Burgers for Borat: McDonald’s to open its first branch in Kazakhstan

At last Borat will be able to get a Big Mac. McDonald’s will open its first restaurant in Kazakhstan, fictional home to Sacha Baron Cohen’s uncouth TV reporter, next month. Another 15 will soon follow in a belated foray into Central Asia’s largest economy. The fast-food giant’s first outlet in the Kazakh capital Astana will open on March 8 after it invested $3.5 million in the project. The deal was secured after a decade of negotiations, with Kairat Boranbayev, a relative of the country’s long-standing president handed the franchise.

Kairat had been asking me this question - why are we not coming to Kazakhstan for such a long time?

Khamzat Khasbulatov, president of McDonald’s Russia unit

McDonald’s opened its first branch in Russia in 1990, a year before the break-up of the Soviet Union, and now has a total of 545 outlets. There are also 11 McDonald’s in next door ex-Soviet republic of Belarus, where Mr Boranbayev, whose daughter is married to president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson, holds the franchise. Khamzat Khasbulatov, president of McDonald’s Russia unit, did not respond to a question whether former gas tycoon Mr Boranbayev’s personal connections to the president would help develop the McDonald’s brand in the country. He said: “All logistics are now located closely to Kazakhstan and there will be synergy with Belarus.”

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