McDonald's Biggest Russian Restaurant Reopens on Pushkin Square

Service has resumed at Russia's first-ever McDonald's restaurant in Pushkin square following a three-month shut down.

The outlet reopened on Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman for the company's Russian operations, as cited by Bloomberg.

The branch was shuttered around three months ago after Russian consumer safety regulators increased inspections at McDonald's outlets across the country.

Overall, there have been around 250 safety investigations at the company's restaurants in 2014. Six outlets are currently shuttered, although McDonald's has said it would appeal against the closures in a Russian court.

The wave of shutdowns came after the United States and the European Union imposed a range of punitive economic sanctions on Russian individuals and companies, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March.

In addition to the seeming retaliatory action against the well-known US food chain, Moscow imposed an import ban on food from the countries that had imposed sanctions over Ukraine.

McDonald's first opened in Russia's Pushkin Square in 1990, during the final days of the Soviet Union. It drew long line then and remained the country's busiest outlet until it was closed in August.