Finnish fast-food chain Hesburger has opened the first of ten planned restaurants in Romania.
At a cost of around 300,000 euros, the new outlet opened in the city of Râmnicu Vâlcea and employs around 30 people, the Turku-based company said in a press release.
The city is located around 150 km northwest of Romania's capital Bucharest.
"We have studied the Romanian fast food market and the country has a lot of potential. We have solid experience in expanding in Europe, especially in the Baltic countries and Bulgaria," the company's international development and marketing chief, Ieva Salmela said in the release.
The burger chain is currently negotiating the opening of several other outlets in Romania, including in Bucharest. Salmela said opening ten restaurants in the country would be an investment exceeding eight million euros.
Including Romania, Hesburger now operates in nine countries, including Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Germany and recently, Poland.
The firm has 274 outlets in Finland, 61 in Lithuania, 51 each in Estonia and Latvia, seven in Ukraine, two in Germany as well as one restaurant each in Poland and Romania.
The chain employs around 6,000 people in Finland and has 2,700 workers abroad. The company saw revenues of 286 million euros in Finland and around 172 million euros in other countries.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Hesburger drew criticism for what some described as a slow withdrawal from Belarus and Russia.
In 2018, the company said it had pulled out of Iran, closing its franchise in Tehran, citing uncertainty brought about by international sanctions.
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