FDI McDonald's Ukraine Ltd., which develops the fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's in Ukraine, plans to develop partnership programs with filling station networks, McDonald's Ukraine Development Director Vitaliy Stefurak said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

As reported, in the summer of 2023, McDonald's opened its first establishment at a highway, near Zhytomyr, on the M-06 Kyiv-Chop, with the restaurant located next to the WOG gas station.

"This is an example of a partnership project, the essence of which is that at a certain point on the highway, a complete complex of services is formed, which is necessary for motorists and travelers. The same goes for the opportunity to eat. This is not competition, but complementarity and the ability for visitors to choose. This year, we plan to implement such projects in regional centers, million cities, or their satellites. In the coming years, we continue to consider locations to open McDonald's establishments in conjunction with filling stations along key highways," said Stefurak.

He said that none of the key players or filling station networks has exclusive rights to work with McDonald's.

"We focus solely on the location and evaluate how well it meets our requirements. Of course, first and foremost, we work with key players. This is the company WOG, which you mentioned, and we already cooperate with the company KLO. And now construction is underway for our establishment next to the OKKO filling station in Odesa, but this restaurant will be in the city, not on the highway," Stefurak said.

Such projects are not experimental but part of a well-thought-out strategy that determines where it would be feasible to build a new McDonald's.

"We are open to cooperation with various partners because location has always been and remains key for us," said the network's development director.

The first McDonald's establishment in Ukraine opened on May 24, 1997, in Kyiv.