&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘I was like a hostage’: Russian billionaire says a Instagram post on Ukraine war cost him $9 billion")
A former Russian banking tycoon has said a single Instagram post criticising the Ukraine war cost him $9 billion, which led him selling his stake in his bank at a steep discount after the post. He labelled the incident a proof of suppression by the Russian government.
The banking tycoon, identified as Oleg Tinkov, a Russian-born entrepreneur and founder of Tinkoff Bank, was once among the richest bankers in the country. In 2022, he described the war in Ukraine as “insane” on Instagram, criticised the Russian military as corrupt and unprepared, and claimed most Russians oppose the conflict, while those backing it do not understand the reality.
He also claimed that 90 per cent of Russians don't want war, but the remaining 10 per cent who support the conflict are “morons”. “I do not see ONE beneficiary of this insane war!” Tinkov wrote in Russian in his Instagram post, as per CNBC. “Innocent people and soldiers are dying. The generals woke up from a hangover, realised they had a sh---y army.” “And how will the army be good if everything else in the country is s--t and dirty in nepotism,” he added.
Coercion under threat
Tinkov revealed in a recent conversation with the BBC that days after he wrote in a post on Instagram, he received a phone call from the Kremlin. He was informed in the call that either his stake in the bank would be sold and his name from the brand would be removed, or the bank would be nationalised.
Tinkov underscored that the intention of the call was not a negotiation but coercion under threat. “I couldn’t negotiate the price. I was like a hostage,” he said, The New York Times reported. Soon after his Instagram post, he ended up selling his stake in the bank in April 2022.
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He also told the BBC that the forced sale priced his stake at just about 3 per cen of its true value, wiping out nearly $9 billion of his wealth. Following the deal, Tinkov left Russia and later gave up his Russian citizenship.
