Yum Brands, owner of fast-food brand KFC, plans to open between 60 and 70 restaurants this year in Russia and other former Soviet countries and is looking for new franchise partners to help drive growth.
Yum and its franchisees have 216 restaurants in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the group makes more than half its overall sales in China, where it has nearly 5,300 restaurants, mostly KFCs.
Oleg Pisklov, head of Yum Restaurants International Russia and CIS, said Monday that the group considers the CIS one of the most promising areas for expansion, along with China.
Yum has 29 local partners in the CIS and plans to add five more by year's end, said Yury Babich, head of franchising at Yum Restaurants International Russia and CIS.
