“I have made the decision to give up my Russian citizenship. I cannot and do not want to be associated with a fascist country which has started a war with its peaceful neighbor and which kills innocent people every day,” Mr Tinkov wrote. on Instagram.
“I hope other prominent Russian businessmen will follow my example, in order to weaken (Vladimir) Putin’s regime and its economy and ultimately defeat it,” he added.
He accompanied his message with the photograph of a certificate from the Russian consulate confirming the end of his Russian citizenship.
“I hate Putin’s Russia, but I love all Russians who are clearly against this crazy war!” Oleg Tinkov wrote again.
A colorful billionaire, Mr Tinkov is the founder of Tinkoff Bank, which has grown rapidly and in 2020 claimed to be Russia’s third-largest retail bank behind state-owned giants Sberbank and VTB. It claims to have some 20 million customers today.
He had virulently criticized the “absurd” Russian offensive in Ukraine in April, calling on Westerners to help put an end to this “massacre”. It was one of the strongest positions issued at the time by a Russian businessman.
Mr. Tinkov had been arrested in 2020 in London at the request of the United States, which accused him of tax evasion. He was later released on bail and undergoing treatment in London for leukaemia.
He left the post of CEO of the Tinkoff bank in 2020, the latter having distanced himself from his anti-offensive statements.