Nets Forward Bringing First Ever Hooters To Russia

Brooklyn Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko has big, bustling business plans for his home country of Russia. The NBA player will open Russia's first ever outpost of the "delightfully tacky, yet unrefined" Hooters in Moscow later this month, according to Bloomberg News.

On April 28, the first of five Hooters is slated to open in Moscow under a franchisee agreement with Hooters of America, Inc.

Earlier this month, McDonald's shut down its restaurants in Crimea, after the peninsula was annexed by Russia, citing technical reasons. McDonald's claimed that the shutdown was only temporary, which seems unlikely given that the company offered to help its former employees find jobs in mainland Ukraine.

Following McDonald's departure from the Ukrainian peninsula, a poll found that 62 percent of Russians supported the exile of all McDonald's locations.

For his part, Kirilenko seems confident that the partnership with the American company is destined for success.

"Russians and Americans are more alike than different — huge sports fans who are looking for great food and good times," Kirilenko told Bloomberg News in a phone interview. "When you've got waitresses that look like ours, it's a slam dunk."

Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.