The Kremlin has awarded Andrei Konchalovsky and Nikita Mikhalkov nearly one billion rubles ($19m) to fund the film directors’ first foray into the restaurant business, it has been reported.
The application was made on 16 March; on Thursday it was approved by the deputy prime minister, Arkady Dvorkovich, at a meeting held on Vladimir Putin’s request. The state loan should be repayable within five years, according to the proposal, and will make up 70% of the investment. Initial construction involves a couple of factory kitchens, 41 cafes and 91 stores selling prepared meals.
The two men, who are brothers, are the children of the author of the lyrics to Russia’s national anthem. Konchalovsky, 77, co-scripted Andrei Rublev with Andrei Tarkovsky before moving to Hollywood and directing Sylvester Stallone in 1989’s Tango & Cash. Last year, two Chekhov productions he directed at Moscow’s Mossovet theatre transferred to London. Mikhalkov, 69, directed and acted in Burnt By the Sun, which took the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 1995.
Konchalovsky already has an association with the brand Yedim Doma! (Eat at Home!) through his wife, Yulia Vysotskaya, who presents a cookery show on TV, owns two Moscow restaurants, and sells produce and suggests recipes via her website.
The success of their pitch apparently rested on its promotion of localism, with around 35% of ingredients sourced in the region, and produce supplied to nearby orphanages and boarding schools.
Such a focus chimes with government policy to reduce imports and promote patriotism since the EU imposed economic sanctions following its quarrel with Russian over Ukraine. The Kremlin responded by bans on western food imports.
US-owned fast food chains were caught in the conflict last year, with four McDonald’s restaurants temporarily shut for health-code violations, including its flagship Pushkin square premises. The burger chain Wendy’s pulled out of a planned expansion into Russia last year, though McDonald’s is still slated to open further outlets.
