Tinkoff Bank founder Oleg Tinkov relinquishes Russian citizenship, urges others to follow suit
Update, November 1: Oleg Tinkov’s post, which we cited originally, has disappeared from his Instagram account. Tinkov responded with a new post, blaming the deletion on the “Kremlin trolls,” and repeating his announcement about giving up Russian citizenship.
Oleg Tinkov, the founder of Russia’s Tinkoff Bank, has relinquished his Russian citizenship, explaining his decision in an Instagram post:
I can’t and won’t be associated with a fascist country that started a war with their peaceful neighbor and is killing innocent people daily. It is a shame for me to continue to hold this passport. I hope more prominent Russian businessmen will follow me, so it weakens Putin’s regime and his economy.
Tinkov hopes that collective action by business leaders might ultimately help defeat Putin.
Tinkov’s post contained a photo of a Russian consular certificate confirming that his request to relinquish citizenship had, in fact, been granted.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oleg Tinkov spoke consistently against the war.
In April, when Tinkov called the invasion “insane,” the corporate headquarters of Tinkoff Bank issued a statement that this was nothing more than Tinkov’s personal opinion, and had nothing to do with the views of the corporation. The bank soon shuffled off its name, Tinkoff.
In May, Oleg Tinkov said that Russian authorities had forced him to sell his share in the TCS Group “for peanuts.”
On October 31, another Russian banker relinquished his Russian citizenship. This was Nikolay Storonsky, one of the founders of the Revolut banking service.
In mid-October, Yury Milner, the owner of the DST Global investment firm, also refused to continue as a Russian citizen.
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