( CNN ) -- Iceland is losing its only three McDonald 's restaurants as a result of the poor economic situation in the country . Businessman Magnus Ogmundsson , who owns the only McDonald 's franchise in Iceland , said it had become too expensive to operate the restaurants after Iceland 's currency , the krona , plunged in value . `` The krona is quite weak and we are buying everything in euros , and we have very high tariffs on imported agricultural products , '' he told CNN on Tuesday . In January 2008 , it cost more than 95 Icelandic krona to buy one euro , according to the Central Bank of Iceland . Tuesday , that price had shot up to more than 186 krona . That means the currency is worth half as much today as it was in January 2008 -- and things priced in euros now cost twice as much to buy . Ogmundsson said the McDonald 's Corporation worked with him to find a solution , but in the end he had no choice but to close . There was `` good cooperation '' with McDonald 's , Ogmundsson told CNN . `` No hard feelings . '' McDonald 's said it had become financially prohibitive to continue operating in Iceland because of `` the unique operational complexity of doing business in Iceland combined with the very challenging economic climate in the country . '' It said there are no plans to seek a new franchise partner in that country . The three stores will close at midnight Saturday , but they will reopen as an independent chain called Metro , with more domestic ingredients and fewer imported products . `` We believe we can be more successful with our own brand , '' Ogmundsson said . A McDonald 's Big Mac hamburger currently sells for the equivalent of $ 5.29 , making Iceland one of the most expensive places in the world to buy the sandwich . Only Norway and Switzerland charge more , according to the countries listed on the Economist magazine 's Big Mac Index , published in February . A Big Mac costs about $ 3.54 in the United States , $ 2.19 in Australia , $ 5.07 in Denmark , $ 1.66 in South Africa , and $ 1.52 in Malaysia .
Iceland is losing its only three McDonald 's restaurants after economic recession . Franchise owner said restaurants now too expensive to run after Iceland 's currency plunged in 2008 . Krona worth half as much now as it was in early 2008 -- and prices are mostly in euros .