One of Russia’s most famous entrepreneurs, tycoon Oleg Tinkov, renounced his Russian citizenship on Tuesday, claiming that he does not want to be associated with the “fascist regime of [Vladimir] Putin” or people who collaborate with “murderers”.
On his Instagram profile, Tinkov, 54, said he made the decision “after Russia invaded Ukraine and started killing innocent people there”. According to the oligarch, the original publication in which he showed the document in which he abdicated his citizenship “mysteriously disappeared” from the platform – which he attributes to “Kremlin trolls”.
“I hope that other top Russian businessmen will follow my example, to weaken the Putin regime and its economy and make it fail,” the first post read. “I hate Putin’s Russia, but I love all Russians who are clearly against this sick war.”
Tinkov was the main owner of TCS Group Holding, a fintech that grew to become one of Russia’s largest financial institutions. In April, after a series of comments against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was forced to sell his stake in the company to Vladimir Potanin, the country’s richest man, most closely aligned with the Kremlin.
Also on Tuesday, Tinkov said he was hiring lawyers to revoke the Tinkoff trademark of the eponymous bank, controlled by TCS. “I hate it when my brand/name is associated with the bank that collaborates with murderers,” he wrote. Tinkoff Bank, meanwhile, has claimed that it has full legal rights over the use of the brand, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Tinkov has always been a critic of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and has highlighted the dissension present even among the country’s political and economic elite over Putin’s decision to invade his neighbor. “Ninety percent of Russians are against this insane war. Ten percent paint the ‘Z’ [símbolo da invasão] because they are idiots, but every country has 10% idiots”, wrote the businessman on social media in the first weeks of the war.
Until last year, Tinkov was on Forbes’ list of billionaires, with an estimated fortune of US$ 7.7 billion (R$ 39.8 billion). He dropped out of the role this year, and today his net worth is valued at around US$646 million.
The drop is partly due to sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom that prevented the oligarch from having access to his assets. At the time, before the sale of Tinkov’s stake in TCS, London claimed that the businessman was “receiving benefits from the Russian government” and included him on the list of oligarchs targeted by retaliation over the Ukrainian War.
Tinkov’s location is uncertain, but he is believed to live in London, where he underwent years of treatment for leukemia. The Russian was once a US citizen, but renounced it in 2013, when Tinkoff Bank went public – in what Washington saw as an attempt to avoid tax obligations. In this regard, the oligarch reached a $500 million settlement with the US Department of Justice last year.
According to Forbes, Tinkov is the third tycoon to announce his resignation from Russian citizenship this year. This week, British startup Revolut reported that its co-founder, Russian Nikolai Storonski, relinquished the document earlier this year. In early October, Russian billionaire and Facebook investor Yuri Milner also announced that he and his family had given up citizenship earlier this year after having “left Russia for good” following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
