The US fast-food giant announced on May 16 that it would exit Russia in the wake of its Ukraine offensive. In Moscow’s Pushkin Square on Sunday, dozens of people gathered outside the Russian incarnation of the fast-food restaurant, “Vkusno i tochka” (“Delicious. Full Stop”), well before the official noon opening.

The restaurant, on the spot where the very first McDonald’s opened its doors to long queues and great fanfare in January 1990, is among the first 15 to welcome customers. On Monday, another 50 restaurants are set to open, according to Oleg Paroyev, general manager of the new group, with the chain then planning to reopen 50 to 100 a week across the country.

In place of the Golden Arches, there’s a new logo – two stylised orange fries alongside a red dot on a green background. There are still double cheeseburgers on the menu, as well as a wide range of ice creams and desserts. But the “Mc” prefix no longer appears.

A new era for Russia’s fast-food and economic scene dawned on Sunday, as McDonald’s (MCD.N) restaurants flung open their doors in Moscow under new Russian ownership and with the new name, which translates as “Tasty and that’s it”.

The unveiling of the rebranded outlets, more than three decades after the American burger giant first opened its doors in Moscow in a symbolic thaw between East and West, is once again a stark sign of a new world order. The reopenings took place on Russia Day, a holiday celebrating national pride.

In March, McDonald’s halted operations of its company-run restaurants in Russia. Although some run by franchisees stayed open, the action by the multinational fast-food chain was among the most visible responses by foreign companies to Russia sending troops into Ukraine.

Two months later, McDonald’s decided to leave Russia altogether and sold its 850 restaurants to Alexander Govor, who held licences for 25 franchises in Siberia.

Now, Vkusno & tochka’s opening marks a new trend toward isolation, as Russia’s war has left tens of thousands dead and its market has become untouchable for some of the world’s largest multinationals.

The name has been met with bemusement and some mockery. “It’s a bit specific but … interesting,” one Muscovite told the pro-Kremlin website Life. “MakDak would have been better,” said another, referring to the shorthand Russians often used to refer to McDonald’s. `

McDonald’s copies are not a new trend. A McDonald’s in Russian-occupied Donetsk was renamed DonMak after the city was captured following the beginning of the war in 2014.

Alexander Govor, the owner of the chain, said up to 7 bn roubles (£98.63m) would be invested this year in the business, which employs 51,000 people, Reuters reported.

But BBC Russian reported that the sanctioned bank Sovcombank may also have played a role in the acquisition, saying that Govor would not have had enough capital to acquire the entire fast-food chain on his own. 

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