Oleg Y. Tinkov had more than $ 9 billion in November, known as one of Russia’s few self-made tycoons after he built his fortune outside the energy and mineral industries that were the playgrounds of Russian kleptocracy. Then last month, Tinkov, the founder of one of Russia’s largest banks, criticized the war in Ukraine in an Instagram post. The next day, he said, the administration of President Vladimir Putin contacted his executives and threatened to nationalize his bank if it did not sever ties with him. Last week, he sold a 35% stake in a Russian mining billionaire to what he describes as a “desperate sale, sale of fire” imposed on him by the Kremlin. “I could not discuss the price,” Tinkov said. “It was like a hostage – you get what they offer you. “I could not negotiate.” Subscribe to The Morning Newsletter from the New York Times Tinkov, 54, spoke to the New York Times by telephone on Sunday from an undisclosed location in his first interview since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture, but that his confession had been obtained through torture. It was a quick and frightening change of fortune for a long-term billionaire who for years avoided quarreling with Putin while appearing to be independent of the Kremlin. His downfall underscores the consequences for those in the Russian elite who dare to crucify their president, and explains why there has been little silence from business leaders who, according to Tinkov, are worried about the impact of the war on their lifestyles and wallets. Indeed, Tinkov claimed that many of his acquaintances in the business and government elite told him privately that they agreed with him, “but everyone is afraid.” In the interview, Tinkov spoke more strongly against the war than any other great Russian businessman. The story goes on “I have realized that Russia, as a country, no longer exists,” Tinkov said, predicting that Putin would remain in power for a long time. “I thought the Putin regime was bad. “But of course I had no idea it would take such a catastrophic scale.” The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment. Tinkoff, the bank Tinkov started in 2006, denied the allegations, saying there were “no threats of any kind against the bank’s leadership”. The bank, which announced last Thursday that Tinkov had sold its entire stake in the company to a company run by Vladimir Potanin, a mining tycoon close to Putin, appeared to be moving away from its founder. “Oleg was not in Moscow for many years, did not participate in the life of the company and had no involvement in any matter,” Tinkoff said in a statement. Tinkov has also had problems in the West. He agreed to pay $ 507 million last year to settle a tax fraud case in the United States. In March, Britain included him in a list of sanctions against the Russian business elite. “These oligarchs, businesses and hired thugs are complicit in the killing of innocent civilians and it is right to pay the price,” said then-Foreign Minister Liz Trass. However, Tinkov is widely regarded as a rare Russian business pioneer, shaping his miserable capitalism based on Richard Branson and transforming from a pious brewer into the founder of one of the most sophisticated online banks in the world. He says he has never set foot in the Kremlin and has occasionally criticized Putin. But unlike Russian tycoons who broke up with Putin years ago and now live in exile, such as former oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky or technology businessman Pavel Durov, Tinkov has found a way to coexist with the Kremlin and earn billions – at least until April 19. It was then that Tinkov posted an emotional anti-war post on Instagram, calling the invasion “crazy” and mocking the Russian military: “Why have a good army?” He asked if everything else in the country was dysfunctional and sunken. in nepotism, servitude and servitude? Pro-war Russians posted photos of their shredded Tinkoff debit cards on social media. Vladimir Solovyov, a prominent state television presenter, launched a grueling attack on him, saying: “Your conscience is rotten.” Tinkov was already out of Russia at that point, having left in 2019 to receive treatment for leukemia. It later relinquished control of Tinkoff, but retained 35% of the company, which was valued at more than $ 20 billion on the London Stock Exchange last year. A day after the April 19 post, Tinkov said on Sunday, the Kremlin contacted senior bank executives and told them that any relationship with their founder was now a big problem. “They said: ‘Your shareholder statement is not welcome and we will nationalize your bank if it does not sell it and the owner does not change and if you do not change the name,’” Tinkov said. citing sources in Tinkoff, declined to specify. On April 22, Tinkoff announced that it would change its name this year, a step it claims has long been planned. Behind the scenes, Tinkov says, he was trying to sell his stake – a stake that had already been devalued by Western sanctions against Russia’s financial system. Tinkov said he was grateful to Potanin, the mining tycoon, for allowing him to save at least some money from his company. he said he could not reveal a price, but that he had sold at 3% of what he thought was the true value of his share. “I was forced to sell it because of my statements,” Tinkov said. “I sold it for kopecks.” He was considered selling his stake anyway, Tinkov said, because “as long as Putin is alive, I doubt anything will change.” “I do not believe in the future of Russia,” he said. “Most importantly, I am not prepared to associate my brand and name with a country that attacks its neighbors for no reason at all.” Tinkov worries that an institute he founded dedicated to improving blood cancer treatment in Russia could also fall victim to his financial woes. He denied that he had spoken openly in hopes of lifting the UK sanctions against him, but said he hoped the British government would “correct this mistake”. He said his illness – now suffering from a graft-versus-host disease, a complication of stem cell transplantation – may have made him more courageous to speak openly than other Russian businessmen and senior officials. Members of the elite, he claimed, are “in shock” about the war and have been called in large numbers to offer support. “They understand that they are connected to the West, that they are part of the world market and so on,” Tinkov said. “They are quickly turning into Iran. But they do not like it. “They want their children to spend their summer holidays in Sardinia.” Tinkov said no one from the Kremlin had ever contacted him directly, but that in addition to pressuring his company, he had heard from friends with security contacts that he might be in physical danger. “I was told, ‘The decision about you has been made,’” he said. “I do not know if this means that I will be killed above all. I do not rule it out. “ © 2022 The New York Times Company
