London, Jan 24 (ANI): After Ronald McDonald and pizzas, another fast-food fad is gearing up to take Russia by storm - fish and chips.

The nation’s Government is encouraging people to eat more seafood, and in order to save the struggling fishing industry, it is also backing a planned chain of chip shops called Okean, reports The Times.

Alexander Ivanov, who owns a fish-processing factory in Murmansk, on Russia’s northern coast, will open 300 street kiosks in St Petersburg and up to 500 in Moscow before expanding into Siberia.

And in order to compete with McDonald’s and other fast-food rivals, cod and chips would sell for about 2.50 pounds.

“Fish, as a fast food, doesn’t exist in Russia so we are opening a completely new market. I really like English fish and chips and I’m sure it will be really attractive for Russians,” he told The Times.

He added: “We set up a fish-and-chip kiosk at a trade exhibition in Moscow and the lines of customers were as long as those we used to see outside Lenin’s tomb during Soviet times.

“It’s important that people can be patriotic and buy high-quality healthy Russian fish.”

Last year, the Federal Fisheries Agency had used a campaign to urge Russians to buy more fish. (ANI)