Oleg Tinkov Instagram – Most of the Russian businesspeople who were sanctioned totally deserve it. Some would never have achieved the level of success they did without the corruption that has held back a country which used to have so much potential. Others support this awful war.
I am neither.
I was born in a small village in Siberia, my dad was a miner, my mother was a seamstress. My early jobs were down in the mines. I was still sharing a one bedroom apartment with my wife and many other people when I started to trade in electric goods from Asia, and it was off the back of that that I moved to selling dumplings, then beer, then a degree at Berkeley in America, then setting up the best digital bank in the world. From scratch! I didnāt get any help from anyone ā I worked so hard.
I created over 100,000 jobs with no contracts or help from the corrupt Russian government. My business was listed on the LSE with international investors.
When the war broke out, I gave up EVERYTHING I had built and worked for because I could not be associated with a country I used to love. I gave up my business, my home, many friends. There have been threats to my life since I spoke out.
But this war is bullshit, and that paranoid dictator Putin is bullshit. Innocent people are dying every day for no reason.
I should never have been sanctioned, but I appreciate that mistakes are made in difficult situations. I hope we can now fix that mistake.
Iām so grateful that my application has been supported by people who suffered under Putin far more than I have, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Alexei Navalny. Bill Browder has also been supportive. Many businesspeople, including Sir.Richard Branson have also supported me.
Impartial experts from the UK – professors at leading universities – have written long reports to demolish the crazy allegations that I was ever an ally of Putin or associated with his corrupt regime.
I am retired, recovering from leukaemia and just want to get back to a peaceful life with my family. That is all.
I fully support the governments and organisations who are trying to ensure that so many Ukrainians can get back to their normal life too š | Posted on 06/Mar/2023 19:25:07
