Major chains plot Russian evolutionMajor chains plot Russian evolution

By Mark Brandau


Twenty-two years after McDonald’s became the first U.S. restaurant brand to open its doors in Russia, foodservice executives say the country remains a canvas nearly as blank as northern Siberia and still rife with development opportunity.


Explosive wealth — concentrated mostly in the major cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg and largely dependent on commodity prices — has led to higher per-capita incomes than in Brazil and China and a growing middle class receptive to Western brands. 


That has piqued the interest of several restaurant brands that recently have announced plans to rev up growth in the country.


Yet while more Russians are dining out at American restaurants, and virtually no homegrown chains or independents i...