Burger King franchise 'refuses' to close 800 Russian restaurants

Burger King is trying to suspend its operations in Russia, but that's proving difficult. A business partner controlling 800 restaurants has "refused" to close them, the company said.

The burger chain, owned by Restaurant Brands International (QSR), has a joint venture partnership with businessman Alexander Kolobov in Russia. RBI controls just 15% of its Russian Burger King business, and Kolobov is responsible for the "day-to-day operations and oversight" of its locations in the country.

That means Burger King can't just snap its fingers and close up shop.

"We started the process to dispose [of] our ownership stake in the business," said David Shear, president of RBI's international operations, in an open letter. "While we would like to do this immediately, it is clear that it will take some time to do so based on the terms of our existing joint venture agreement."