Businessman Oleg Tinkov reveals in an interview with the New York Times that the Kremlin forced him to sell his bank holdings at the “price of kopecks.”
Russian businessman, founder of Tinkoff Bank Oleg Tinkov says he is in trouble after criticizing the war in Ukraine.
Tinkov harshly criticized the Russian attack in his Instagram release on April 19th. He called the war crazy and said no one would benefit from it.
– Innocent people and soldiers are dying. After waking up from the hangover, the generals realized they had a shitty army. And why would the army be good if everything else in the country is dysfunctional and stuck in favoring, humiliating, and submitting to relatives? he wrote (moving to another service).
This is Tinkov’s first interview since the war began.
Putin’s representatives threatened to nationalize the bank, according to Tinkov, if it did not sever ties with its founder.
Tinkov survives leukemia, but “maybe not from Kremlin”
Last week, Oleg Tinkov sold his 35 percent stake in Tinkoff to Putin’s ally, a Russian mining billionaire To Vladimir Potanin.
Tinkov calls the deal desperate and says he was not given a chance to discuss the price.
– I sold it for the price of kopecks, he tells the magazine.
One Russian ruble is divided into one hundred kopecks.
Tinkov gave a telephone interview to The New York Times about his unknown whereabouts. According to the news agency AFP, he has lived abroad in recent years.
He said he had hired bodyguards because he had heard he had to fear for his life.
Tinkov joked that he had survived leukemia, but might be killed by the Kremlin.
– I knew Putin’s regime was bad. But of course I had no idea it could be so catastrophic, he said, and predicted Putin would remain in power for a long time.
– I have realized that Russia no longer exists as a country.
Other members of the elite are also in shock, Tinkov says
According to Tinkov, many members of the Russian elite are equally shocked by the war, but fear it.
– Russia is fast becoming Iran, and they don’t like it. They want their children to spend their summer vacation in Sardinia, Tinkov describes.
Britain has also imposed sanctions on Oleg Tinkov because of the war. Last year, Tinkov sued for tax fraud in the United States for more than $ 500 million.
He founded Tinkoff Bank in 2006. It is one of the largest retail banks in Russia and operates exclusively online.
In its statement, the bank denied that things had gone as described by Tinkov. The bank announced it would change its name this year.
You can discuss the topic until Tuesday, May 3 at 11 p.m.