will have to do so by buying Russian products with rubles and then exporting them to Europe or North America for sale.

However, McDonalds isn't worried about exporting profits. They are investing in more restaurants and plan to eventually sell Big Macs all over the country. If the Canadian's gamble pays off and the Russian economy prospers they will make an enormous fortune for a comparatively small initial investment.