Pro-Putin rapper reopens former Starbucks coffee shops in Russia | Russia

A pro-Putin rapper has reopened the chain of coffee shops formerly owned by Starbucks under a new name, Stars Coffee, the latest high-profile rebranding of a major western chain after an unprecedented corporate exodus from Russia.

On Thursday, the rapper Timati and restaurateur Anton Pinskiy, the duo that acquired the rights to the chain in Russia, attended the opening of the first of the 130 cafes previously owned by Starbucks. During the opening in central Moscow, the pair also revealed the chain’s new logo, which replaces Starbucks’s iconic siren with a woman wearing the traditional Russian kokoshnik headdress, but is otherwise fairly similar.

Seattle-based Starbucks announced in May it was exiting the Russian market after nearly 15 years as it joined hundreds of other major western brands that have left the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Dozens of western companies have since agreed to sell their assets to Kremlin-friendly Russian businesspeople, at steep discounts. The Russian authorities have been actively encouraging the takeovers, intended to comfort ordinary Russians that they can continue to live western…