How a sanctioned Russian senator became co-owner of the country’s rebranded McDonald’s chain

McDonald’s, like many other foreign companies, announced that it would cease operations in the Russian market after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In mid-May 2022, it became clear that the Golden Arches would leave the country altogether.

After McDonald’s pulled out of Russia, the fast food chain was rebranded as Delicious, Full Stop. The chain was then sold to Alexander Govor, an entrepreneur from Russia’s Kuzbass region, who had been managing 25 McDonald’s locations in Siberia under a franchise agreement since 2015.

But Govor’s ability to make the purchase raised doubts among journalists. BBC News Russian notes that Govor most likely wouldn’t have been able to purchase the entire McDonald’s chain by himself. According to the outlet’s calculations, the chain’s authorized capital in Russia alone amounts to 9.7 billion rubles (around $108 million), while all of Govor’s companies had generated a loss of 18.7 billion rubles ($210 million) over the previous three years. Nevertheless, in July 2022, Govor registered the company Delicious, Full Stop, which controls the Russian chain of McDonald’s locations through a network of owners. According to investigative outlet Proekt, however, another one of the chain’s owners is Russian senator and former head of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, Arsen Kanokov.

In December 2023, news outlet The Times of Israel reported that it had obtained several recordings of Russian Forbes owner Magomed Musaev’s conversations, including one transcript that appeared to show the businessman saying that Arsen Kanokov was the real owner of McDonald’s assets in Russia. “I have debtors, Arsen Kanokov, for example. I helped him get McDonald’s, the coolest company. Kanokov is under sanctions but he bought all these assets, McDonald’s, [German home improvement company] OBI. I helped him. Arsen Kanokov owes me around $10 million,” The Times of Israel cites Musaev as saying. A representative from the businessman’s press service said that the Israeli outlet’s publication was based on audio files that had been spliced together.

Proekt studied Delicious, Full Stop’s audit report for its 2022 financial statements. According to the document, Govor owns 51 percent of the Russian McDonald’s chain, while the rest is owned by “other” shareholders. The investigators noted that the company’s board of directors could indicate the identity of these “other” owners. Two of the five members of the board are Oleg Eskindarov and Yegor Solomatin, who serve as president and vice president, respectively, of Sindika Holding, a company founded by Kanokov.

The investigative outlet notes that Kanokov was placed under sanctions by Western countries after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Formally, due to his status as a senator, he’s not permitted to engage in business activities. Despite this, individuals and companies associated with Kanokov acquired shares in two other companies that left Russia — German home improvement company OBI and Starbucks. According to BBC News Russian, Chechen businessman Valid Korchagin, who is close to Ramzan Kadyrov’s inner circle (State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov and Chechen senator Suleiman Geremeyev) also received stakes in the Russian branches of Starbucks and OBI.

A source familiar with the deal confirmed to Proekt that Konakov was the one who purchased Russia’s McDonald’s chain. According to the source, Adam Delimkhanov also expressed interest in the fast food giant, though they didn’t know whether he ended up receiving a stake in the company. One user on GetContact, a caller identification app, noted that someone by the name of Sergey Kropachev was displayed as a “ViT shareholder,” which journalists believe stands for Delicious, Full Stop (“Vkusno i Tochka” in Russian). Other users reported seeing Kropachev listed as “Adam Delimkhanov’s assistant,” writes Proekt.