Oleg Tinkov

Early life

Tinkov was born in the village Polysayevo, Leninsk-Kuznetsk district of the Kemerovo Oblast in Russian family of a miner and a seamstress. Since the age of 12 Tinkov was interested in road cycling, he was a member of cycling clubs at school, and later – at the workplaces. He won in a number of competitions, and in 1984 received the title of a candidate in master of sports. During training camps Tinkov first took up black marketeering, buying hard-to-find goods in Central Asia, and selling them in Leninsk-Kuznetsky. His cycling career was interrupted by military service: he did not get into the Sports Club of the army and was sent to the border troops. In 1986–1988 he served in the Far East – in Nakhodka and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur.

Personal life

Tinkov met an Estonian, Rina Vosman, while studying at university. Their wedding took place in June 2009 – after 20 years of living together. Their daughter Daria Tinkov studied at King's College London, sons Pasha and Roman at St Edward's School, Oxford.

The fortune

A bne IntelliNews publication alleged that Tinkov was the investor of Plata, a Fintech startup launched by the former Tinkoff Bank employees. Plata became the first Latin American startup to reach over USD 1 billion valuation since 2022.

Sanctions & controversy

Tinkov has been critical of Vladimir Putin, in particular with regard to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tinkov wrote on his Instagram page, on 19 April 2022, in Russian: "The generals, waking up with a hangover, realized that they had a shit army", "I don't see a single beneficiary of this crazy war! Innocent people and soldiers are dying", "Of course there are morons who draw Z, but 10% of any country are morons. 90% of Russians are AGAINST this war!" and "Kremlin officials are shocked that neither they or their children will be off to the Mediterranean in the summer. Businessmen are trying to save the rest of their property." Finally, he wrote in English: "Dear 'collective West' please give Mr. Putin a clear exit to save his face and stop this massacre. Please be more rational and humanitarian." On the next day after the first post with critics of the war in Ukraine Tinkov said his executives were contacted by the presidential administration with a demand to sell his 35% stake, otherwise the bank would be nationalized. Tinkov says he was offered a price of about 3% from the real value of his share. On 3 May 2022, Tinkov wrote: "I'm taking the Tinkoff and La Datcha brands out of the country. They belong to my family: I don't want to besmirch them with the blood of Russian soldiers and the citizens of Ukraine. Ukraine will win because good always wins over evil— we were taught that at school." Because of these statements, one of the public organizations turned to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office with a request to recognize Tinkov as a "Foreign agent" (after emigration and renunciation of citizenship, this is a rather symbolic action). In February 2024, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation added Tinkov to the register of foreign agents. On 1 November 2022, he renounced his Russian citizenship. Tinkov had instructed lawyers to begin the process of removing his name from Tinkoff bank.

In March 2022, the UK government-imposed sanctions against Tinkov. As stated in the document, Tinkov was accused of "receiving benefits from the Russian government or its support" because he owned and controlled financial sector enterprises of "strategic importance" to the state. Tinkov's yachts, ships and planes were denied access to British ports and airports, though he was not banned from entering the country. Forbes and Forbes Russia do not consider Oleg Tinkov to be an oligarch, despite him having been sanctioned: "Tinkov is not an oligarch because he built an independent fortune without ties to the Russian government under either Boris Yeltsin or Vladimir Putin". Sanctions were lifted on July 20, 2023.