ASTANA (TCA) — The first McDonald’s restaurant, which will also be the first in Central Asia, will be opened in Kazakhstan on March 8, RFE/RL reports.
Kairat Boranbaev, the Kazakh businessman who obtained the franchise rights to operate a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Astana, announced the planned opening during a February 25 press conference in Moscow.
Boranbaev said he plans to open 15 McDonald’s in Kazakhstan by 2019. The first restaurant will be opened in the capital, Astana.
He said they plan to expand the restaurant network to other Kazakh cities, but it will take time.
Boranbaev said the first McDonald’s restaurant in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, will be opened in May-June.
He said his restaurant branch in Astana would seat a maximum of 206 people and provide more than 200 jobs.
Boranbaev, whose daughter is married to President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson, said that $3.5 million was invested in the construction of the restaurant building in Astana.
Boranbaev also said at the press conference that Russian companies will be the main food suppliers to McDonald’s restaurants in Kazakhstan and some products will be delivered from Europe. As to buying products from Kazakh producers, he said that Coca-Cola soft drinks are currently produced in Kazakhstan, and lettuce and buns could also be produced in Kazakhstan.
