The departure of McDonald’s, Al Jazeera and other brands from BiH shows a serious reputational decline in the country as a business destination.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was never a leader in attracting foreign investment, and she had potential. In recent years, the trend goes a step further – from the absence of arrivals to the active withdrawal of the once present global brands. Thus Bosnia and Herzegovina is no longer just a country that large brands go bypass, but the country from which large companies and brands leave.
The departures of the world companies from BiH are no longer insulated cases, but a symptom of a more serious problem that is not only reflected in the numbers and closed locals, but in a serious reputational fall of the country as a business environment.
McDonald’s, Arcelormittal, Al Jazeera – three different industries, three different reasons, but the same conclusion. The first association on their presence are investments, jobs and connecting BiH with global flows.
However, their withdrawal was interpreted as a symbol of defeat – not only economic, but also systemic.
Preventing potential damage
Although the public has long been speculated on the reasons for the withdrawal of McDonald’s from Bosnia and Herzegovina, an official explanation was never fully clarified.
More than half a year after the closure of the restaurant, the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, rejected McDonald’s appeal against a decision on the interimage previously placed out of power. Also, the Court also declined their request to impose insurance measures.
McDonald’s at the end of 2022. He closed all his facilities in BiH. That move was followed by the company submitted a request for the insurance measure against the local franchise – the company GLIESE 581G – the Municipal Court in Sarajevo. This measure was requested to prevent potential damage, preserving brand reputation and protection against possible illegal actions. The court then accepted the request, and restaurants have been closed because McDonald’s was no longer ready to continue doing business in BiH.
However, in March 2023. The Municipal Court annulled this insurance measure. McDonald’s complained about that decision, but the Cantonal Court in June confirmed the earlier judgment and refused their appeal as unfounded.
This created a paradoxical situation: Although the decision on the interim measure on the basis of which objects are closed, the restaurants were closed, and McDonald’s did not return to the BiH market.
Different reasons, the same consequences
Although the reasons for the departure are incomparable, extinguishing the regional television network Al Jazeera Balkans after 14 years of work, the entire public stirred.
The owner decided to close this regional media project. The decision is part of a broader strategy for strengthening the digital presence and expansion on new media platforms, which is no longer a regional center. Becomes a media island without a wider influence.
It is important to emphasize that the reasons for the departure of these companies are not identical – they vary from legal disputes and business disagreements, through strategic restructuring to global changes in media models. McDonald’s withdrew due to complicated relationships with a local franchise and legal processes, while Al Jazeera Balkans has been closed as part of the broader internal transformation within the home group. Arcelormittal, on the other hand, faces the challenges in the raw material market and changes in the heavy metal industry.
However, regardless of the causes, the consequences remain equal: collapse investors, reduction in the presence of global standards and the loss of the reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a potential destination for serious investments. These departures cannot be viewed only as individual business moves, but as symptoms of broader institutional weakness that discourages new arrivals and restrains the development of the domestic market.
Each departure of a global brand is a slap and alarm
According to Dr. Božo Jump, Professor of Strategic Communication with the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, the presence of global companies reflects the international image of one country:
“According to the famous British National Branding Expert, Anholt, the power of a state of a state consists of six elements: tourism, people (famous persons, but also citizens), politics, and foreign investments and brands that come from Skoko.”
It adds that for BiH is particularly problematic that established world brands are going out, sending a message that is certainly not to operate any other than what is the loss of how they themselves, because they were established in this part of Europe, and for BiH that deleted From the coverage map with its centers … but a far bigger problem in global perception is the departure of brands like McDonald’s are among the most famous brands in the world, and are also present in far less developed countries …, “concludes the jump.
In the Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Investment in BiH for the Akta.BA, they say that the departure of these companies leaves behind a large number of workers without work in the current and unfavorable situation in terms of finding a new employment.
“Also, increased consumption, less contributions and taxes in state cash registers, less the harmonization of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an investment location, sends a negative message to other potential situation in the country. years, and the lack of appropriate support and retention programs in the country “, allegations from FIPA.
Reputational risk
Economist dr. sc. Admir Čavalić warns that this trend shall be collapsed not only market dynamics, but also an opportunity for transferring knowledge, technology and business practices that multinational companies.
“Long term and strategically poorly. The economic model of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be based on the great multinational corporations that, as in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, but also the importance of domestic companies, is also the signal of other, global investors. This is definitely a global market. We see that This model collapses, which is not good. Why did we lose these brands and companies? There are a number of social capital factors, ie the fact that we are a little, fragmented, with exceptional political, legal and above all economic risks, “he said.
They also look back on a complex network of factors that suppresses foreign investors:
“The market flow of knowledge is interrupted. I think of the transfer of know-how, new technologies, business models and similarly, but we have been continuously rejected that our workers and businessmen taught them the fastest in the presence of these brands – after departure, some of them They seek to present their own, copied, business models. There is nothing wrong in the above, but only depicts what we lost, “Cavalić explains.
Ultimately, reputational damage is perhaps most duly. The departure of global brands is not just a business decision – it is a message. Not only to those who remained, but also to everyone who possessed the arrival.
“Reputational risk is huge. It is not good to perceive the land and exaggerated business risks. Therefore, the Economic Diplomacy is just to have a minimum of security. But investors are of flesh blood as well as all of us, and often bring you Decisions Intitiously, on the basis of emotions, “Cavalić warns.
In a time in which countries invest millions in economic diplomacy to attract only one large brand, BiH loses them in silence, without analysis and without a system reaction. And the question is no longer who left – than who stayed and will who come?, It says Akta.ba
