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Who is Alexander Govor, the man behind Russia's rebranded McDonald's 'Tasty and that's it'

Alexander Govor wants to expand his burger chain to 1,000 locations across Russia. (Reuters: Evgenia Novozhenina)

Billionaire Russian businessman Alexander Govor has his fingers in many pies.

He'll now also have his hands full of burgers after buying the country's 850 McDonald's outlets.

It's a huge increase from the 25 former McDonald's franchises he has run in Siberia since 2015, and his interests aren't limited to fast food.

What is happening to Russia's McDonald's?

McDonald's has been hugely popular in Russia since the early 1990s, but pulled out of the country after the February invasion of Ukraine.

However, McDonald's says it will retain its trademarks, meaning its former Russian outlets need a new name.

Enter Mr Govor, and the rebranded fast-food chain Vkusno-i Tochka.

The name translates as "Tasty and that's it".

The company also unveiled a slogan: "The name changes, love stays."

Who is Alexander Govor?

The price he paid to buy McDonald's Russian operations hasn't been disclosed, but Mr Govor has plenty of wealth on which to draw, given his interest in industries like mining.

Mr Govor is half-owner of Neftekhimservis, a construction investor that owns an oil refinery in Siberia.

He also holds a 50 per cent stake in a small forestry company and 25 per cent in a fishing and hunting company, according to the Interfax news agency's Spark database.

As well as having stakes in those companies, Mr Govor also sits on the board of directors of Inrusinvest, which has projects including a medical centre and a Park Inn hotel in the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk.

The new fast food restaurants are former McDonalds establishments. (AP: Dmitry Serebryakov)

Mr Govor has said he plans to expand the new brand to 1,000 locations across the country and reopen all the chain's restaurants within two months.

"I am very proud of the honour that developing this enterprise has given me," Mr Govor said earlier this month.

"I am ambitious and I don't only plan to open the 850 restaurants but to develop new ones."

What are Govor's plans for the new chain?

The rebranding was only announced a couple of hours before the reopening of the Pushkin Square restaurant which had been the country's first ever McDonald's.

The logo is different, but still evokes the golden arches: a circle and two orange oblongs — representing a beef patty and French fries — configured into a stylised M.

A hamburger and two potato fries feature on the logo.

But some key McDonald's items are missing from the menu.

There are no more Big Macs, and some other burgers and desserts, such as the McFlurry, are not offered. 

McDonald's former Russian head Oleg Paroev is running the rebranded business for Mr Govor.

Until the takeover, Mr Paroev had worked for McDonald's for seven years.

He says he wants to reopen 200 outlets by the end of the month.

Under the terms of the takeover deal, Mr Govor agreed to retain McDonald's 62,000 Russian employees for at least two years on equivalent terms.

ABC/wires

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