McDonalds removes Abkhazia as independent country to enter

McDonalds has removed Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, from a list of independent countries where the company might be interested to develop franchise opportunities.

The move by McDonalds generated great criticism from society including politicians.

On January 12, the company expressed its desire to enter untapped markets and published a list of the countries that it wished to investigate, including Abkhazia.

Following the initial announcement, businessman Temur Tchkonia, who is McDonalds' representative in Georgia, spoke with the companys head office in America and was told the company would remove the information from the website today (January 14).

Minister of State for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Paata Zakareishvili called the McDonalds application a misunderstanding.

Zakareishvili told reporters this topic had been closed.

"There was some misunderstanding and as far as I know it has already been resolved. As far as I know there was no talk about launch of a business; it was only about the possibility for launch of a business production," said the Minister.

He said there were areas where Georgia's territorial integrity was protected, including by large companies and businesses.

In addition, Zakareishvili said that doing any kind of business in the occupied territories was banned under the Law on Occupied Territories.