Fast food chains Burger King and KFC are likely to remain on the market, as they operate under a franchise in Russia, Sergei Mironov, the ombudsman in the Moscow restaurant business, told RIA Novosti.

Despite the fact that Yum!, which owns the KFC and Pizza Hut chains, announced the suspension of its investments in business development in Russia, it will not be able to leave the market completely, "even if it really wants to," Mironov said.

"Most of KFC is a franchise. No franchise agreement provides for closure after the top team. With all the desire of KFC to close in Russia, it will be impossible, because they will not be able to close franchisees in principle," the publication quotes the words of the ombudsman.

According to Mironov, Burger King has a similar situation. "Burger King has not announced anything yet, and I very much doubt that he will also leave. Our Russian Burger King has Russian roots, it's not McDonald's, which has Western roots. It was bought by Russians, so the situation is possible, as with KFC. If a decision is made to close Burger King, then, most likely, it will cause resistance from operators," he concluded.

On March 8, the fast food chain McDonald's announced that it would temporarily close all 850 restaurants in Russia. At the moment, 62 thousand people work in the network, all of them will retain their positions and salaries.

Update. Yum! Brands (KFC brands, Pizza Hut) announced that it is suspending the operation of 70 KFC restaurants. To date, there are more than 1 thousand restaurants in 160 cities in Russia.