A Russian oligarch who broke with the Kremlin to denounce Putin’s war on Ukraine said he was forced to sell his fortune and now fears for his life.
Oleg Tinkov, 54 and formerly one of Russia’s richest men, says he was pressured into giving up his stake in the bank he founded for a pittance after penning an Instagram post last month condemning the invasion of the Called Ukraine “crazy” and Putin’s army “shit”. y’.
Tinkov says he’s now hiding outside Russia and has hired bodyguards after being warned by friends with security connections that “a decision has been made about you,” leaving him scared to death.
Nonetheless, he has since stood by his decision to speak out against the war – claiming that many other members of Russia’s elite feel the same but are “scared” of what will happen if they go public.
“I don’t believe in the future of Russia,” he said. “Above all, I am not willing to associate my brand and name with a country that baselessly attacks its neighbors.”
Oleg Tinkov, 54 and formerly one of Russia’s richest men (pictured in 2019), says he is in hiding and fearing for his life after speaking out against Putin’s war on Ukraine
Tinkov (left, with wife Rina, right and their children) denounced Putin’s war as “crazy” and the Russian army as “sh*t” in an Instagram post uploaded last month
Tinkov (pictured today) says the Kremlin pressured him into selling his fortune for a pittance and forced the bank he founded to change its name after he spoke out
Before Feb. 24 — the day Putin declared the start of his “military special operation” in Ukraine — Mr Tinkov was worth around $9 billion thanks to a 35 percent stake in the high-tech bank Tinkoff, which he founded in 2006.
But his fortunes withered when Western nations imposed sanctions after the invasion, prompting him to vent his frustration in an April 19 Instagram post.
Speaking to The New York Times last week from an undisclosed location, Mr Tinkov said in his first interview since publication that retaliation against him was swift.
Just a day later, he said Tinkoff executives took a call from the Kremlin and told him, ‘We will nationalize your bank if he doesn’t sell it and don’t change ownership, and if you don’t change the name.’
Two days after the call, Tinkoff announced it would change its name — a move the bank had been planning for some time.
The former billionaire says the rest of Russia’s elite supports his views but is “afraid” to speak out for fear of repercussions
Tinkov says he was then forced to sell his stake in a company owned by Vladimir Potanin, a billionaire close to Putin who runs a mining company.
“I couldn’t discuss the price,” said Mr. Tinkov. “It was like being held hostage – you take what’s offered. I couldn’t negotiate.”
He declined to discuss the final price, but said it was only three percent of what he thought was the stake’s value.
Now unleashed by Russia — a country he left in 2019 to seek treatment for leukemia abroad — Tinkov says it “has no future” as long as Putin is in charge of what he predicted would be “a long time coming.”
“Russia as a country no longer exists,” he said. “I believed that the Putin regime was bad. But of course I had no idea it was going to be so catastrophic.’
Despite being on a British list of sanctioned oligarchs, Tinkov claims he has never been a supporter of Putin and has made his own money as an entrepreneur – unlike most Russian billionaires, who enrich themselves by looking after former state assets.
Posting back to Instagram today, he wrote: “I was one of the few who managed to build four different companies from scratch despite, not thanks to, the regime!
“I was proud… of the fact that in corrupt and archaic Russia you can build an honest, free and American business.”
He added: “It is a pity that my country has finally slipped into archaism, paternalism and subservience. There is no Russia, it’s all gone.
“The threats against me personally, a person struggling with the most serious blood cancer – leukemia, the desire to punish me only for my opinion, my honest opinion, speak of the regime’s ultimate dehumanization.”
Russia is doomed as long as Putin (pictured just days before the declaration of war) stays in power, Tinkov says, for what he forecasts will be a “long time”.
A former beer and pierogi salesman, Tinkov made his fortune after founding a high-tech bank in 2006 and was worth more than $9 billion at the peak of his fortune
Russia has been fighting in Ukraine for two months, causing widespread devastation, but at a huge cost to Moscow (pictured, smoke rises above Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol
He branded the rest of Russia’s elite “cowards” and added: “This is evil and I’m on the side of good… Ukraine will win because good always triumphs over evil.”
A statement from Tinkoff said there had been “no threats of any kind against the bank’s leadership.”
“Oleg was not in Moscow for many years, did not take part in the life of the company and was not involved in any affairs,” said Tinkoff.
The son of a Siberian miner, Tinkov sold beer and dumplings before founding Tinkoff Bank in 2006, but resigned after 14 years as chief executive and announced he had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia.
Tinkoff shares have fallen more than 90% since the start of the war in Ukraine, causing Tinkov to lose its billionaire status. Forbes estimates that he’s worth around $800 million.
Tinkov has close ties to Putin, he admitted in an interview with the Financial Times. But after his diagnosis, he told Forbes he discovered how fragile life can be, prompting him to call for an end to the war.
The Russian bank billionaire owns the world’s first private ice-breaking superyacht and was barred from traveling outside the M25 ahead of an extradition hearing.
Tinkov is due to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court next month after an extradition request was filed by US authorities who want to question him over alleged multi-million pound tax fraud.
Tinkov, who renounced his US citizenship in October 2013, was released on £20million bail while extradition was decided.
Tinkov left Russia in 2019 to be treated for leukemia (pictured) and has been living outside the country ever since
According to the US Department of Justice, Tinkov allegedly filed filings claiming he was worth $300,000.
They began their investigation after discovering that he owned a 2018 Isle of Man-registered Dassault 8X private jet.
US authorities said: “Oleg Tinkov was the indirect controlling shareholder of a branchless online bank that provides financial and banking services to its customers.
“The indictment alleges that Tinkov owned more than $1 billion worth of shares in the bank as a result of an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange in 2013.
“The indictment further alleges that Tinkov renounced his U.S. citizenship three days after the IPO — a taxable event that requires Tinkov to report to the IRS the constructive sale of its worldwide assets, the gain from the constructive sale of those assets to the IRS to report and pay taxes on such gains to the IRS.’
Federal authorities claimed Tinkov funneled more than $1 billion through the British Virgin Islands to avoid US taxes.
According to the indictment, Tinkov said his 2013 income was less than $206,000 while his net worth was $300,000.
According to Feds: “In any case, if convicted, Tinkov faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and fines.’
As well as his superyacht, Tinkov owns a Dassault 8x Jet valued at around £50million.
According to a Times investigation, Tinkov is on the US government’s “Putin list.”