Russian Tycoon Oleg Tinkov Claims He Was Forced To Sell Bank Stake After Denouncing "Crazy War" In Ukraine

Russian banking tycoon Oleg Tinkov has claimed that he was forced to go into hiding and sell his stake in the bank he founded after openly criticising the war in Ukraine. 

Taking to Instagram earlier this month, Mr Tinkov, who founded the digital Tinkoff Bank in 2006, described the war in Ukraine as “crazy”. In the following days, he then sold his 35% holding in TCS Group, which owns Tinkoff Bank, to Russian oligarch and mining titan Vladimir Potanin, Financial Times reported. 

Now, speaking to The New York Times, Mr Tinkov revealed that the “desperate sale, fire sale” was forced upon him by the Kremlin. “I couldn't discuss the price,” he told the media outlet, adding, “It was like a hostage - you take what you are offered. I couldn't negotiate”. Mr Tinkov did not reveal the price at which he sold the 35% stake, however, he said that he sold his stake in the bank for around 3% of its true value.

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Further, speaking to The Times, the Russian businessman said that he was in an undisclosed location. He said that he had hired bodyguards after his friends with contacts in the Russian security services told him he should fear for his life. Mr Tinkov added that although he had survived leukaemia, perhaps now “the Kremlin will kill me”. 

Mr Tinkov is one of the few prominent Russians to openly speak out against the ongoing war in Ukraine. It was previously reported that Russian prosecutors have threatened to arrest corporate leaders in the nation who criticise the government. Despite this, Mr Tinkov has in recent days doubled down his criticisms of the war and of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

He told The Times, “I've realized that Russia, as a country, no longer exists. I believed that the Putin regime was bad. But of course, I had no idea that it would take on such a catastrophic scale.”

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The businessman added that he believed Mr Putin would stay in power for a long time. He also revealed that Tinkoff Bank's senior executives were told that any association with him would be a major problem following his Instagram post. 

It is to mention that according to Financial Times, Tinkoff Bank had previously stated that there had been “no threats of any kind against the bank's leadership”. It distanced itself from the businessman and stated that Oleg Tinkov did not participate in the life of the company and was not involved in many matters.