A Moscow court will decided on Friday whether to let two of the city's McDonald's restaurants reopen, Interfax reported Tuesday, after the U.S. fast-food giant said it had eliminated the sanitary violations detected by Russian food safety inspectors last month.
The Tverskoi District Court last week ordered the closure of the McDonald's restaurants on Pushkin Square and Manezh Square for 90 days, while the Ostankino District Court ruled that the outlet on Prospekt Mira must shut for the same length of time.
The Federal Consumer Protection Service had temporarily closed the same three restaurants a week earlier, citing sanitary violations, though the timing of the crackdown has led many people to think that it is part of Russia's reaction to the U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
The company, which has 440 restaurants in the country, said late last week that the watchdog had closed 12 of its restaurants in Russia and that more than 100 inspections of its outlets were under way in the regions.
McDonald's was given some cause for optimism on Monday when its restaurant in Stavropol reopened, as well as one of its two branches in Sochi.
Also on Monday, McDonald's spokeswoman Svetlana Polyakova said the hygiene issues at the three shuttered restaurants in Moscow had been addressed and that the company had asked both courts to revoke the suspension orders, according to Interfax.
The Tverskoi District Court's press office said Tuesday that it has received the request from McDonald's and that a ruling would be made on Friday.
It is not yet clear when the Ostankino District Court will review the decision to close the outlet on Prospekt Mira.
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