On Tuesday, November 1, Oleg Tinkov’s Instagram (the owner of Meta is considered an extremist and has been banned in Russia) disappeared from a post he made the day before he renounced his Russian citizenship. In it, the businessman admitted that he does not want to be associated with the Russian authorities and what is happening. Still, he declared himself a patriot of Russia.
“I am more Russian patriot than you … because you speak, but I did and I do. I’m a hero of Russia… the truth… these aren’t,” he wrote, adding a photo of his denial of citizenship.
olegtinkof/Instagram (Meta’s owner considered extremist and banned in Russia)
Tinkov also expressed hope that other Russian businessmen will follow his example.
On November 1, Tinkov published a new post in which he said yesterday’s recording had “mysteriously disappeared.” The businessman suggested that “Kremlin trolls” may have been involved.
In a new post, he confirmed that he had renounced his Russian citizenship and said he had initiated a brand recall procedure from Tinkoff Bank, which he once founded.
The bank itself told TASS that all legal rights to the Tinkoff brand belong to the credit institution.
In turn, the Kremlin reported that Tinkov and another businessman Nikolai Storonsky, who also renounced citizenship, have the right to independently decide whether they will become Russian. The Russian President’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said that the absence of business for Tinkov and Storonsky in Russia shows that “in fact, they are no longer participants in the entrepreneurial life in our country.”
Where is Tinkov now?
As businessman Oleg Tinkov (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) said in an interview with Yuri Dud (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation), on February 24 (the day Russia’s special operation in Ukraine began) Italy , and did not immediately understand what was happening.
Later, Tinkov condemned what had happened. Four days later, he wrote on social media that countries “must spend money on research to cure people, to beat cancer, not war.”
He knows the fight against cancer firsthand. At that time, Tinkov continued to be treated for leukemia abroad. Only in July of this year, the businessman announced that he had entered a complete remission after a bone marrow transplant. It took him almost three years to recover from an acute form of blood cancer.
In response to Tinkov’s statements about the special ops, his bank said that he was only a client of his ancestry and that his clients had differing opinions.
“Oleg Tinkov has not been a decision maker in Tinkoff Group companies for many years, he is not an employee of Tinkoff, he has not been in Russia for a long time and has been dealing with health problems in recent years. ” added Tinkoff Bank.
On April 28, Vladimir Potanin’s Interros group of companies announced that it has acquired a 35% stake in TCS Group (Tinkoff group) from Oleg Tinkov’s family. Interros said in a statement that Tinkov said it was “time to retire and take care of his health and family”.
The businessman later stated that he took this step “under pressure”. According to him, he received “penny” for his shares. “I couldn’t bargain. This is a hostage situation – you take what they offer you, I could not accept it, ”said Tinkov.
On May 3, Tinkov said goodbye to the credit institution and Russia on social networks: “Goodbye Tinkoff Bank, goodbye Russia. I have nothing left in Russia. And that’s bad for Russia.”
At the same time, he emphasized that he took away the Tinkoff and La Datcha brands. According to him, they belong to his family.
Tinkov ended his post with a quote from Chatsky’s monologue (“Woe from Wit”, Alexander Griboyedov): “I don’t come here anymore. I’ll go look for a place where resentful emotion is a corner. A car, a car for me.”
Source: Gazeta
Ben Stock is a business analyst and writer for “Social Bites”. He offers insightful articles on the latest business news and developments, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the business world.