Oleg Tinkov, a Russian oligarch who issued a scathing critique of the war in Ukraine and the general situation in the country about two weeks ago, said in the last day that he was forced in response to sell his holdings at a very cheap price to an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tinkoff, who founded the successful Russian bank Tinkoff about 15 years ago, said in an interview with the New York Times published yesterday (Sunday) that just a day after he published an accusing post on Instagram on April 20, in which he condemned the killing of innocent people in Ukraine and corruption Pushing in the Russian military and governmental system, representatives from President Vladimir Putin’s office contacted the bank’s management.
He said they had made it clear to management that it should sever all ties with him immediately, and ensure that he immediately sold “and at a non-negotiable price” his holdings – about 35% of the bank’s shares – to oligarch Vladimir Putin still close to Putin. “I could not discuss the price. It was like a hostage situation,” Tinkov told the newspaper, “Take what you get and that’s it.” According to him, Putin paid only 3% of the real value of the holdings. The bank’s shares have collapsed following international sanctions by 90% in recent months.
In an April post, the Russian billionaire, whose fortune was previously estimated at six billion dollars, criticized the “crazy war” in which Russia launched against Ukraine. He wrote that most Russians oppose the war. “90% of Russians are against the war, but 10% of all people are idiots.” He wrote that Russian generals are now revealing that “the Russian army is lousy,” “and how can it be otherwise when the rest of the country is failing, and suffering from nepotism and other social problems?”.
Tinkov wrote that the Russian elite is “shocked” by the consequences of the sanctions, by the fact that they will no longer be able to vacation in the Mediterranean and that entrepreneurs are “trying to save what is possible.” At the end of his post he urged the West to allow Putin a “way out” of the war that would allow him to end the war without losing his dignity.
Tinkov, who has not lived in Russia in recent years, has in the past boasted of friendships with Putin. He is reportedly now paid increased guard for fear of his life. The bank itself has previously told the media that it does not play a role in it and that it has “suffered from health problems in recent years.” Tinkov, 54, is on the list of Russian billionaires under personal sanctions in the European Union. The bank has now said that Tinkov’s statements are incorrect.