McDonald's temporarily closes down 12 Russian branches, more than 100 inspections underway

Global fast food chain closed down 12 branches in Russia as 100 inspections are underway across its branches in the country now.

Earlier today, had Mc Donald's temporarily closed three more restaurants in Russia following mass unscheduled inspections by Russia's food safety watchdog, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The state agency previously closed three McDonald's restaurants in Moscow, one in Stavropol and one in Yekaterinburg in the Urals region, and unveiled sweeping checks at its outlets across the country.

The watchdog said it ordered the closures for sanitary reasons, but they coincided with heightened tensions over the Ukraine crisis, in which the United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia and Moscow has hit back by banning a wide range of Western food imports.

McDonald's said a restaurant in Serpukhov in Moscow region was now also temporarily closed, as well as two restaurants in Sochi.

Just three days back it had shut its fifth restaurant in the country as a result of mass unscheduled inspections by Rospotrebnadzor, the regulator, a spokeswoman for McDonald's in Russia said.