MOSCOW — Two of Russia’s best-known movie directors are aiming to create a chain of fast-food restaurants that would be an alternative to Western operations such as McDonald’s.
The move by Nikita Mikhalkov and Andrei Konchalovsky, who are brothers, comes amid growing animosity toward the West, especially the United States, over the conflict in Ukraine. But even before those tensions emerged, many Russians watched uneasily as Western fast-food outlets spread vigorously.
Mikhalkov and Konchalovsky proposed the project, called “Eat at Home,” in a letter to President Vladimir Putin last month that said the goal was “the creation of an alternative to Western fast-food chains,” the newspaper Kommersant reported.
The business news agency RBC reported Thursday that the government will back a bank loan of $13 million for the project.
Mikhalkov gained international recognition with the 1994 film “Burnt by the Sun,” which won the 1994 Academy Award for best foreign film. In recent years he has been a vocal supporter of Putin.
Konchalovsky spent years in the United States, and his Hollywood films include “Tango & Cash.”
After the USSR’s collapse, many Western fast-food chains entered the Russian market, aiming to tap pent-up consumer demand. Although some local chains have established strong operations, foreign chains such as KFC, Burger King and Cinnabon are widespread.
Konchalovsky said the idea of starting a fast-food chain had been percolating in his mind for years, but that the Western sanctions imposed against Russia over Ukraine solidified his concept.
