KIEV, Dec. 10 – The U.S. Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, is set this month to rollout expansion plans for Ukraine, the Financial Times newspaper has reported.

A source of the newspaper said that the group is expected to launch its first KFC restaurant in Ukraine on December 14.

More than 100 KFC restaurants, at a cost of $2 million each, could open within five years. Three leading franchisees have been chosen to expand the group's presence in Ukraine and the nearby region.

"If you look at the quick service restaurant penetration of Ukraine, it is many times lower compared to nearby Poland and Russia. If you're going to bring another quick service restaurant into a country that only has McDonald's, then it's got to be KFC. In the future, we want to bring other international brands into Ukraine as well," said Petro Matiaszek, senior vice-president of U.S.-based Global Restaurant Group, one of the franchise partners chosen by Yum! Brands.